[Bloomberg]Apple Cancels Some Arcade Games in Strategy Shift To Keep Subscribers

dex3108 · Jun 30, 2020

Apple Inc. has shifted the strategy of its Apple Arcade gaming service, canceling contracts for some games in development while seeking other titles that it believes will better retain subscribers.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant scrapped development contracts with multiple game studios earlier this year and informed them of the new approach, according to people familiar with the matter.

On calls in mid-April, an Apple Arcade creative producer told some developers that their upcoming games didn't have the level of "engagement" Apple is seeking, the people said. Apple is increasingly interested in titles that will keep users hooked, so subscribers stay beyond the free trial of the service, according to the people. They asked not to be identified discussing private conversations.

Apple Cancels Some Arcade Games in Strategy Shift To Keep Subscribers

Apple Inc. has shifted the strategy of its Apple Arcade gaming service, canceling contracts for some games in development while seeking other titles that it believes will better retain subscribers.

www.bloomberg.com

Patitoloco · Jun 30, 2020

I hope the developers got paid at least, some may have their whole budget from the Apple Arcade contract, who knows.

RowdyReverb · Jun 30, 2020

Sounds about right for Apple

Deleted member 2752 · Jun 30, 2020

Do we know anything about how well it's doing? Haven't really heard about it since launch.

Serene · Jun 30, 2020

less crafted experiences, more GaaS

as expected

Remark · Jun 30, 2020

So we bout to get a bunch of gacha games or something or like MMO-lites on the phone?

Like I don't understand how this would work out.

signal · Jun 30, 2020

RowdyReverb said:
Sounds about right for Apple

Has any major game publisher not cancelled a dev contract at some point?

Dreams-Visions · Jun 30, 2020

just like that eh

JuniperAndSage · Jun 30, 2020

Sounds like it'll stop being the place to find genuinely good mobile games, and turn into another F2P/MTX dominated store. Why even exist if you're just offering the same kind of mobile stuff as everyone else?

Squirrel09 · Jun 30, 2020

Remark said:
So we bout to get a bunch of gacha games or something or like MMO-lites on the phone?

Like I don't understand how this would work out.

Probably more replayable syle games. Which is sad, but at least they'll be MTX free! (unless they change that requirement)

Deleted member 51691 · Jun 30, 2020

So the main selling point of Apple Arcade will shift from being a way to support the types of mobile games that typically do not do well on their own to being the same type of addictive games as other F2P mobile shit... except you have to pay a monthly fee?

I KILL PXLS · Jun 30, 2020

As someone who isn't subscribed to Apple Arcade, I've found it to be a pretty annoying service since it's keeping me from games I'd outright buy if I could with no clear time frame on when I might be able to in the future.

RowdyReverb · Jun 30, 2020

signal said:
Has any major game publisher not cancelled a dev contract at some point?

Fair, but Apple made Arcade out to be this oasis where we'll see a wide variety of games without IAPs. Now it's looking like they want to focus more on games without ends that maintain player engagement. This is exactly the type of game that already gets popular on the App Store, so what is the point of Arcade? I just don't think Apple will ever crack the video games market

stealthyfrog said:
So the main selling point of Apple Arcade will shift from being a way to support the types of mobile games that typically do not do well on their own to being the same type of addictive games as other F2P mobile shit... except you have to pay a monthly fee?

Exactly

JuicyPlayer · Jun 30, 2020

Remember when mobile games were gonna replace consoles and PCs? The only thing they ever really stole were the older people that bought Wii's.

Izanagi89 · Jun 30, 2020

I hope Sakaguchi's game didn't get cancelled....that'd break my heart

Desma · Jun 30, 2020

That Mistwalker game might be in trouble

sir_crocodile · Jun 30, 2020

well, apple arcade had a good run

wait

Armoredgoomba · Jun 30, 2020

I guess Apple only sees value in gaming addiction. Xbox Game Pass seems to do really well just putting good games up every month. Why would offering good games to keep people subbed not be enough for a service? If they move towards GaaS it will ruin the entire appeal of Apple Arcade. Why would someone pay $5 a month to play a game that wants daily check-ins and endless recycled content? There is so much of that you get for free right now.

signal · Jun 30, 2020

RowdyReverb said:
Fair, but Apple made Arcade out to be this oasis where we'll see a wide variety of games without IAPs. Now it's looking like they want to focus more on games without ends that maintain player engagement. This is exactly the type of game that already gets popular on the App Store, so what is the point of Arcade?

Yeah true, not sure what they're planning. It's meant to be the opposite of the popular f2p gaas/gacha titles on the App Store so not sure what kind of extended engagement they want. Maybe trying to move into more 'console like' titles with better replayability? 🤷‍♂️

Deleted member 43084 · Jun 30, 2020

JuicyPlayer said:
Remember when mobile games were gonna replace consoles and PCs? The only thing they ever really stole were the older people that bought Wii's.

