Game Developers Describe 'Smell of Death' Around Apple Arcade

[koelsh]

I’m wondering if this will lead to a change in direction or the outright cancelling Apple Arcade.

It feels like Arcade was built at the direction of higher ups who don’t emotionally understand video games so they looked up the dictionary definition and are saying “here’s a bunch of video games, what more could you want?”

Like the App Store at large; they tout the number of apps available while missing (sometimes rejecting) the really big important titles. Don’t get me wrong there’s some great stuff in there but it’s lost amid a sea of mediocrity.

 

[k1121j]

Remember those Mac vs PC ads well Apple is the PC now as far as the masses are concerned. If you want numbers and pages get a Mac. If you want to do everything get a PC

 

[cateye]

I think for the price, Apple Arcade is a great deal, especially for causal gamers and parents,

Love your reply, genuinely, but I'd like to respectfully push back on this idea. I think AA is only seen as a great deal for "family gaming" for the same reason that they serve white bread in prison: Because it's the most bland possible baseline that everyone will eat.

Meanwhile, my 9-year-old daugher games on her Switch. Yes, there's some, er, questionable stuff in the Nintendo online store (weird anime stuff with lots of breasts and miniskirts and wtf), but it genuinely doesn't take much monitoring by my wife and I to steer clear. In return, our family game nights are on far more immersive titles than the low-effort snoozefests on Apple Arcade.

And for the adults we have Game Pass and a Series X. I do everything on my Apple devices, but I'll never game on any of them. Why would I?

 

[Pman17]

Apple Arcade's model for the consumer is good. There's no micro-transactions or ad crap. The problem is it's all just versions of old free to play games. Apple needs to start caring about games and accommodate developers to develop for Mac and iOS and making game deals. They're starting to do so with Resident Evil and Death Stranding, but those titles should be on Arcade. Game Center needs to be revamped as well and was stupid of them to hide it in Settings. What Apple should do is decouple games from the App Store with an entirely new app called the Apple Game Store. Inside, they have Apple Arcade and App Store Games like Steam. Then Game Center is integrated inside the app. They need to push social adding chat features. The same client should be on the Mac too.

Then they need to beef up the Apple TV by making an Apple TV Pro with the M3 chip and storage options to play AAA titles.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

The problem isn't that Apple Arcade is a bad idea. It's more so that tap..tap touch games have run their course. I was all in on iPad games back in 2012 and 2013 especially with Infinity Blade I/II/III but over time I went back to playing games on the consoles. I did try Apple Arcade with the 3 month trial and I cancelled it after a few weeks, nothing of interest for me.

 

[User 6502]

Ye ok, if you think so. They are just realising no one wants to pay a subscription for games. It’s not a misstep, maybe they see the numbers and know it’s dying.

Microsoft game pass proves the opposite is true. People are more than happy to pay a subscription for games if it provides good value. Apple Arcade simply doesn’t. It’s a collection of mostly mediocre titles with little to no depth. It started with a different promise and initially there were some decent titles, but rather than improve and build upon death it just went backwards and they even had the balls to raise the subscription cost. It is another Tim Cook embarrassing mistake.

 

[decksnap]

Apple Arcade has been perfect for us. My kid can play ad free, micro transaction free games on the iPad or with an Xbox controller on the big screen. The absolute hassle of managing/avoiding ads and junk content from the App Store makes the price of AA a steal.

I would recommend it to anyone with a child age 5-9 who values their time and cares what their child is exposed to.

 

[Spaceboy88]

Meanwhile, my 9-year-old daugher games on her Switch. Yes, there's some, er, questionable stuff in the Nintendo online store (weird anime stuff with lots of breasts and miniskirts and wtf), but it genuinely doesn't take much monitoring by my wife and I to steer clear. In return, our family game nights are on far more immersive titles than the low-effort snoozefests on Apple Arcade.

And for the adults we have Game Pass and a Series X. I do everything on my Apple devices, but I'll never game on any of them. Why would I?

On your first point, Switch has some great games, but until Nintendo offers a Gamepass-like experience for new games (not retro NES/SNES games) it's vastly cheaper to use a service like Apple Arcade. Also, my kids have a Switch, but the iPad is their go-to gaming device between Roblox, Brawl Stars and other games.

I have PS5 and the gaming subscription there, and it's great when I'm in the zone for more intense gaming, but when I'm on a plane, subway, waiting room, or even the toilet, my PS5 isn't going to be able to give me those short causal gaming experiences I want.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Apple Arcade was a disappointment... there is practically nothing there thats worth it... for some kids it might be alright... but for anyone else... there just isn't the depth or value there... especially compared to other offerings

For some reason gaming on Apple products just doesnt seem to gain any real traction... and its a real shame as the hardware is there.. Apple Silicon is just sitting there waiting to be used.

The vast majority of iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple TVs don't go anywhere near realizing their full processing potential for the vast majority of consumers.

And they keep pushing spec updates each year... to push sales... 🧐🤨

 

[cateye]

Nintendo offers a Gamepass-like experience for new games (not retro NES/SNES games) it's vastly cheaper to use a service like Apple Arcade.

Totally agree with you here. Being a Nintendo house can get expensive. I'd love a Game Pass-like service for Nintendo first party titles.

or even the toilet

That's when I solve the Wordle.

 

[dwaltwhit]

I like apple arcade. I would rather pay more money 1 time to own a game, but I like several of the games on the service. I have logged the most hours on sneaky sasquatch and have several family members that also have. I have 2 kids and I try to steer them towards arcade as well because I know there aren't ads to lure them into trash apps. I like that it allows me to try games that would usually require $5-10 without risking money. I like that it is rolled into Apple One.

