I’ve long been an advocate of mobile gaming. Although initially dismissing the iPhone’s potential in this area, I was drawn in when I actually owned one. Amazing multitouch experiences like Eliss opened my eyes to new ways of interacting with games, and felt like a logical next step from the Nintendo DS. Subsequent titles like Device 6 on iPad were a joyful fusion of touchscreen handheld technology and modern gaming – something that simply wouldn’t work on another system.
At its best, the App Store became a bastion of creativity – a place that echoed the 1980s games I grew up with, in developers not having to be fearful of being creative. You could create something bonkers and different, and yet have a shot at success. But around five years ago, the wheels started to fall off. The race to the bottom was cemented in, with users expecting dirt-cheap titles that would be updated and added to forever. Then the expectation was that everything should be free.
Part of the blame lies with Apple, but it’s also an indication of modern society. When content becomes ephemeral rather than something you can hold, people have been trained to assume they should not have to pay for it. So we now exist in a world where a developer can create a mobile title, and get a review slamming them for including ads and not enough levels, by someone who otherwise claimed they loved the game – and yet played with Airplane Mode on to disable ads, thereby robbing the developer of any income.
Hence: Apple Arcade. Apple’s surprise announcement this summer claimed we would see a return to rosier times for gaming on mobile, free from the cruft that infects modern releases. Games on Apple Arcade can mostly be played offline. Those that require an internet connection do so due to online multiplayer rather than Nintendo’s penchant for always-online for no good reason. Beyond that, there are no ads and no IAPs. Bliss. Possibly.
Even with these features, I initially tempered optimism with a healthy dollop of scepticism. Remember, this was Apple. This was the company that got good in games by mistake – and despite itself. This was the company that repeatedly bafflingly rejected perfectly good games from the App Store, often for oddball puritanical reasons. It was the company that messed up games controllers to a degree that possibly warrants some kind of trophy. It was the company that despite raking in millions from games, still gave you the impression no-one senior at the company gave the slightest crap about them.
Then Apple Arcade dropped during the iOS 13 beta, letting me check out what was on offer. Immediately, the selection of games was overwhelming. When iOS 13 proper landed, it was the kind of launch line-up other systems would kill for. There were 71 titles in all, from tiny indie delicacies that would find it hard to survive as standalone titles, through to new releases from giants like Capcom. Since that first moment, I’ve been working my way through every game, to play every one at least a little, and therefore get an idea as to who Apple Arcade is aimed at, and whether it’s worth subscribing to.
In the US and UK, Apple Arcade costs a fiver a month, although you get 30 days for free. That second bit to my mind suggests that if you have any interest in gaming, and own an Apple device, you’d be nuts to not at least try it out. I still see a lot of ‘proper’ gamers getting all pissy about Apple Arcade, and that stance baffles me. Are people really so entrenched in their tribes they don’t want – for no outlay – to at least try a new service with dozens of interesting titles? Is the fact these games can be played on a phone, and don’t include any AAA franchises really that much of a barrier? Again, to me Apple Arcade seems a no-brainer.
Beyond that basic recommendation, you’d probably like to know whether the games are objectively good. Personally, I’d say it splits slightly better than 50:50 in terms of great-to-good and OK-to-poor (with OK being a larger group than the few games that are garbage). Some of the titles reek of freemium with freemium bits removed at the last moment, and that’s a pity. But there are deeply premium efforts made with love. Some – like Assemble with Care – may only last an hour, but that hour will be memorable; others – like Super Impossible Road, Card of Darkness, Grindstone, PaintyMob, and Sasquatch – feel like games I’ll still be picking up for the odd go in a year’s time, even if Apple Arcade’s drowning in other new titles by then. And with iCloud save states, this is a service you could feasibly dip in and out of, perhaps subscribing for a while every now and again, if you don’t fancy dropping a fiver every single month.
It’s also worth noting the nature of Apple Arcade’s exclusivity. The games are exclusive only to mobile and subscription services. So they won’t rock up on Android, or a service somewhat competing with Apple’s own. But some already exist elsewhere, or are slated to. What’s interesting is many of these games have price-tags that cost several multiples of the Apple Arcade subscription cost. Sayonara Wild Hearts on Switch, for example, sets you back almost three times the monthly cost of Apple Arcade. What The Golf when it lands on the Epic Games store will cost £15.99. This in itself showcases the value at the heart of Apple’s subscription service.
I’d like to think developers are doing well from Apple Arcade. Of course, everyone remains tight-lipped about the terms, but we’ve heard Apple pumped millions to get the games made in the first place, and we know rights are retained by the studios. I’ve no idea if that’s the model going forwards, but I hope creators feel it works out for them, even if this is another lottery of sorts (in terms of getting the invite). For people who like games, though, this is less a game of chance than a rare fairground stall where you’re basically a winner just by turning up.
