Oliver Haslam on April 16, 2019, 4:44 pm

More Than $500 Million Being Spent On Apple Arcade, Games To Be Allowed On Consoles But Not Android

Apple announced Apple Arcade last month, a new initiative that will allow people to subscribe to a service and then receive a selection of games that are playable at no additional charge.

It became clear that Apple was providing funds to help those games be created, and according to a new report by the Financial Times, the company could be spending more than $500 million on the project.

The report cites multiple people who are involved in the development of Apple Arcade, with those people claiming that Apple is paying to have developers create more than 100 games that will be available when Apple Arcade launches later this year. It’s also worth noting that developers will also be able to release those games on the PC as well as game consoles, although a period of exclusivity will apply before that can happen. Android releases do not appear to be permitted, however.

Apple Arcade will include games from companies both big and small, and will launch in more than 150 countries for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and even Apple TV later this year. Big names like Disney, Sega, Konami, Lego, and Cartoon Network as well as indie studios the likes of Snowman, WayForward, and Annapurna Interactive have been cited as being part of this project. Gamers will be able to play all of the games they want so long as they are part of the Apple Arcade catalog, with no ads or in-app purchases to get in the way.

This is the latest in a line of actions Apple has taken to increase its services revenue, although we don’t know as yet how much it will cost.

(Source: Financial Times)