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Apple Canceling Some Apple Arcade Game Contracts to Focus on Hit Games That Will Draw Subscribers

cmaier said:
It’s pretty popular in my family. I don’t really use it, but my wife and kid do. And i like that i can let her (The kid 🙂) have anything in arcade without worrying about ads, in-app purchases, etc.
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That's the boat I'm in. I don't use it myself. But it's something to keep my kid occupied when needed. Definitely nice not having to worry about the in-app purchases.
 
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swingerofbirch said:
I'm not a gamer, but from the outside it seems like Apple has had a wasted opportunity for a long time.

But by far the biggest problem is the app store. I could go on about how it's ruined software across the board. I don't care so much about games. But it's destroyed indie Mac development. The Mac App Store is like a junkyard. I would guess it's having the same effect in gaming having the ability to take off.
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Most people buy their games directly from the developer, not thru the Apple store. Just do a search for role playing games see how many pop up. Very poor representation. At this time we can only pray we see something great be also Mac supported, its that bad. 😛
 
Plutonius said:
The fear I have is that this is the type of game that Apple expects us to play on our ARM Macs.

Looking at Steam, the amount of OS X games is very small.

Those games will be able to be played but the great majority are Windows based that will not be able to be played on the new ARM Macs.

I guess the simple puzzle and iOS games will have to do once we all get ARM Macs 🙁.
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Totally.

Why don’t they put their energy into trying to broker new relationships with AAA game developers?

A quick search on the Steam store for titles like the Witcher 3 or Assasins Creed Origins simply yields no results on Mac OS.

Just the other night I winded up installing Bootcamp (which is a very quick and painless process these days) just so I could play such a title.

I even jumped on the Mac App Store to search similar titles. And it made me see, for the first time, that Steam was a competing app platform.

Apple should be trying to work out deals to bring quality titles to the Mac, heck, maybe it even means releasing something like an Apple TV Pro so users can begin seeing such titles on a Mac in the living room, with trickle down/across to other Mac platforms.

Depending on the situation, Apple Silicon could actually drive more PC sales, if some users are pushed to buy new hardware for major titles when Bootcamp is no longer available.
 
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Apple should change the arcade. Instead of including a buffet set of games, should allow to choose a small number if premium titles that would otherwise cost money to purchase, and you can rotate that on a regular basis (monthly). I think that would be more attractive people who like games, and always want to try new games. Kinda like the early Netflix model, or some of the video game rental business models.
 
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I like some of the games on Apple Arcade but I don't play that much on my phone. I'm that guy that plays everything on his PC, even though I also have a MBP. I pay Ubisoft 15 Euro / month, Apple should take notice and at least try to make Macs competitive in the gaming landscape.
 
Rogifan said:
So it’s not about quality but whatever will get people hooked to ensure they keep paying $5/mo.

People mentioning Apple Music...well it’s kind of hard to screw that up.
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Considering many expected Apple Music to pass Spotify or 100M user within first 3 years and it still hasn't done so, trailing behind Spotify after 5 years I dont think Apple Music is any good either. Barely a pass.

It is not the idea of Arcade Subscription, but their execution and selection of Gaming just sucks for the vast majority. That is not to say it doesn't fit small Kids, but they will grow out of the Subscription category.

I wish they just buy some old iOS games like Chaos Rings series and make them available on iOS again.
 
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This is what happens when you realise that putting crap games for a fee is not the same as having AAA title.

Gamers don't want to play on appleTV with bad input etc. If Apple wants to attract that group then they have to start taking it seriously. Content is what counts. Look at PS5 and Xbox - they have great titles. What does Apple have? Nothing - not a single game that would be worth AAA title. So no bueno
 
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I game a lot on console and PC and as a gamer the only games on Arcade that are of interest to me are Sayonara Wild Hearts, Stella, Oceanhorn 2 and Little Orpheus because they overflow with production values and seem fun gameplay. All the rest looks meh... Those games can be completed all at once in an afternoon.

It would have been more interesting if they struck deals with companies like Asmodee to bring boardgames like Small World and Carcasonne with all expansions to Arcade.

Or make stuff like Civilisation, Anno/Settler style game, Satisfactory, The Room escape the room style games, etc

Most of the games so far seems kiddie stuff or 100 simplistic puzzle games that doesn't do anything for me.
 
Grindstone is actually a great game and a much more involved than a "multi-level match-3 puzzle game" would suggest.

Really, it's the only game I enjoyed on Apple Arcade, and I had tried quite a few before cancelling.
 
My child likes playing the Sasquatch game, which sucks because we are stuck paying yearly for just one game now.

They honestly need better content or else I might have to tell my child that her game doesn't work on the new phone this fall.
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HyperFlow said:
I had hoped that when they introduced support for Xbox and PlayStation controllers that we would start seeing some console standard games or ports. That hasn’t happened yet.
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Apple is actually blocking game streaming services as well. They refuse to let Microsoft's Xcloud onto iOS and gave Steam a hard time as well.

So Apple can't deliver good games and they're blocking other methods to deliver high quality games.
 
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sorry, but i've got "subscription burnout".. yet another monthly fee for something i don't really need or use enough to justify the monthly price. i'd rather just find one or two games i do really like a month, pay the $1-5 and keep them forever and play them on my own time. i don't need to pay $5 a monty for 100+ games i'm barely even going to be able to touch, i don't have that much time.
 
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heifetz7 said:
Apple should change the arcade. Instead of including a buffet set of games, should allow to choose a small number if premium titles that would otherwise cost money to purchase, and you can rotate that on a regular basis (monthly). I think that would be more attractive people who like games, and always want to try new games. Kinda like the early Netflix model, or some of the video game rental business models.
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developers wouldn't go along with that
 
DrRadon said:
Was the point of arcade not to not have bad games that bank on keeping the user hooked?
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I thought the arcade was going to be Arcade exclusives that are rotated monthly. I thought that once they fall out they would go up for sale as a regular app. All in an effort to fill the App Store with games that had no IAP.
 
Customers chose free. Maybe not you individually, but not enough people are willing to pay when there are free options, unless the developer is already known and has a niche. Long ago I published a paid, then free, versions of an app. Even when ads were not as well optimised, I earned more money from the free version. I plan to release new free games with ads soon as that is the only viable option for me, and many others. I don't feel it is a bad choice because free has opened the joy of playing video games to many newcomers. It is not a solution for everyone, but there are other ways to play.

Apple Arcade is a chance for developers to earn in a different way. I applaud Apple for trying, but there are not enough games by far. A player will only want to play a subset of any given group, so the selection needs to be far wider than any individual uses. It is also unclear if the people willing to play matches the games offered. Hardcore gamers are willing to pay, but their desires are probably better met by console and PC anyway. But even if they wanted a mobile supplement, I don't think Apple Arcade is for them, and maybe couldn't be with mobile controls. Does any other group care enough to pay? All the Apple Arcade games I have tried feel casual, slightly headed towards mid-core. Is that the right market to target? Is any market? I hope so as more options means solutions for more players, but I don't think their needs will be met yet by the amount or variety of games on offer.
 
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If this were a good idea, wouldn't we have seen someone else, say Valve via Steam, do it before?

Or an actual physical arcade? Do any of those exist where you pay membership fees then get unlimited access to the machines within?
 
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