Apple Arcade

Apple Arcade is the tech giant’s latest step into the subscription based revenue model. After the success of Apple Music and the potentially fantastic video service Apple TV+, are mobile gamers going to want to jump into the pay to play market too? With that in mind, we take a look at Apple Arcade, play all the launch games and most importantly ask the question on everyone's lips. Is it worth it?

As the old cliché states, you can’t get cheaper than free, and that’s certainly true on the App Store. There are 100,000s of free games to be downloaded that ask nothing more from you than your time. But this creates a dilemma for developers. Games that are bought up front, as opposed to being free to play with in-game extras bought with in-app purchases, tend to get lost under the sheer weight of free titles. Apple have changed this with Apple Arcade. Which lets developers finance their games in a new way, as well as giving the gamer an excellent range of apps for a monthly fee.

Apple Arcade is a subscription service covering both mobile and desktop devices. Subscribers can play as many available games through the service as they like; without restriction. Gamers can expect over a hundred exclusive titles within months of launch, with more planned after that.

The service is accessed through the App Store. Games can be downloaded and played offline, so you don’t need a permanent Internet connection to enjoy them; and they can be played across Macs, iOS devices and Apple TV. You can even start a game on one device and then continue on another, picking up where you left off.

Family Sharing is once again available at no extra cost, and once again, your privacy is guaranteed; no one can gather information about what you’re playing. This could be Netflix for gamers, which is surely a bullet proof seller? Apple have to be looking at a winner here right?

Well, they certainly aren’t shouting about it!