The games on Apple Arcade are not the stereotypical Candy Crush/Gacha games. They were the single-player experiences that everyone was asking for.

Unfortunately, the mobile market is a much different demographic than the console/PC market, and Apple did not market Arcade toward them well.

Incidentally I think once Apple Silicon become more mainstream and iOS games can also be played on Macs, the market will shift a bit.

Nightengale · Jun 30, 2020

When honeymoon period is over, quality matters less than engagement.

Or that waifu gacha games are more appealing than quality single player games.

I'm so shocked /s

ElBoxy · Jun 30, 2020

JuniperAndSage said:
Sounds like it'll stop being the place to find genuinely good mobile games, and turn into another F2P/MTX dominated store. Why even exist if you're just offering the same kind of mobile stuff as everyone else?

The whole point of subscribing was to not see MTX heavy games. It would be bad if they backtracked on that.

RowdyReverb · Jun 30, 2020

signal said:
Yeah true, not sure what they're planning. It's meant to be the opposite of the popular f2p gaas/gacha titles on the App Store so not sure what kind of extended engagement they want. Maybe trying to move into more 'console like' titles with better replayability? 🤷‍♂️

That would be a best-case scenario and I'd love to see Apple foster growth in that sector, but I have a feeling we'll just end up with the usual App Store GAAS garbage under a different banner

BlastProcessing · Jun 30, 2020

Well, that's depressing...

Ridley327 · Jun 30, 2020

Considering that Shinsekai's marketing has gone all in with the Switch version since that launched, I suspect that things might be kinda bad for Apple Arcade if Capcom would make a pivot to the Switch for any reason.

That said, I have no idea how the hell you would play that game with a touchscreen in the first place, so it may have just been a poor fit to begin with.

Deleted member 10737 · Jun 30, 2020

apple arcade has been such a flop. personally i don't know a single person who uses it. this whole service seemed like an ill-advised idea from the beginning.
so many of the games on the service look really good and interesting, but sadly (for the devs) it seems like they're stuck on a platform that limits their potential audience.
and seeking "engagement" in games goes against the very idea of why they started this service, it was so we could see a return of one-and-done mobile games that went away when f2p became the only thing that made money.

Pryme · Jun 30, 2020

JuicyPlayer said:
Remember when mobile games were gonna replace consoles and PCs? The only thing they ever really stole were the older people that bought Wii's.

you really haven't looked at gaming revenue splits in Asia, have you?

HockeyBird · Jun 30, 2020

Not surprising. I think the market of people looking for shorter, one and done type mobile games is a lot smaller than people looking for F2P games. I think the average mobile gamer isn't looking to hop game to game. They want a select few mobile games they can play for a few times a week.

cloudknight · Jun 30, 2020

This is some Stadia-level ignorance about how people actually play games. Putting FTP and MMO-lite games behind a service fee isn't going to move the needle the way they want it to.

JuniperAndSage · Jun 30, 2020

ElBoxy said:
The whole point of subscribing was to not see MTX heavy games. It would be bad if they backtracked on that.

Yeah. What are you paying for at this point? I guess exclusivity? Curation? May be good enough for some people.

SirKai · Jun 30, 2020

This really sucks to hear. If Apple Arcade was available on any non-Apple device I definitely would have tried it since it sounded terrific and exactly what I'd want out of more mobile-esque games.

But since I don't have a Mac and have no interest in getting anything Apple, this was a total nonstarter for me even though I'd love to have gotten into it.

Nanashrew · Jun 30, 2020

On calls in mid-April, an Apple Arcade creative producer told some developers that their upcoming games didn't have the level of "engagement" Apple is seeking, the people said. Apple is increasingly interested in titles that will keep users hooked, so subscribers stay beyond the free trial of the service, according to the people. They asked not to be identified discussing private conversations.

Straight up idiocy. Absolute incompetence. They are asking for GaaS, something that already exists on their platform and outside of this service.

JCLShay · Jun 30, 2020

Honestly, the service has introduced me to some great games that I have bought on other platforms. What the Golf is AMAZING.

kiguel182 · Jun 30, 2020

They are going to drop the more artsy stuff aren't they?

edit: I feel like having such a strong lineup and then following it up with weaker titles was a mistake. It was overwhelming at launch, a bunch of quality titles got lost in the shuffle and then it was followed up with weaker or incomplete titles that got promotion since they were new.

a shame.

empyrean2k · Jun 30, 2020

Anyone got any recommendations? Thinking of signing up for a month. Haven't played ocean horn so maybe that and beyond a Steele sky looks cool?

