Apple Arcade could boost ranks of video game players

Glenn Chapman, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/reuters/09/19/20190910-apple.jpg"/><figcaption>CEO Tim Cook speaks at an Apple event at their headquarters in Cupertino, California, US September 10, 2019. Stephen Lam, Reuters</figcaption></figure></div>SAN FRANCISCO, United States - Apple&#x27;s entry into online games with a low-cost subscription plan is expected to bring a fresh set of consumers into gaming and potentially reshape the multibillion-dollar market.Apple Arcade, which launches Thursday, rides a trend of video games played by subscribers instead of purchased as downloads or disks, and its $4.99 monthly price could wind up boosting ranks of players.&quot;My hunch is that it&#x27;s a good thing for the market overall,&quot; said NPD Group games executive director Mat Piscatella.&quot;Apple Arcade might eat into free-to-play titles, or it might expand the market overall and attract many new players that haven&#x27;t yet been drawn to paying for content on mobile.&quot;Apple Arcade differs from rivals by offering unlimited access for a flat monthly price to more than 100 exclusive games uninterrupted by ads or the hawking of virtual goods.&quot;The games themselves don&#x27;t have in-game purchase mechanics; instead, there is a beginning, middle and end,&quot; said Wedbush Securities equity research managing director Michael Pachter.&quot;That&#x27;s a different type of game than free-to-play, so I think there is definitely an audience.&quot;<div>Converting phone owners</div>Arcade fits into a subscription model that is gaining traction, according to analysts.Subscription services are offered by console rivals Xbox and PlayStation, while Google is set to launch a Stadia streaming play service in November.&quot;The old model was paid download, but that died when free-to-play was invented,&quot; Pachter said.&quot;(Arcade) is not much of a threat to the conventional games business, and will likely convert some mobile phone owners to gamers over time.&quot;The US video game industry generated a record $43.4 billion in revenue in 2018, according to the Entertainment Software Association and The NPD Group.A drawback for Arcade is that it doesn&#x27;t support games playable on popular consoles or Windows-powered personal computers, said analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights &amp; Strategy.Game makers also face the challenge of tailoring each title to play equally well on Apple&#x27;s various devices, which is tougher than crafting software for one type of hardware such as a popular console.Details of what incentives or revenue shares Apple is giving game developers have not been disclosed.&quot;Apple is taking advantage of the power of its devices to attract developers for a share of the $5 monthly fee, and the early providers are going to make good coin by participating,&quot; Pachter said.Alexandre De Rochefort of Gameloft, a studio producing games for Apple Arcade, declined to discuss the revenue share but said it would likely be &quot;a valuable initiative for Gameloft, our partners, and our players&quot; as the economics of gaming shift.&quot;On the mobile side, we think that the free-to-play business model has reached near maturity,&quot; De Rochefort said.&quot;If you look at what is happening in music, in movies and TV shows, the subscription business model is getting very popular, and somehow the gaming industry is still a bit behind on this topic. It is great for the industry to have new alternatives, and we are convinced that the subscription-based model will bring new experiences for new players.&quot;<div>Gen Z</div>Apple promised new, exclusive Arcade games will be playable across iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and Apple TV, potentially attracting younger audiences.&quot;I think the service will appeal to parents and to a new wave of Gen Z consumers that identify with unique and authentic content experiences on smartphones,&quot; said IHS Markit Technology head of games research Piers Harding-Rolls.&quot;These consumers may also be tempted to buy into the Apple ecosystem with the cheaper and more youthful iPhone 11.&quot;Apple will begin shipping new iPhone 11 models on Friday as it emphasizes television streaming and gaming services to wean itself off dependence on selling hardware.Price appeared to be a key consideration as the tech giant reduced the entry-level price for the iPhone 11 to $699.&quot;Overall this games service strategy supports Apple&#x27;s ecosystem of devices,&quot; Harding-Rolls said.&quot;It will attract a niche share of the over one billion active iOS device user-base and, given Apple&#x27;s huge audience that is likely to result in a games subscription service bigger than most that have come before it.&quot;

Apple Arcade, which launches Thursday, rides a trend of video games played by subscribers instead of purchased as downloads or disks, and its $4.99 monthly price could wind up boosting ranks of players.

Apple Arcade, which launches Thursday, rides a trend of video games played by subscribers instead of purchased as downloads or disks, and its $4.99 monthly price could wind up boosting ranks of players.

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Apple Arcade could boost ranks of video game players

Apple Arcade could boost ranks of video game players

Glenn Chapman,

Agence France-Presse

Published Sep 19, 2019 02:54 PM PHT

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