Apple introduces Apple Arcade, its game subscription service

Apple is indeed taking a crack at the gaming world, with its own subscription service called Apple Arcade. The concept is quite simple — 100+ games, at least to start with, from a selection of big names in the gaming industry. The catch?

The games will be exclusive to Apple’s service, which will appear as its own tab in the company’s App Store. It won’t be limited to 100 games, as more will be added over time. However many there are, though, Apple Arcade will function as a subscription service, and will be available for a single price — which hasn’t been announced yet.

Do you think this is a game?

All of the games are cross-platform, provided you’re on an Apple device. Gameplay will hand over from device to device, from an iPhone to an iPad to a MacBook, without player progression being lost. Something which might make load-shedding slightly more bearable, if you can switch to an iPad when the iPhone dies.

The service will have no ads, all available games will work offline, and (as with the other services Apple’s just announced) no data collection on how you play will take place. Like the Apple Card, most of the work is done on-device. Advertisers can’t get their hands on that data. Nor can Apple for that matter.

Family Sharing will also be an option, for the price of a single sub. And you’ll probably want to get a subscription. The games look almost console quality and the launch titles consist of platformers, bullet hell, adventure games, and even shooters. We’re also sure they’ll offer a few genres we missed the first time around.

Apple Arcade is set to launch in 150 countries, with pricing and availability to be announced later. Which suggests South Africa is probably on the list. Yay!