Byvar · Jun 30, 2020

Izanagi89 said:
I hope Sakaguchi's game didn't get cancelled....that'd break my heart

Desma said:
That Mistwalker game might be in trouble

Maybe in the future, but it hasn't been cancelled just yet. Sakaguchi has still been tweeting development stuff for it during the past month, tagging @AppleArcade every time:
https://twitter.com/auuo/status/1271014583587573760 (June 11)
https://twitter.com/auuo/status/1275622293427765249 (a week ago)

I just hope they have a backup plan to release this game elsewhere, it's looking amazing.

shoptroll · Jun 30, 2020

Byvar said:
I just hope they have a backup plan to release this game elsewhere, it's looking amazing.

Many of the early "exclusives" for Apple Arcade have made their way to other platforms after 6-12 months. I can't imagine Mistwalker doesn't have similar plans.

number8888 · Jun 30, 2020

I am still subscribed to Apple Arcade and this news make me sad. It is supposed to be the one place where we can find good complete mobile expereince not riddled with MTX and gotchas.

On the other hand nothing of interest has came out for a long while now so not surprised if they are losing subscribers. I thought it was weird when I start seeing ads for Apple Arcade in other games along with the likes of Gardenscapes or Fishdom.

Patapuf · Jun 30, 2020

cloudknight said:
This is some Stadia-level ignorance about how people actually play games. Putting FTP and MMO-lite games behind a service fee isn't going to move the needle the way they want it to.

Yeah, unless it's really high production value stuff i don't see that working for apple either.

And such games would likely not want to be exclusive anyway.

Renteka-Bond · Jun 30, 2020

I'd have bought into the service (I really wanted to play that Loud House Game), but it being tied to an Apple device is the biggest deterrent. On topic, I feel like I haven't heard much about the service since it launched last year, so this isn't surprising.

Deleted member 10737 · Jun 30, 2020

empyrean2k said:
Anyone got any recommendations? Thinking of signing up for a month. Haven't played ocean horn so maybe that and beyond a Steele sky looks cool?

sayonara wild hearts, if you haven't played that elsewhere

Menx64 · Jun 30, 2020

There is a reason why Nintendo is moving away for mobile... Unless you are doing heavy GaaS, you are not going to make money.

zuf · Jun 30, 2020

empyrean2k said:
Anyone got any recommendations? Thinking of signing up for a month. Haven't played ocean horn so maybe that and beyond a Steele sky looks cool?

Neo Cab was probably my favourite game on the service. Sayonara and Over the Alps are also worth a look.

Nolbertos · Jun 30, 2020

Desma said:
That Mistwalker game might be in trouble

I wonder if Sakaguchi and other studios that were planning on bringing new non-GaaS games could shift it to Switch. I honestly don't even play Iphone games anymore after almost all games are Fremium or Gacha titles now. Seems the good developers have migrated to the Eshop store

somethingisme · Jun 30, 2020

I don't think games that foster recurring engagement necessarily means GaaS style games.
for instance, I'm going to be playing Slay the Spire on iPad for months - just a really addictive game, yet it doesn't require additional purchases.

K Samedi · Jun 30, 2020

I mean I could get hooked to a game, but it's usually one at a time. I don't need to subscribe to a game service to sell me a million games I can get hooked to.

hersheyfan · Jun 30, 2020

This is sad to hear, but not surprising. I gave Apple Arcade every chance - appreciated the native Dual Shock 4 support, loved the games on offer at launch, and kept my sub for several months hoping that the trend would continue. But the subsequent games didnt grab me, and eventually I realized I was paying Apple a monthly fee to basically keep playing What the Golf and Grindstone, so I cancelled.

If Apple is truly moving towards GAAS type games to improve retention, they have a fundamental misunderstanding of why gaming subscription services appeal to consumers.

Fabtacular · Jun 30, 2020

But mobile gamers are gamers too!**

**Unless it requires a very small monthly fee to play a variety of high-quality games. If that's what it takes, just give them freeware Sododu and crossword puzzles and they're fine.

Komo · Jun 30, 2020

Can they just be pushed into a previously on Apple Arcade or something.

bluexy · Jun 30, 2020

The entire reason I was hopeful for Apple Arcade was that Apple insinuated it would support talented but underfunded studios to create inspired mobile games that would otherwise go unrealized given the cutthroat nature of the App Store. Churning out GAAS games without microtransactions to maximize subscription profits while also canceling projects mid-development so studios are forced to scramble in the middle of a pandemic isn't just incredibly morally bankrupt, but it erases all meaningful purpose for the subscription service in the first place. What a fucking bummer.

[Bloomberg]Apple Cancels Some Arcade Games in Strategy Shift To Keep Subscribers

Community Resettler

User requested account closure

User requested account closure

Chicken Chaser

User requested account closure

Info Analyst

Comics Enabler & Freelance Games Journalist