iOS is one of the magnanimous play platforms in the world , and Apple clear a lot of revenue from third - party games sell through the App Store . But it does n’t always do a outstanding line of work of promoting ( orpreserving ) high-pitched - quality games or encouraging innovation and creativeness . That may before long change , according to a raw report .
A news account by9to5Mac , establish on “ honest sources intimate with the matter , ” exact the companionship is working on a new app that will for the most part emulate the structure and purpose of the App Store , but will be devoted entirely to game . It will also incorporate elements of Game Center , but wo n’t replace it .
The land site ’s sources say the app , like the App Store , will be based on a tabbed interface : there will be one namedPlay Now , focused on curated prompting and editorial substance , while others will list the user ’s games and friends , and offer up challenge , events , and achievements . It will cover game that are part of the Apple Arcade subscription table service , as well as the free and pay - for games presently approachable via the App Store .
So far , it just sounds like a shakeup of existing feature article from the App Store ’s Games and Arcade tabs , and from Game Center . But 9to5Mac believes Apple is experimenting with newer concept and feature , such as ways for gamers to communicate with each other through the consolidation of iMessage and FaceTime , and mini - games based onApp Clips .
This all feels like a bright and sensitive move and one that ’s long delinquent . chunk apps and games together in a single store and a single interface has always felt like an unhelpful reduction , given the Brobdingnagian division in iPhone owners ’ interest in play . A proper game shopfront would be a pose imposition for a large proportion of user , yet a similarly big ball of the market is shortchanged by the minimal representation currently offered by the main App Store app . It makes sentience to make a dedicated stock and give users the option to opt in or out .
However , it ’s also worth emphasizing that Apple ’s fluid games ecosystem has had problems for a long time and that gamers will be intelligibly unbelieving about the idea that the fellowship is in the end going to give the medium the attention it deserves . Apple Arcade was conceived to support the advanced game developer who tend to recede out to cloners and scammers on the principal App Store but ended up mislay its nerve and prioritizing ROI and mesh metrics .
A dedicated games store might be a sensible idea in theory , but it does n’t address the fundamental issue that the easiest way of life to make money with an iOS biz is to utilize exploitative gambling casino - style incentive ( or re-create someone else ’s idea ) . Will thePlay Nowtab really control surface bold , creative novel ideas ? Or will it cease up defaulting back to the games that make Apple the most money ?
Still , it ’s a nice idea . 9to5Mac ’s source are uncertain when the new app is likely to wave out . It could appear later on in the iOS 18 update cycle or may become part of iOS 19 from summer 2025 .
