“Apple recently introduced Apple Arcade, a subscription gaming service that will arrive this fall. The platform will feature a library of over 100 games, including exclusive titles from SimCity creator Will Wright and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi,” Leo Sun writes for The Motley Fool. “It will be available in over 150 countries and the games will be playable without a constant internet connection. None of the games will feature ads or microtransactions in which players pay for add-ons.”
“Apple is helping fund development of the platform’s exclusive games, which can be accessed from iOS, macOS, and tvOS devices via an iCloud account. Players can save their progress on one device and continue playing on another one if a file is backed up to the cloud. Apple hasn’t announced the price yet,” Sun writes. “But can the company turn Apple Arcade into a serious contender in the increasingly crowded market for subscription gaming services?”
“Apple Arcade seems like an elegant solution to two issues. First, many mobile games are swamped with “pay to win” microtransactions and ads. A subscription-based walled garden can eliminate those issues and nurture the development of higher-quality games,” Sun writes. “Second, it reduces Apple’s dependence on its standard 30% cut of App Store revenues… Apple Arcade might not become a hit product or a major profit driver on its own, but it could tighten Apple’s grip on its customers and keep them locked into its walled garden.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Reporting from “inside” Apple’s walled garden: If this is what “locked in” is, please throw away the key!
SEE ALSO:
Apple Arcade could be a sleeper hit – March 28, 2019
Apple introduces Apple Arcade – world’s first game subscription service for mobile, desktop and the living room – March 25, 2019
On that note, MDN…
Some say walled garden, I say gated community.
What is the point indeed? Apple is offering lots of games that are about as thrilling and interesting as children books. Sometimes they are artistically beautiful, but usually after an hour or so I don’t care if the little boy and his white puppy ever get home.
I almost laughed coffee through my nose when one of the game developers spoke of a game in which you guide a little girl through intense situations like talking to her parents or what to wear to the prom or dealing with mean girls or something. Other than crap like this, almost every game in the app store is some kind of, platform game.
There are also some fairly decent strategy games, but as always, to be honest, one does not and should not look to Apple for gaming. I’d look at one of the new services starting to pop up that allow you to play PC games online using hour Mac before subscribing to Apple’s game service.
I doubt that you are the primary intended customer for these games tbh.
Finally an option where my kids will be able to play safely.
Wall garden? Locked-in? Bring it on! Internet is not a safe world anymore for kids.
I wish Apple would come up with their own version of Facebook, Youtube and Google…
I have not come across a Fundamentalist, End Time game where the religious freak player wins by accumulating the most saved people. Jews and Israel would be an integral part of the End Time scenario in the game, all in order to abandon them to Hellfire damnation because they are no longer needed. The ultimate winner in the game would be rewarded by blinking lights, praises, and a splashy image showing the winning Fundie avatar sitting at the right hand of God.
Is even this subscription announcement is being questioned? I really don’t quite understand how this is some major problem. It seems harmless enough and should make some Mac product users happy. i suppose it won’t turn Apple into a major gaming company, but I never thought that Apple actually intended it to do that. It’s just an additional revenue stream and nothing more.
How exactly is this subscription going to work? Once you download the app, is it just like any other app you buy – you keep it forever, and receive support and/or updates? Or does it expire at some point, like next month when a new set of games becomes available? Or will it work like Photoshop, you only play as long as you pay?
Most likely the last one, play as long as you pay. I think Gamestop has a system similar to Netflix DVDs where you subscribe and can have a few titles out at a time. Apple’s will be on a slightly larger scale but the same idea of not owning any title, more like having a premium cable channel.