Game Developers Say Apple Arcade Has ‘Smell of Death’

Some game developers are expressing dissatisfaction with Apple Arcade, saying there is a “smell of death” around Apple’s gaming subscription service, according to a new report from mobilegamer.biz.

Sources tell the publication that the service feels like it’s on life support, noting the differences between the company’s dedication and investment in video and music streaming as opposed to its interest in the games service.

“At the very top of the company, there needs to be a passion and respect for games, and there just isn’t,” one developer said. “It all depends on how much buy-in there is from those guys at the top, and I don’t think they really value Arcade or invest in it the same way you see them invest in music or TV.”

In the service’s early years, developers apparently profited nicely from it, and Apple initially bragged of generous upfront payments to devs, and early reports suggested it was helping indie developers flourish.

“Despite its imperfections, we’re very very happy Arcade exists. It has made premium games viable on mobile,” one game studio executive said, explaining that his company would not exist without Apple Arcade.

The report claims that the service’s payouts to developers have been sliding for several years, starting in October 2020. Upfront payment amounts, as well as the Apple Arcade per-play “bonus pool,” have plunged, and Apple is evasive when asked how payouts are calculated. This aligns with a report we shared in July 2020 that suggested Apple was changing its focus for Apple Arcade to emphasize more “engaging” titles that would make subscribers want to stick around.

“They have this opaque metric that they call a qualifying session, and bonus pool payments are made based on that,” one source said. “But no one knows what a qualifying session actually is — it has something to do with if the game was launched, how long the player played for, and how often they return. But it’s a black box, really.”

Games with shorter narratives and premium independent titles are earning less than games that offer longer-term involvement. This has led to the slow but sure loss of certain types of games from the service. Apple is also favoring family-friendly intellectual property, with only a few original games being greenlit for the service unless they meet Apple’s family-friendly requirements.

While some developers spoke positively about their relationship with Apple Arcade, other developers say the company can best be described as “vindictive” or “spiteful” in its dealings with devs.

Some developers say that Apple Arcade management has been vague about its overall direction and that the managers often stop replying to developer emails. “I got the sense they didn’t really know where they were going with it all — almost like they weren’t sure if they’d have jobs at the end of it,” one studio representative said.

Developers also complain that getting marketing support to give them a featured banner on the App Store is difficult. “We have to basically beg for featuring from Apple. Getting that banner featuring at the top is like squeezing blood from a stone,” said one developer.

Apple canceled a large number of Apple Arcade projects back in April 2021 and is now facing competition from Netflix’s move into gaming subscriptions. That has Apple considering another “reboot” of the service, but the service’s long-term future is still quite hazy.