Lots of rumors flying around this weekend about the possibility of Apple announcing a game subscription service today. In reading up on possibilities for today’s event, thought I’d share a few links driving this conversation:
- The one that started the conversation for many, this Cheddar report, titled Apple Plans Gaming Subscription Service: Sources came out on January 28th.
> The service would function like Netflix for games such as 안전놀이터, allowing users who pay a subscription fee to access a bundled list of titles. Apple ($AAPL) began privately discussing a subscription service with game developers in the second half of 2018, said the people, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss unannounced plans. > > It’s unclear how much the subscription will cost or what kind of games Apple will offer. The service is still in the early stages of development, and Apple could ultimately decide to abandon it.
- Next up, Mark Gurman’s piece for Bloomberg on what he sees coming in today’s event. Titled Apple’s Reinvention as a Services Company Starts for Real Monday, it’s a solid read on the event in general, but does contain this games nugget:
> Apple is also working on a premium games subscription for its App Store and discussing it with potential partners, according to people with knowledge of the plans. This service won’t take on new cloud-based streaming offerings like Google Stadia. Instead, it will focus on iPhones and iPads and bundle together paid games from different developers that consumers can access for a monthly fee. Cheddar previously reported that Apple was working on a gaming-related subscription service. > > The company would collect these monthly fees, then divide up the revenue between developers based on how much time users spend playing their games, one of the people said. Apple is likely considering popular paid titles on the App Store and would exclude titles that are free to download but generate revenue via in-app purchases. > > Apple could discuss the service as soon as Monday, or it may choose to detail the offering at its conference for developers later this year. Some of the most popular paid games on the App Store include Microsoft-owned Minecraft and franchises like NBA 2K and Grand Theft Auto.
- And finally, there’s this post from John Gruber titled, simply, Apple Games.
> What I would do if I were Apple is get in touch with the best indie game makers for iOS and sign them up to make new games, exclusively for a new subscription service. Apple is going to pay news publishers by engagement — the more time subscribers spend reading a publication’s stories, the more that publication will get paid. No money for clickbait headlines — Apple is looking for nourishing news and opinion pieces. I would pay game makers the same way — the more time people spend playing, the more the game maker gets paid. No in-app purchases — you pay a monthly fee to subscribe to Apple Games and that is it, you get it all. You spend time playing a game, the game’s maker gets paid.
There’s been some pushback, on the developer side, on this payment model. The concern is that it rewards bigger, deeper games, that the big content games which pull you in will collect the lions share of the money. I can see that argument, but I can tell you that I spend far more time playing casual/indie games than those from the big studios.
That said, it will be interesting to see if Apple does roll out something game related today. Just a few more hours until the reveal.