"Netflix for games" from Apple: What (ideally) the ARCADE subscription service should be obtained

In the fall of 2019, an ARCADE special section will appear in the App Store application store: it will be placed in it by Apple Games, which can be available by subscription. So far, we know very little about the principles of the work of this service - and about what conditions the games will get there. "Medusa" formulated questions, on the answers to which the success of Arcade largely depends.

Will all games work on all Apple platforms?

Apple Arcade - cross -platform service. For one subscription, users will gain access to games on iPhones, iPads, Apple TV and computers running MacOS. At the same time, Apple promises that the player will be able to start playing on one device and continue on the other.

It is not clear from the description of the service to the end, does this means that all the games in Arcade will have to support all four platforms at once, or will the developers have the right to choose? For example, if they do not know how to adapt a game control game under the computer keyboard. Or do not want to spend strength on optimization under Apple TV.

The expected answer: at least most of the games will be available on all Apple devices, but the cool projects that were not possible to port out under one or two platforms will not be expelled from Arcade.

Will there be its controller?

Since we started talking about different control methods (sensory on iPhones and iPads, a mouse with a keyboard on a computer and a remote control on Apple TV) should recall a universal tool - a gaming controller. Apple allows third -party manufacturers to create controllers suitable for its devices, but has not yet shown their own.

At the same time, the company notes that “many” games from Arcade will support gaming controllers. Will Apple go in the same way as Google, which released its own pair controller to the Stadia game service?

The expected answer: will be (expensive!), But controllers from third -party manufacturers will also work.

Will games from Arcade are available on other platforms?

Apple is going to manually select the games that will get to Arcade, and even support developers (including financially). At the same time, the details of such cooperation are still unknown. One of the most important questions for users - will it be possible to distribute games included in Arcade on other platforms?

It seems that we know part of the answer to this question: WayForward, whose games will be presented on Arcade, announced on Twitter that one of its projects - Shantae 5 - will also be available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. That is, at least part of the games will be published on other unmbitious platforms (note that Android is not on the list).

The expected answer: they will if the developers want it.

Will it be possible to buy games from Arcade?

Apple will select the best games for Arcade so that users have an incentive to buy a subscription. But what if out of all hundreds of items available in the service, you are only interested in one or two? Will it be possible to buy them for some money without issuing a subscription?

The expected answer: you can, and to the subscribers - also at a discount.

Will there be restrictions for subscribers?

In theory, an ARCADE subscription will open full access to the entire catalog - you can play at least all games from the list without time limits. Or not? Will there be any limits?

The expected answer: there will be no restrictions.

And the games will not be lost?

Another important question: will there be a rotation in Arcade? Could it happen that the game you just started playing will suddenly disappear from the catalog, since the publisher ended the contract with Apple? Or vice versa: seasonal promotions, when the game can only be added to the library, only a limited amount of time?

The expected answer: games in Arcade will remain forever.

What are the conditions for developers?

We still do not know anything about how Apple will share income from Arcade between developers. The Bloomberg source said that the amount of payments will depend on how much time users spent on the game. But what share from the funds raised will they get? 30 percent? 50? 75?

The expected answer: one that will attract as many cool developers as possible.

How much will it cost?

Well, the main thing is that I want to know about Arcade - the cost of subscription. On the one hand, it should not be high, otherwise users will not buy it (and a survey of “Medusa” readers showed that much fewer people are ready to subscribe to games than the same music). On the other hand, if you put a too low price tag, it will not be possible to expel the developers enough money for them to get into this service. Difficult!

The expected answer: the maximum is twice as much as the subscription to Apple Music (which costs $ 10 a month in the United States and 169 rubles a month in Russia). And better - about the same money.

Sultan Suleimanov with the participation of Maxim Ivanov

Photo in the announcement: Apple