Apple Arcade has excited gaming developers, but questions remain

Yesterday, at its "show time" in Cupertino, Apple may have unveiled its largest video game company to date: Apple Arcade. It is a subscription service that allows users to access a large library of games for a monthly subscription, which can be played on iOS, Mac and Apple TV. While the App Store and other mobile phone markets are increasingly dominated by free games, often at the expense of so-called "premium" titles, this represents a potential solution. "Paid games are often critically acclaimed and loved by those who play them, but competing for free is difficult, so even the best of these games have only hit a smaller audience," he said. Apple said at the announcement of his new service.

We still do not know much about Apple Arcade, including the cost and, perhaps more importantly, revenue sharing between Apple and the developers. (After the announcement made yesterday, I spoke to nearly a dozen developers and publishers of mobile games .Nobody was able to discuss details at that time.) We know that Apple will help fund the development of these games in one way or another. able to attract big names like Final Fantasy Hironobu Sakaguchi brain and SimCity creator Will Wright. Meanwhile, the teams behind the success of the App Store like Monument Valley, Florence, and Alto's Adventure are all on board too.

For the developers I've talked to, a cautious optimism surrounds Apple Arcade and gaming subscription services in general. For Apple, the company's attention, as always, to offer premium service is very attractive to game creators. "I'm delighted to see Apple devoting so much energy to maintaining and improving the quality of the App Store, especially while keeping independent games totally in the spotlight," said the developer. independent Zach Gage. But with so many questions about service, there are also many potential pitfalls.

One of the concerns of developers is that subscriptions could eliminate a high percentage of paid game sales, although there are not many historical precedents to determine if this will happen. But this is also a problem that could be solved by the very design of the App Store. During the Apple demonstration on stage, Arcade had its own tab in the store, alongside today's apps, games and search. "This means that it's possible that Apple Arcade will become an additional source of revenue for game developers, as opposed to replacing the existing ecosystem," says Adriaan de Jongh, co-creator of The hidden people.

Since the redesign of the App Store in 2017, Apple has put a special emphasis on editorial preservation. This has been particularly important for small independent developers who are fighting the wave of free games because their presence in the App Store could turn a relatively unknown game into a hit. Apple seems to be using a similar tactic with Apple Arcade, focusing on beautifully designed titles, often from a relatively small group of notable mobile developers. "It is clear that Apple has a vision of the level of quality that it wants to define," says Gage, "and they are ready to defend the type of content that they believe counts."

For subscribers, this is great news. This means that you know that what is available in Apple Arcade will be a high quality experience. But it could pose problems for lesser known developers who want to introduce it. De Jongh said he was worried that the service would be "unreachable" to most mobile developers. "It's now more important than ever to be in conversation with the App Store team to be able to even be considered part of the highest level of games on the App Store." he says. "As a developer of smaller games, I'm afraid I can not keep up."

One of the main selling points of Apple Arcade is that it will offer games that you will not be able to play elsewhere. Apple boasts that the service will offer "more than 100 new exclusive games". Some of these games appear to be mobile exclusives – that is, they may be available on console or PC, but not on Android – in the same way that Epic has been able to attract PC exclusives in its nascent store. But under the terms of the exclusivity agreements with Apple, this could be a problem for developers in the long run.

The hidden people, for example, started life as a mobile game, but was able to find new players after expanding to Steam and the Nintendo Switch. And de Jongh said that the App Store still accounted for almost half of the game's revenue, but that other platforms were crucial. "I sincerely hope that games funded by Apple Arcade will be able to be used elsewhere quickly, so that developers do not shoot themselves in the foot with a quick Apple Arcade money grab," he says. he.

That said, subscription services like Apple Arcade seem inevitable. Last week, Google announced its own Stadia streaming service, Microsoft is offering its Xbox Game Pass more and more attractive, Sony continues to invest in PlayStation Now and even Nintendo offers classic games and exclusive opportunity for subscribers of Switch Online. "As a company, we want to be at the forefront of market developments and we are convinced that subscription-based models are one of the next steps in the industry," said Alexandre de Rochefort, Director. Financial of the mobile phone publisher Gameloft. first batch of Apple Arcade partners.

Sean Krankel from Without Oxen The developer Night School Studios is "optimistic about the emergence of subscriptions, mainly because the relationship between the players and the service is very clear." The studio has more experience than others in the emerging field; Without Oxen is available via Game Pass, and the team is currently working on a non-advertised game for Apple Arcade.

"It's great because our game is played by people who may not care about story games," says Krankel. "Until now, everything has been extremely positive for us."