Apple Arcade, the company’s video game subscription service for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, and Mac computers, will likely cost $4.99 per month when it rolls out this fall. That’s according to 9to5Mac’s Guilherme Rambo, who came across the price in a promotional message buried in an App Store API.
Apple has not yet officially announced Apple Arcade pricing, so it could change by the time the iPhone event comes around in September. It could also theoretically be an introductory offer, but that’s not a tactic that Apple has really used much before. Customers will get a one-month free trial of the service, which will offer a catalog of over 100 games that can be played across Apple’s various platforms and devices.
Games can be stopped on one Apple gadget, like an iPhone, and picked up on another, like the Apple TV. Apple has said that Apple Arcade titles will be free of in-app purchases and subscriptions, won’t contain ads, and will support family sharing for up to six people.
Apple is currently running an early access test of Apple Arcade with its own employees before the service makes its way to consumers this fall. During the test period, employees pay just 49 cents per month and also get the one-month trial.
For context on what Apple charges for its other subscription services, Apple Music and Apple News Plus both cost $9.99 monthly. If the rumored $4.99 price holds, Apple Arcade would be cheaper than both of them.
Comments
This is what I expected it to cost.
By MysteryMii on 08.19.19 12:57pm
I expected it to cost $10 a month but this is what I expected it to cost.
By wigby on 08.19.19 1:33pm
If this allows me to avoid games with loot boxes, I will happily pay the five bucks a month!
By Levy's Beard on 08.19.19 12:59pm
Worth it if it’s any good.
By tg_nyc on 08.19.19 1:04pm
Arcade games…..awesome…not.
I guess that’s all that runs on that lousy Intel iGPU….
By TheEvilFlint on 08.19.19 1:19pm
Does intel make Apple’s GPUs? I thought that was all in house.
I’ve got full console games on my phone too though. iPhones are powerful for games.
By VisionaryShaolin on 09.13.19 7:37am
even at $1 I wouldn’t get it
By aarthopoda on 08.19.19 1:21pm
Hot take here! Get your hot takes!
By brianericford on 08.19.19 1:25pm
If these games are good its worth the cost, but there needs to be a consistent flow of good titles to the service to warrant the cost. I just don’t want to see a bunch of current F2P games stripped and repackaged for this service.
By Ragnorak on 08.19.19 1:28pm
Like other services — I see people letting their membership lapse and reconnect in ebbs and flows.
By websnap on 08.19.19 4:04pm
This is a good price. There’s no way they could have charged $10 a month for their selection.in a wolf where Game Pass exists.
By zduboss on 08.19.19 1:37pm
So these are all like mobile games?
By Porcupine-Tree on 08.19.19 1:38pm
So when are we getting a complete Apple Media+ bundle (Music, Games, TV)? I mean at this point it’s inevitable, there’s no way they aren’t already thinking about that.
By MoonbucksTeas on 08.19.19 1:56pm
They need a bundle, or Apple will have to offer Apple TV+ at $4.99 in order to
look reasonable compared to Disney+. Apple’s Content can’t compare to Disney otherwise.
As for Arcade, I don’t play games often enough to justify $9.99/mo.
But $4.99, yes.
By Kyleh on 08.19.19 2:17pm
I think you can replace Apple’s name with just about anyone there, lol.
By websnap on 08.19.19 4:06pm
I would only spend $9.99 if at least one of Apple’s new shows
is as good as Game of Thrones.
By Kyleh on 08.19.19 10:56pm
Yeah, and only for the length of the show. The Cold War-era show about the space race looks promising. My point was just that Disney seems to own most of the desirable content available.
By websnap on 08.20.19 8:45am
I already have Apple Music, Apple News, HBO via the TV app and a paid iCloud
account. With Netflix on top of all that, I don’t
need another Content service. If Apple doesn’t announce a discounted bundle, I might cancel Music, News and HBO for
Disney+ and save money.
By Kyleh on 08.20.19 10:02am
Makes sense (though I couldn’t live without Music). I’m in Canada so I get HBO through the Crave app (conveniently on AppleTV too). While I probably won’t get AppleTV+ until they get a larger library of content, I think I’d cut Netflix for Disney+ before I’d lose Music and HBO.
By websnap on 08.21.19 9:04am
"Apple has not yet officially announced Apple Arcade pricing, so it could change by the time the iPhone event comes around in September."
Or the guy could just flat out be wrong.
By jtfields on 08.19.19 3:15pm
$5 for casual games and tech demos.
By El Vergo on 08.19.19 3:33pm
*5 a month.
But, with that correction noted, "casual games and tech demos" is a nonsense description of what they’ll likely offer.
By brianericford on 08.19.19 4:02pm
The fact that this supports xbox/PS controllers makes this Apple Arcade thing far more interesting…
Next step will be having more enticing games. All I see on the App Store are gem matching games for moms and bs shovelware for kids with generic cartoony characters.
By inteliboy on 08.20.19 5:29am