I wish there were more games.

 

[socialwill]

I stopped "gaming" on iOS or iPad devices a couple of years ago when everything has been going to the "pay to win" model. If you look at the top games, they pretty much all a similar type of game of never-ending levels and pay-up options. If you want to sit down and play, well, be ready to play 2 minutes and watch a minute of an ad each time, unless you pay to skip so many ads, and then rinse and repeat.

This model may be profitable for the devs, but that is not how I want to play a game. Not to mention Apple is not a company that seems to be interested in getting any sort of big AAA games on any platform. They have the occasional bigger game here and there, but I am guessing it is because some Apple executive played the game, offered the dev a large sum of money to port the game, and then Apple will feature it with 1-2 games like this a year.

 

[Bokito]

1. Year 1: Apple: "We embrace games! Support for developers, new APIs, it's all coming"
2. Year 1: Developers: "Let's see what you have in store for us, the last time we were left in the dark pretty quick"
3. Year 2: Developers: "The OS got some updates, we received some support, but not in the way we hoped, but we'll release our games and ask for more support"
4. Year 2 and 3: Apple losing interest and developers getting dissatisfied
5. Year 4 and 5: Developers lost all interest
6. Year 6: Go to 1.

This has been the case since the early zeroes. Apple just doesn't like games, they don't understand it. If they ever got really serious about gaming it could've gotten them marketshare on the Mac in the years they really needed it (2000 - 2010). Now the Mac is dead as a gaming platform and nobody is buying an iPhone/iPad because of all the AAA-titles.

 

[victorvictoria]

The only real business mistake Apple has historically made is holding onto products or services for too long. If it ain't making money, take it out back and shoot it!

 

[insomniac86]

If Apple cared about Apple Arcade they should have included some A class games. MacOS only really has 'Death Stranding' if you want to count that as a AAA game. However games like Firmament and Stray are decent enough to throw in for good measure. But instead we get absolute rubbish that only a young child is entertained by.

Great games like Limbo+ don't even run on my MBP M3 Pro, it simply locks up and crashes on the press any key mode.
Apple's Arcade team are useless.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

It never stood a chance. I guess it was an attempt by Apple to care about games but it was a poor attempt.

They should have taken all the money invested here and financed some AAA games on Mac.

Not even "finance some AAA games on the Mac", just give some money out for studios to port their games to Mac while developing them. And setup a dedicated, high priority team internally to handle any issues these studios run into. The chicken and egg problem isn't going to solve itself, and AAA gaming on touch screens doesn't have a good track record.

 

[MVMNT]

This was my reminder to unsubscribe from t since the price hike...

 

[delsoul]

I’ve been playing video games way longer than any reasonable adult should be…and this never grabbed my attention because it seemed like it was all made for the 3 and under crowd. Just simple games that don’t really add any substance to the experience.
I could see arcade being a children’s gaming experience but that’s about it.

 

[JTK Awesome]

Maybe if Apple Arcade had some games worth playing, it would do better.

 

[nikhsub1]

Never used Apple Arcade, never will and have no idea WTF it even is. My guess is that this is 90% of Apple users as well.

 

[BarrettF77]

Apple doesn’t understand the principle of taking care of its developers and allowing creativity to be just that and that violence and action sell like with the call of duty franchise. If they embraced this and came out with a controller let’s say and used Apple TV and vision together they could make a killing.

But cook is too much of a play it safe kinda guy and not a products person that it won’t ever happen. Nor will they admit fault. Like that awful fine woven product they added 6 months ago.

Sometimes tried and true just works Apple.

 

[Rychiar]

I’d happily hammer the nail into that coffin. The only game ever worth it was oceanhorn 2 and that was ages ago and i wish it was standalone. Now i just got a Vision Pro and all the games are on that so i had to subscribe to try them. So annoying.

 

[Kissmo1980]

Maybe if Apple Arcade had some games worth playing, it would do better.

I agree.
But currently, my PS5 Library is way ahead of Apple.
Brining super old titles liek Death Stranding in 2024..... well..... no thanks. I already played, finished (and cried )) during the father-son scene) many years ago.

What is the incentive to pay again and play the same game on a different platform?
The fact they bring older titles has no meaning - they should bring exclusives.
But honestly, they have a lopng way ahead to catch up in terms of gaming performance.
They have a great improvement until now, but loooong looong way ahead.

 

[timber]

The best thing Apple could do for gaming is let Nintendo use a A1something for a console.

 

[macduke]

Apple loves to enter all of these new markets, and yet they just leave gaming sitting there. It's an absolutely massive industry, and it feels like they've never cared enough. Recently there have been some promising developments of tools to help port games over to Apple Silicon which is really powerful, but we haven't seen much come from that so far. If Apple wants Vision to be successful, it needs to have lots of really great games. The thing is a toy, much more so than any other "computer" Apple has ever released. It's all about unique new experiences. Gaming should be a big part of that.

I hope they don't kill off Apple Arcade. I like it for my kids, because I know I can trust that anything they install on there will be family friendly, and the subscription just comes with my Apple One Premium Family stuff, so it's not some big added cost, and a nice perk of the service and yet another reason to get the Premium version, besides the 2TB storage. If they got rid of Apple Arcade, it would be hard to justify paying for Apple TV too, which has some great shows but they space them out too much. Could just binge them all for a month in the winter when it's freezing. We don't use Fitness much at all and just kinda do our own thing with the Fitness app on our Watches, and Apple News is often an afterthought unless I happen to see something in a widget on my Mac desktop or second or third home screens on my phone or iPad. I would probably just go back to paying separately for a family Apple Music sub and 2TB iCloud storage.