i3 - July/August 2019 - 22

is starting to evolve. After digitizing gaming
software over the last decade, the industry
is now starting to digitize its hardware."

It's Game on with Apple Arcade

While Apple has incorporated game developers like Epic Games and its Infinity Blade
mobile franchise into past press conferences, the company has never gone all-in
with gaming until now. Apple is launching
a subscription-based service this fall that
will immediately impact the free-to-play
mobile, desktop and TV gaming ecosystems, which has enticed huge audiences
from franchises like Candy Crush, Fortnite
and Hearthstone with the ability to generate
income through in-game purchases.
Apple has not confirmed its subscription
pricing, leaving fans wondering if there will
be a handpicked collection of all-you-canplay games with no ads, additional purchases or ad tracking. The service will feature
new and original games from studios of all
sizes, as well as exclusives from veteran game
creators like Hironobu Sakaguchi (the Final
Fantasy series), Ken Wong (Monument
Valley) and Will Wright (The Sims series).
"The App Store is the world's biggest and
most successful game platform. Now we are
going to take games even further with
Apple Arcade, the first game subscription
service for mobile, desktop and the living
room," says Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice
president of worldwide marketing. "We are
working with some of the most innovative
game developers in the world to create over
100 new and exclusive games to play across
iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV."
Apple is not just handpicking the games
in Apple Arcade, but also contributing to
the development costs and working closely
with creators to bring the games to life.
The service will feature games from Bossa
Studios, Cartoon Network, Finji, Giant
Squid, Konami, Mistwalker, ustwo games
and dozens more.
Apple Arcade will introduce a collection
of brand-new games that will not be available on any other mobile platform or in any
other subscription service. Rather than pay
up front for each game, a subscription will
give players the opportunity to try any
22

JULY/AUGUST 2019

game in the service without risk. Since every game includes access to the full
experience, including all game features, content and future updates, no additional purchases will be required. Every game is playable offline, and many
games offer support for game controllers. Because subscribers can play Apple
Arcade games across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV, they can pick up where
they left off in a game, even if they switch devices. New games will be added
to the service on a regular basis.
"The subscription-based service is a deviation from what has allowed Apple
to become an absolute juggernaut in the industry: by offering premium titles
for a fixed monthly fee, it effectively forfeits the free-to-play revenue that
drives its success," says Super Data Research's van Dreunen. "Nevertheless,
Apple is looking to build on its success in mobile gaming by adding a new
business model and playing a more significant role outside of mobile."

Sony Confirms 2020 Launch for Next Gen PlayStation

While PlayStation 4 remains the best-selling console of the current generation of hardware (over 96 million units sold), Sony has spent the past
four years developing its next PlayStation device. The PlayStation 5,
which is the anticipated name for the latest in Sony's long line of successful hardware, will ship in 2020.
Sony skipped the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) for the first time.
But the hardware giant confirmed its next generation console is heading to
store shelves next year via an exclusive Wired Magazine interview with
Mark Cerny, Sony's PlayStation architect.
Sony recently shipped development kits to game studios worldwide, so games
are in the works from both internal Sony studios and external developers, with
titles that will take advantage of the machine's powerful new AMD chips. For
those techies out there, the CPU (central processing unit) is AMD's Ryzen line,
while the graphics processing unit (GPU) is AMD's Radeon Navi technology.

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i3 - July/August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - July/August 2019