Apple Arcade will be available on the App Store on Thursday, September 19 with iOS 13, offering an all-new way to enjoy games without limits. With a subscription to Apple Arcade for $4.99 per month, users get unlimited access to the entire catalog of over 100 new, exclusive games, all playable across iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and Apple TV.
I think that when we look back at 2019’s iPhone keynote, the most consequential part of it may very well be the pricing for Apple Arcade: $4.99 per month.
From a consumer perspective, it’s just a killer deal. Apple plans on getting more than 100 games in there eventually, but the initial game lineup looks surprisingly excellent… the possible effects Apple Arcade could have on the entire iOS app ecosystem are just fascinating. We’ve seen several App Store epochs already: The early rush. The rush to the bottom. The increase of scammy in-app purchases. The experiments with subscriptions. Apple Arcade could be the beginning of a new epoch, one where developers could find a more humane way of making money off their games.
Apple Arcade is already live for iOS 13 beta testers and launches officially on September 19th. I suspect it’s going to be a massive hit — what that ends up meaning for developers and the iOS ecosystem is anybody’s guess.
MacDailyNews Take: We also agree that Apple Arcade is going to be a massive hit and it’s naturally going to change some dynamics in the App Store, especially for non-Arcade games.
Apple Arcade only requires one hit that’s exclusive for a long enough period that it makes gamers without an Apple device strongly consider that factor when choosing their next personal computer, smartphone, tablet, or set-top box. Then, of course, once they get one Apple device, the light finally comes on and we all know what happens next! 🙂 — MacDailyNews, April 15, 2019
But how much will it impact smaller, occasionally played games? And how much will it eat of the AppStore earnings? Surely loads of people that used to buy smaller games occasionally to fill out time on the bus, plane or beach will pay for the Apple Arcade to cover this indulgence, cutting off lots of income for small game developers. Huge, famous games like Civilization, DOOM, Sniper, Railroad Tycoon will be less impacted, naturally – but what will it do to the creative undergrowth of the games world?