Apple goes all in on gaming, announces Apple Arcade

The rumored gaming project at Apple is very real, as the company announced yesterday. Subscription service Apple Arcade is on the way.

Arcade to go

Who saw this one coming? Oh, everyone? Okay.

Well just in case you weren’t paying attention, it’d been rumored for some time that Apple was looking to get a gaming subscription service going. Yesterday the company made that a reality.

Called Apple Arcade, the service will allow for access to a list of over 100 games, chosen and maintained by Apple. And unlike digging through the Apple App Store, this list looks to be sans shovelware.

The company rattled off a pretty impressive collection of examples as far as titles you’ll get to play with a subscription, including:

• Where the Cards Fall
• The Pathless
• LEGO Brawls
• Hot Lava
• Oceanhorn 2
• Beyond a Steel Sky

In addition to the content that Arcade will open up with, Apple says that new games will be arriving “all the time”. Presumably that means on a monthly basis.

As for the particulars of the service itself, it actually sounds pretty great. Apple says that you’ll be able to play everything as much as you like, and with no ads… or in-app purchases.

You also will not need an internet connection to play a game that you’ve already downloaded (which is excellent), and you will be able to move “seamlessly” between all of your iDevices and even your Mac. Plus, up to 6 people can share a subscription. Not bad Apple, not bad at all.

The only possible negative here could be the price, but Apple isn’t talking just yet. I’d expect something on that pretty soon though, since the service is coming sooner than later. Apple says it’ll be out and available before year’s end.