Apple reportedly trying to revamp gaming for the 1735th time
It’s time, once again, to talk about gaming and Apple.1
Yes, it was just yesterday that Apple copped to acquiring studio RAC7, makers of Sneaky Sasquatch, bringing the two-person team under its own roof. But shortly after that became public, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that the company has bigger gaming designs:
Apple Inc. is planning a dedicated app for video games on its devices, seeking to sell gamers and developers on the idea that it’s a leader in the market.
The company will preinstall the app on the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV set-top box later this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The software will serve as a launcher for titles and centralize in-game achievements, leaderboards, communications and other activity, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been announced.
If that sounds a lot like Apple’s Game Center well…yes, yes it does. Gurman says the app will replace Game Center, which, okay. It’s not as if Game Center is really a destination these days; it was long ago demoted from app to system feature offering a framework for developers to hook into, but there’s no there there. Given that, I can’t fault Apple for wanting to throw out something with little to no brand equity in favor of something new and, hopefully, more compelling.
But if I seem skeptical about all of this, it’s because it feels like I’ve been writing about Apple and gaming for twenty years.2 There’s nothing new here: every few years, like clockwork, Apple gets excited about games again, which is code for “remembers what a lucrative market they are.”
In all my time covering Apple, I have never seen Tim Cook, or, frankly, any Apple executive get up on stage and talk about games in a way that makes me believe they play games or are passionate about gaming. Which is surprising, because we’re talking about video games, not dental surgery. Chances are somebody high up in Apple management plays games regularly, beyond Wordle, right? To suggest otherwise seems as implausible as saying that nobody in Apple’s management watches movies, or TV shows, or listens to music. Or reads books.3 And yet it feels more likely to find somebody on Apple’s leadership page who’s excited about Klingon opera.4
Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Gurman’s report also says this new app will feature promotional tie-ins to Apple Arcade, because of course it will: that’s a $7/month subscription and, despite a lack of hard data on subscriber numbers, I’m going to go ahead and assume there’s plenty of headroom to grow it and, consequently, Apple’s Services revenue.
I remain skeptical that this new app will move the needle significantly for Apple in gaming. The hardcore gamers who want to see more triple-A headline titles are not going to get them as a result of this, and there’s a lot of competition in this “game marketplace” category from the likes of Steam and Xbox (which would still like to make its own game streaming app for the iPhone if Apple can get out of the way, thank you very much). Even with Apple’s game porting toolkit, which remains an impressive piece of technology, the gaming floodgates haven’t exactly opened wide in the last couple years.
If I have any hopes for this latest endeavor, it’s the comment that “Apple is also planning a Mac version of the app that can tap into games downloaded outside of the App Store.” But honestly it would be silly of Apple not to do this, since a lot of games on the Mac are not available via the Mac App Store. Even if the company hates the idea of reminding you that you can ever buy software outside of an App Store.
Still, despite everything, the iPhone remains an incredibly popular gaming destination, in no small part because it is one of two major platforms in the most significant consumer electronics device category, and people like to play video games, which continue to only be available on electronic devices.5 But the more times Apple tries to make gaming on the Mac happen, the more it looks like Steve Buscemi toting a skateboard.6
- I considered paying the $20 to get doesapplegetgamingyet.com, but I’m not sure even that’s worth it for a single-serving website that just says “no.” ↩
- And it’s only been nineteen. ↩
- And, if they do read books, I have some to recommend. ↩
- I’m looking at you, Tor Myhren. Come on, you know that guy loves a good Kahless cycle. ↩
- Pity those book video games never caught on. ↩
- Don’t cross the memes! ↩
[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His latest novel, the sci-fi spy thriller The Armageddon Protocol, is out now.]
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