Apple Inc is going to spend $500 million on Apple Arcade

Unlike Google Stadia, the annoucement of Apple Arcade last month didn’t make much of a ripple in most video game circles. The new subscription service allows you to play all of its games offline, without any ads, in-app purchases, or user data tracking – which is interesting but perhaps difficult to get excited about at this point, until you realise just how much money Apple are putting into it.

According to The Financial Times, via MacRumors, the service has a budget of over $500 million just to secure exclusive games, which could severely affect the release of games on other formats. The approach is similar to the way Epic Games has tried to secure exclusives for its new PC store and could radically change how indie games are released on consoles and PC.

Apparently ‘several’ million dollars will be spent on over 100 games in the launch year. But while the exclusivity is primarily aimed at keeping the apps off the Google Play store, PC and console versions will still only be allowed after ‘a few months’ of exclusivity.

A number of games highlighted in the Apple Arcade reveal – including Overland, Sayonara Wild Hearts, The Artful Escape, and The Pathless – had already been announced for other formats, so whether that means they’ll now be delayed and forced to appear on Apple Arcade first is unclear.

The games in question are almost exclusively indie titles though, so there’s no sign yet that any AAA games will be caught up in the mess, although companies as big as Sega, Konami, Disney, and Lego have signed up for the service. Apple Arcade plans to start this autumn but so far no pricing details have been revealed for the subscription itself.

Watch Video of Apple Arcade

Source: Metro News