The idea of subscription-based gaming is becoming more and more common within the industry. Google’s Stadia was formally announced last month. Microsoft is working on a streaming service of their own. Sony already has a PlayStation Now service. Many other companies want their piece of the pie, and Apple is no different.
Apple is sparing no expense for its upcoming gaming service, Apple Arcade. Apple plans on spending more than $500 million on their mobile game subscription service, according to a report from the Financial Times. The tech giant introduced Apple Arcade during a special presentation last month. The money will be put toward securing games for their Arcade subscription service, which will grant gamers access to hundreds of new and exclusive games for a monthly fee.
A Pretty Penny for Timed Exclusives
Based on the report, Apple seems to be following in the footsteps of the Epic Store, giving incentives to developers to make their games temporarily exclusive to Apple’s Arcade. Many gamers have reacted negatively to Epic’s strategy of incentivizing exclusivity. However, this reaction is mainly by more seasoned PC gamers, many of whom see the Epic Store as a competitor to Steam, the dominant platform for PC gaming. Arcade shouldn’t be as much of a competitor to Steam though, as the games will be primarily mobile titles. How gamers will react to a similar strategy in the mobile realm is yet to be seen.
“Apple has not said how much it will charge subscribers for Arcade or TV+, but analysts at HSBC have estimated that Apple Arcade revenues will grow from $370m in 2020 to $2.7bn by 2022 and $4.5bn by 2024, by which time HSBC predicts it will have 29m users paying $12.99 each month,” says the Financial Times report. The company will announce pricing details for Apple Arcade later this year.
Apple Arcade is due out this fall and will include games from both renowned game developers and indie studios alike. It’s unclear right now if the subscription base will include their own form of streaming like that of Google’s Stadia. However, family sharing will reportedly be included at no additional cost.