As was recently rumored, Apple is expanding its presence in the games industry with a new game subscription service. Named Apple Arcade, the service is designed for mobile, desktop, and the living room. You can check out a brief overview trailer below.
Essentially, Apple’s service takes the form of a monthly subscription that provides unlimited access to a curated selection of paid titles on the App Store. Development partners include Sega, Konami, Disney, Sumo Digital, Cartoon Network, and more–more than 100 exclusive games will become part of the service. More games will be added “all the time,” the company said. It will support games across iOS devices (both iPhones and iPads), MacOS, and Apple TV, and you’ll be able to transfer your progress between these different platforms. In other words, you can move from playing something on your phone to your TV or laptop, for instance.
Apple went on to state that every game would be playable offline, while future game updates and DLC would be included at no extra cost. In addition, you can pick up on other devices right where you left off. Apple Arcade will have its own tab on the App Store, and the games will be free of ads and microtransactions.
Apple Arcade will be available in 150 countries “this fall.” One key bit of information–how much it will cost–has not yet been shared. Apple says pricing and more details are still to come.
During the event, we got a brief look at a few of the games coming to the service, with more being confirmed afterward in a press release. Among the confirmed games are Sonic Racing, Lego Brawls, Oceanhorn 2, Overland, Fantasian (from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi), and Beyond the Steel Sky (which is being worked on by Dave Gibbons of Watchmen fame). We also got a list of Apple Arcade developers and publishers, including names like Lego, Disney, Sega, and Konami.
“The App Store is the world’s biggest and most successful game platform. Now we are going to take games even further with Apple Arcade, the first game subscription service for mobile, desktop and the living room,” said Apple marking boss Phil Schiller. “We are working with some of the most innovative game developers in the world to create over 100 new and exclusive games to play across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. Apple Arcade games will be great for families, respect user privacy and will not have ads or require any additional purchases. We think players of all ages are going to love Apple Arcade.”
