- [Narrator] Over 100 games
are now available on Apple Arcade.
So, to celebrate I have put together
a special video for you guys.
I'm gonna give my thoughts on the service thus far
and I've invited four developers to share
their thoughts on Apple Arcade too.
(upbeat music)
Apple Arcade definitely lives up to its name,
being a wonderful place to find games
with a more arcade tone.
The service covers a range of genres,
from action and adventure,
to RPG, multiplayer, and puzzlers.
And while it's definitely missing, or limited
with a few key genres,
(upbeat music)
Okay, I think you get the idea of what I'm going for.
The ones we have so far, offer great stories and gameplay
that can educate and change your way of thinking.
For example, "Assemble with Care" by ustwo games,
taught me about the importance of connecting,
listening and helping others around you.
Then there is "Mosaic", by Krillbite
which showed me the negative effects of social media
in our modern age, how isolating yourself from the world,
can have big negative effects on your mental health.
The surprising game "Grindstone", by Capybara Games.
This might sound ridiculous, but for me the challenging
and brutal puzzle gameplay, was a firm reminder
that persistence can be the key to success in life,
even if you fail and fall back from time to time.
And let us not forget, "Lifelike" by kunabi brother.
Their game was inspired by natural phenomena.
So, it uses calming gameplay techniques,
such as meditation to provide a calming,
hypnotic and soothing feeling for those who are playing.
Apple and the developers are bringing us premium games,
that can change our way of thinking in real life.
Apple is also giving game designers creative freedom,
without the risk that may come along with development.
Jeremy Spillmann from Blindflug Studios the people behind
"Stellar Commanders", recently talked about
this topic on YouTube saying.
- For the first time as a developer
you don't really need to worry about user acquisition
costs or running expenses.
You can just create the game that you want,
the game that will make the players happy
and that is a creative freedom that is extremely liberating.
- [Narrator] My favorite feature of Apple Arcade,
is having the ability to play these games across
a range of Apple devices,
all which have different resolutions, inputs,
and radically different hardware capabilities.
It is a technology feat, that should not go unnoticed.
I love being able to play these games on my television,
and if I want to go portable,
I can just jump onto my iPhone.
Because of iCloud back-up, my progress is usually saved
across all devices, and the games are playable offline,
so I can basically play whenever, and wherever I want.
And, it's a shame, many overlook or judge Apple Arcade
because the catalog of games in their eyes
don't have advanced graphical fidelity
of what you may see on PC or consoles.
In my eyes, it's very clear, that the developers
have spent so much time perfecting
every little aspect of their games.
Just look at "Manifold Garden", William Chyr first started
working on his game back in November 2012,
that's seven years of development.
And during this time the world has evolved
and evolved to what you finally see today.
An unprecedented place where geometry repeats infinitely
in every direction, and falling down leads
you back to where you started.
- First year, first year and a half I was very motivated.
I'd wake up and just be excited to work on the game.
The second or third year, that started to fade
and that's perfectly normal.
I think of this quote often, and I'm paraphrasing a bit,
"If you only write when you're motivated you might be
a pretty good poet but you'll never be a novelist."
That same sentiment applies to long game projects.
- [Narrator] And might I mention Revolution Software's
upcoming "Beyond a Steel Sky",
which is sequel to the 1994 classic, "Beneath a Steel Sky".
According to Charles Cecil who held a conference
at AdventureX 2019, "Beyond a Steel Sky" is their most
ambitious project yet.
- It's such a pleasure to bring back some of the principles
that actually Revolution was founded on and bring them back
into a modern domain using the power of the Unreal Engine.
But in its heart, absolutely unashamedly, an adventure game
where you talk to people, you find out what the story is,
you drive the story through puzzles and that the puzzles
and the character in the world are logical in the way
that they behave.
Very much our most ambitious adventure.
- [Narrator] And I think I should mention the removal
of games having advertisements or in-app purchases.
Because today, more than ever games are plagued
with free-to-play business models, or season passes,
or paying to unlock chests, paying to unlock skins
and power-ups, and it goes on and on.
I'm sick of it, and I think Apple are too.
Apple Arcade hasn't gotten rid of this recent trend,
and I don't think it ever will, but what I do believe,
is that it will inspire more developers to create games
that are not built on gacha game mechanics
and even for gamers to not be persuaded
into supporting this trend either.
And that's my thoughts on the service thus far,
but I also wanted to hear directly from the developers.
So, I've contacted four and asked them this one question,
"What does it mean to you to be a part of Apple Arcade?"
First, Sunnyside Games, who made "Towaga: Among Shadows".
"For us it's simple, it means that we can finally
make the games we always wanted to make.
Without ads, or in-app purchases.
A dream coming true, to be honest.
Apple are really focusing on creating great games.
It's quite fantastic to be a part of this."
Up next we have Marble it Up Collective,
who made "Marble it Up: Mayhem".
"It means to me the chance to make games better
for everyone.
Making games that are really fun
and don't try to manipulate you into monetizing.
Apple is really clear that the number one metric for Apple
Arcade games is people playing them and having fun.
I don't want to see a world where everything is free to play
adware and working with Apple
lets me make a real difference."
Now here is a short video message from we.R.play,
the people behind "Explottens".
- [Narrator] And here is EFECTO STUDIOS,
who made "Decoherence".
"It was very exciting to have this opportunity with Apple
to create a game for a super wide audience
without having to compromise our game
with any of those microtransaction mechanics.
It was challenging too because we had to support gamepad,
touch and mouse and keyboard controls,
but it was totally worth the effort."
What do you think of Apple Arcade so far?
Do you have any suggestions to improve the service?
Do you agree with original statement by Apple,
that it would feature ground-breaking games?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Leave a like if you enjoyed the video
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Apple Arcade videos.
Anyway, thanks for watching.