Apple Arcade gotta whole lotta love at today’s Apple Keynote presentation, with new information on its sweet-spot price and a fast-approaching release date, and exclusives from gaming legends like Capcom and Konami. Here’s what we learned.
Apple Arcade launches on September 19 for a puny $4.99 per month with family subscription sharing, meaning it costs five bucks for everyone in your iCloud family to play—a killer deal. In addition, it’s launching with a one-month free trial to nab anyone who is still on the edge. The aim of Apple Arcade is to bring great quality games to Apple users without the exhausting micro-transactions that have plagued the mobile game industry from the start.
Arcade promises a huge library of exclusives from top tier game developers like Konami, Sega, Capcom, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Devolver, and so many more. At the Keynote, Konami showed off a return of the frog with a knack for traffic, Frogger. Launching as Frogger in Toy Town in the Apple Arcade, it will have adorable gameplay, great graphics, some truly cute scenery, and of course, the fan favorite “Baby in Sunglasses.” It feels like a return to the glory days of mobile gaming, when we played the likes of Angry Birds.
Capcom also debuted a gorgeous title called Shinsekai: Into the Depths, which appears to be an underwater platformer with stunning graphics. In addition to these gaming goliaths, Annapurna Interactive revealed that the highly stylized Sayonara Wild Hearts will be coming to Apple Arcade. What’s so wild about this title is that it was originally announced for Nintendo Switch, indicating Apple Arcade may gain some serious traction in the console gaming world.
Love it, hate it, confused by it, regardless—all will become clear in just over a week when Apple Arcade launches in the App Store on September 19.
