Today Apple revealed a bunch of new services, and games were a big part of the show. Apple Arcade is a new service that will bring more than 100 new and exclusives games to subscribers, games that you can play offline, and across all of your Apple devices. The only catch? We don't know how much it will cost.
It'll launch in fall, and the glossy presentation had all the montages to uplifting pop tunes you could want. We got to see glimpses at games from Hironobu Sakaguchi - the creator of Final Fantasy - Finji - who are making Overland - and UK developer veteran Charles Cecil who made the Broken Sword series. Apple promises more games are on the way from games from Annapurna Interactive, Bossa Studios, Cartoon Network, Giant Squid, Klei Entertainment, Konami, LEGO, Mistwalker Corporation, SEGA, Snowman, ustwo games and more. It also promised these games wouldn't be available on any other platforms or subscription services.
"The App Store is the world’s biggest and most successful game platform," bragged Apple in a statement from its senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller.
"Now we are going to take games even further with Apple Arcade, the first game subscription service for mobile, desktop and the living room. 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."
While you may not think of your phone or your iPad as a games console, one billion people have downloaded games from the App Store, picking from 300,000 available titles.
Of course for every type of gamer, the biggest issue will be cost, especially in the world of mobile gaming where so many titles are free-to-play. Apple priced its new Apple News+ service at $9.99 a month, and it makes sense it would want to sell the games service for around the same.
The war for next-gen supremacy will be fought across data, services, exclusives and faux friendships. Read our feature on 10 key battles that will define the future of gaming.
