There are a lot of mobiles games to choose from if you’re an Apple Arcade subscriber, from adventure titles, to puzzle games, to just about everything in between. But it sounds like Apple may be ready to trim some of the options in the coming months.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is shifting its strategy as far as available games are concerned, and is reportedly canceling some games that are currently still in development with plans to launch on Apple Arcade at some point in the future. Apple has apparently gone as far to tell some developers that their games aren’t meeting the level of engagement from users that Apple hopes for.
These cancellations are causing some distress for the developers impacted by the changes:
Some developers who had contracts canceled by Apple were suddenly faced with financial woes, compounded by the pandemic, according to the people briefed on what happened. While Apple ended contracts, it still paid studios based on the development milestones they already hit. The company also told developers that it would work with them on future titles that meet the new requirements.
It should not come as a surprise at all, but considering it’s a subscription service that relies on recurring users, Apple is hoping to find games and release them on the service that are offering more engagement, that will essentially keep players “hooked” and, therefore, keep paying for the service to retain access to the game(s).
There is one game that has grabbed Apple’s attention up to this point, and they are reportedly using it as a jumping off point, or a game they can point to as what they want from games moving forward: Grindstone. It’s an adventure puzzle game, matching similarly-colored monsters to beat levels (this is just the bare minimum description of this incredibly fun game). Apparently Apple wants more Grindstone-like experiences and game loops:
On the calls with developers in April, the Apple Arcade representative cited a specific example of the type of game the company wants: Grindstone, an engaging puzzle-action game by Capybara Games that has many levels.
Apple Arcade costs $4.99 per month, and it has a library of over 100 games. If you’re paying for the service, do you like the wide range of games that it currently offers? Do you believe Apple should trim some of the selection in an effort to launch more titles similar to Grindstone?