Apple has a monopoly on mobile games in its own App Store

In a not-so-surprising turn of events, reports and a court case indicate that Apple is giving preference to its own mobile games in the Apple App Store. 

A lawsuit was filed recently, detailing how Apple is monopolising the ‘mobile game market’ when it comes to Apple devices. Its game subscription service, Apple Arcade (launched last year), is one of the only game subscription services available on the App Store. Why? Because they can, of course. 

MY App Store, right Apple?

The former head of App Store Phil Shoemaker recently also brought up some interesting points pertaining to the Apple App Store debacle, which has been making headlines for a variety of reasons recently. He said that Apple creates ‘arbitrary’ rules and guidelines for its App Store permissions which allows it to block or hinder unwanted competitors. You guessed it, competitors to its own apps and services. 

Bloomberg captured the issue quite well: “The practice results in higher prices and fewer choices for gamers who subscribe to Apple Arcade…”

This all comes as Xbox is rolling out its industry-shifting Xbox Game Pass service, which will undoubtedly be one of the most intriguing developments in the game industry in a long time. The service will give players access to thousands of games for a monthly fee. It’s available on almost all platforms… Ahem… except Apple…

Shoemaker mentioned in his testimony about Apple’s strange App Store conduct that “… apps that compete against Apple’s services have a track record of problems getting through the App Store’s review process.” This includes services like GamePass, which would need to submit each game in the database to Apple for approval before the service can go live on the store. 

We’re convinced that this case will draw out, meet no end and won’t bring about much change. The tech industry is growing at such a rate that it’s become increasingly challenging to monitor or regulate it. Now we deal with the consequences.