Apple wants to transform the App Store into a gaming marketplace worth paying for.
As part of the company’s recently announced services push, Apple Arcade is revamping its gaming product to encourage the development of more unique and compelling games. Instead of paying upfront or funding the games through in-app purchases, Arcade customers will be able to play them all as much as they want for a set subscription fee. The company has reportedly pumped $500 million into building out the library, which will launch with over 100 premium games and, hopefully, bolster the App Store’s gaming reputation.
After all, though Apple described its App Store as “the world’s biggest and most successful game platform,” in a March 25 press release announcing the service, few gamers would agree with the claim. The platform is famous for having too many janky freemium games, many of which seem suspiciously good at coaxing young users into spending thousands of dollars on micro-transactions.
Thoughtfully created games have also struggled to compete against free apps, because there’s no way users can test them before shelling out anything from $2.99 to $40. This may be why the subscription model could actually be somewhat transformative, says Jelle Kooistra — the Head of Analytics at video game industry analytics firm Newzoo. Kooistra tells Inverse that Apple Arcade is just what the App Store needs to tear down the barrier created by an upfront cost for premium games.
“This can be a huge game-changer for the mobile gaming industry, which for years has been dominated by free to play games,” he said. “[Premium] games are hard to find in the App Store, and many gamers are reluctant to pay an upfront price if they aren’t fully convinced by the App Store profile. Apple Arcade hopes to give these kinds of games a bigger place in the mobile gaming space – and to bring gamers on its devices unique content.”
The subscription service will charge customers a yet-to-be-announced fee for an all-you-can-eat roster of games, exclusively created for Apple devices. These will range from arcade-style racing games, like Sonic Racing to full-fledged RPGs like Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm.
NicheTech 