Apple Announces Apple Arcade Games Streaming Service To Launch In 2019

Google made waves at the Games Developers Conference in San Francisco with the announcement Tuesday of its cloud gaming platform, Stadia. However, it wasn't the only tech giant to catch gamers' attention.

Apple on Monday threw its own hat into the games-streaming ring.

Apple's event included a bevy of new products and services, such as the long-rumored Apple TV+ service and Apple Credit card.

But it also unveiled Apple Arcade, officially entering the lucrative video game market.

Phil Schiller, Apple’s Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing, discussed the subscription-based service on Apple Newsroom.

"The App Store is the world’s biggest and most successful game platform. Now we are going to take games even further with Apple Arcade, the first game subscription service for mobile, desktop and the living room," Schiller said.

Unlike other announced services, Apple Arcade won't be using a streaming model to play games. Instead, the games released on the Arcade will be downloaded from the App Store, eliminating the need for some type of Wi-Fi access.

The games will also be exclusive to Apple Arcade, with Apple taking a more direct approach in selecting and developing games that will be released on the platform.

As part of the move, Apple will also be contributing to the development costs, taking off some of the financial burdens from studios.

Apple didn’t hold back on some of the names it has courted to develop games. Creators like Will Wright and Hironobu Sakaguchi, along with major studios like SEGA, have been revealed as just a few of the names developing games for the new service.

The service will launch later in 2019 in more than 150 countries with over 100 games available at launch across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV.