Apple Arcade Is a New Game Subscription Service For iOS, Mac, and Apple TV
* Apple has unveiled a few different subscription services today at its “show time” event, including a new Apple Arcade game subscription service for titles that can be installed from the App Store. * The company is aiming to curate some of the 300,000 games currently available from the App Store into this new ad-free subscription service. * “There will be 100 new and exclusive games available on Apple Arcade, which will launch on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV,” reports The Verge.* These games won’t be available on any other mobile platform or any subscription service other than Apple Arcade. * Games will be downloaded and played straight from the App Store, and subscribers will be able to try games whenever they want and resume them across devices. * All of the game features, content, and future updates will be included, and there will be no ads shown within the games. * SimCity creator Will Wright is also making a game for the service. * Apple is promising games from Annapurna Interactive, Bossa Studios, Cartoon Network, Finji, Giant Squid, Klei Entertainment, Konami, Lego, Mistwalker Corporation, SEGA, Snowman, ustwo games, and more. * Apple isn’t just curating the games for Apple Arcade; it’s actually planning to contribute to the development costs of creating them. Apple might not have announced its own game studio today, but it’s certainly a big step toward that. * Apple Arcade is launching this fall in more than 150 countries, but Apple is not yet revealing pricing for this subscription service. Apple does say that “access for up to six family members,” will be available, suggesting you’ll be able to share the subscription. * While the full list of games isn’t available yet, some of the titles revealed on Apple Arcade’s website include: LEGO Brawls, HitchHiker, Kings of the Castle, Where Cards Fall, and Frogger in Toy Town.
Apple TV+, With Shows From Spielberg, Oprah and J.J. Abrams, is Coming This Fall
* Apple TV+, a place for its new slate of original shows. The new service, billed as a place for the “highest-quality storytelling,” will be available in over 100 countries and released starting this fall through the Apple TV app.* It will be ad-free, on-demand and available both streaming online and downloadable. Pricing will be announced this fall. * Apple TV Plus is the company’s way of jumping into the streaming video game, where Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and others have already established themselves and brought in millions of cord-cutter customers fleeing cable subscriptions. * The new service also works as a way for Apple to grow its thriving services business, helping it continue to grow despite lagging iPhone sales. * The company in 2017 hired Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg from Sony Pictures Television to oversee “all aspects of video programming.” The two were responsible for shows such as Breaking Bad, The Crown and Rescue Me. * And in the past year, Apple has continually announced original content it’s producing — including a multiyear partnership deal with Oprah and deals with Rees...