Apple launches early access program for Apple Arcade

It has been several months since Apple announced its subscription game service, Apple Arcade. And now, ahead of its fall launch to the public, the company has welcomed an early access program.

9to5Mac was able to get into the new early access program for the games subscription service, and they’ve published an early impressions of the service that’s available on the Mac App Store. (Apple Arcade will be available across iOS, macOS, and tvOS when it arrives this fall.)

The early access program is available for employees for now, and Apple is charging only $0.49 per month for the time being. The service is also being offered with a one month free trial in its current early access phase, but one hopes that remains the case when the service has its public launch.

The testing phase will end once iOS 13 launches later this year.

While the 49-cent trial subscription cost is nice, that will probably not be the case for the general public. Apple is said to be investing upwards of half a billion dollars to get Apple Arcade off the ground, and with access to over 100 exclusive titles on a rotating basis, the service will likely cost around $10 per month at the very least.

After the subscription is confirmed and the trial starts, a new page shows up with featured games. To download a game, it’s as easy as clicking the “Get” button, just like downloading a free app or game from the App Store. The game’s product highlights a big artwork with a small section for the game’s title and tagline, with the download button easily accessible. Scrolling down reveals a bar with information such as the age rating, category and size of the game, the rest of the page is similar to any regular App Store product page.

There are several different games already being offered in Apple Arcade, including titles like Way of the TurtleHot Lava, and Down in BermudaKings of the CastleSneaky Sasquatch, and Frogger in Toy Town are some of the other titles available in the early access phase.

The service looks like a promising subscription service, especially with all the games that will be available. Do you plan on signing up for Apple Arcade when it arrives?