Apple Arcade Release Date Annoucned

Apple has announced the release date and price for their mobile game subscription service Apple Arcade at their keynote today.

Apple Arcade will be launching in over 150 countries (including Canada!) on September 19th, 2019 for a monthly fee of $4.99 USD ($5.99 CAD) a month. If you’re on the fence Apple is offering a 1-month free trial where you can try all the games included and carry over your progress if you decide to subscribe.

Apple Arcade will work on all the major Apple platforms including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and iMac.

Apple Arcade being discussed on stage at the keynote today.

Over 100 games will be available at launch including unnanounced titles like a new Frogger entitled Frogger in Toy Town from Q-Games famous for their Pixel-Junk series and Shinsekai: Into The Depths from Capcom.

Several indies I’ve personally been excited for are coming to Apple Arcade like the gorgeous turn-based strategy game Overland and 3D visual novel Necrobarista, two of the coolest games I got to play at Gamescom last month.

Some developers are skeptical about how much Apple is paying out to indie developers and whether Apple Arcade will become another exploitative service.

I'm not… sure… about Arcade?

Like if Apple is going to keep shelling out for them, I can kinda see a way forward, but I'm really concerned they're going to just shrug, stop paying, and tada, they've Spotify'ed premium mobile.

Apple doesn't give a shit about games, remember?

— Megan Fox (@glassbottommeg) September 10, 2019

But many other developers whose games were announced are excited about the partnership and feel they’re getting a good deal.

I'm so happy to announce that Manifold Garden will be available on @AppleArcade! Our game @ManifoldGarden has been in development for almost 7 years, and it's exciting to see that we will be crossing the finish line soon. Thank you all for the support over the years. #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/qmV6u4nMf0

— William Chyr (@WilliamChyr) September 10, 2019

We'll have more to say about this very, very soon.

Thank you. 🍏📱❤

— ROUTE 59!!! on Switch NOW!! 💀☕ (@route59games) September 10, 2019

We can finally share the big news. My adventures are coming to Apple Arcade super soon! 🤓 #AppleEvent https://t.co/weSKJJDPZj pic.twitter.com/C4ZyJPRgb8

— Jenny LeClue – Detectivu (@JennyLeClue) September 10, 2019

I’m peronally excited for Apple Arcade. I think Xbox Gamepass set an impressive standard for gaming subscription services earlier this year with Game Pass Ultimate, giving me access to some amazing AAA and indie games across my desktop and Xbox One.

If Apple Arcade can manage to be the Game Pass of mobile games by helping bring the best mobile games to the forefront (and not fuck over developers) than I could see it becoming a core part of my and many other’s mobile experience.