Today marked this year's Apple Event, the famous press conference in Cupertino where the tech giant unveils their new lineup of iProducts. Along the new 11 series of iPhones and other gadgets, the relevant thing for The Arcadist is the announcement of the Apple Arcade service. Normally I'm one of the first in line to write off a lot of what Apple does, but there are a few things here that might be worth paying attention to:
- The service is only $4.99 USD/month with a one month free trial.
- Apple promises a catalogue of over 100 exclusive games at launch and the library will continue to grow every month.
- Support for PS4, XB1, and MFi controllers across all Arcade devices ( iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and Apple TV)
- No advertisements or in-game purchases for Apple Arcade Titles.
- Access up to six devices at once per subscription a la Family Sharing
- Offline play and saving cross-device.
Honestly, this whole thing looks pretty good. Instead of challenging Google Stadia head-on, Apple is going with more of a "premium version of mobile games" route, and it might do a lot to sway mobile game nay-sayers (ie: me). In-app purchases and obnoxious advertisements have always been the bane of the mobile game experience, but another big concern is the lack of quality. By charging a subscription, Apple sets the tone of "This is a premium experience," and that comes with an expectation that the catalogue won't be as shallow as the typical App Store game. As an iPhone owner, I'll be jumping on my free trial when iOS 13 (And the Arcade service) launches on September 19th.
