Apple Arcade Adds 15 New Games While Netflix Loses Exclusive Rights Over 2 Major Rockstar Games
Apple Arcade and Netflix bring varying strategies to capture a share of the mobile gaming segment with smart choices and exciting titles backing them up.
- Apple Arcade adds a host of new titles for its subscribers to enjoy with no advertisements and in-app purchases allowing it to deliver a very desirable experience on its devices.
- Netflix is taking a cautious approach, selecting titles that it sees as good bets while avoiding ones that are available on other platforms like consoles and PCs.
- Both companies' interest in mobile gaming indicates a rapidly evolving segment of modern gaming that could see a lot of growth in the near future.
A lot has been happening for Apple Arcade and Netflix in the mobile gaming segment this week. With both companies vying to grab a slice of a very lucrative pie as far as mobile gaming is concerned, their respective approaches to making the best titles available for their consumers have brought up several interesting talking points.
While recent developments may seem to have Netflix on the back foot, especially in light of exciting new additions to Apple Arcade, there is a lot of nuance on display in the manner in which both companies are approaching a segment of gamers who have been getting their due in recent years.
Apple Arcade Makes a Play for Greatness
With its mobile phones becoming mini-computers in their own right, Apple Arcade has been an attempt by the American giant to bring increasingly engaging experiences to its gaming subscription services, following an approach that immediately draws comparisons to Sony’s PlayStation Plus on consoles with several titles that are exclusive to the service and playable only on its own devices.
Netflix, on the other hand, has taken an approach similar to PlayStation Plus’ rival Xbox Game Pass, with availability across multiple platforms being boosted by the presence of highly popular titles that the company hopes to leverage in order to expand its player base. However, the exit of one particular franchise may be quite a blow to that endeavor considering its popularity with fans on either mobiles, consoles, or PC.
What’s New for Apple Arcade and Netflix?
The addition of several new titles to Apple Arcade is good news for its player base who enjoy the service’s focus on titles that release without microtransactions to ensure progress while ensuring a wide selection of games from indie studios to have something on offer no matter what a gamer’s individual preferences may be.
Some of the service’s latest additions include titles like Talking Tom Blast Park, Resolution Games’ Gears & Goo for the Apple Vision Pro, and Square Enix’s excellent remake of Final Fantasy IV – alongside other titles that are sure to bring more players to the table for the service. Committed to ensuring a level playing field for all of its subscribers, the titles are all free of advertisements and data tracking functions while integrating Game Center and iCloud’s functionalities.
However, Netflix’s own subscription service for mobile gaming seems to have hit a roadbock with Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition leaving the platform after nearly a year of entertaining its player base. With no extensions on its licence, players will have to purchase each title in the trilogy before being able to access them from December this year.
However, it is interesting that GTA: San Andreas will continue to remain on Netflix’s service with its licence intact, a clever move from the platform considering that the title accounted for a significant portion of the franchise’s player base on mobiles.
With the trilogy’s mobile versions receiving a lot of praise for their meaningful improvements that have even prompted Rockstar to port them over to consoles and PC, Netflix seems to be strategically choosing titles that can assist its grwoth rather than simply choosing to fill out the number of options it has on offer for its subscribers.
It is an interesting contrast in the approaches that Netflix and Apple Arcade are taking to mobile gaming, showcasing a lot of faith in a segment that is increasingly growing in value with Nintendo’s Switch 2 and Ayaneo’s latest device slated for a 2025 release.
The value of mobile gaming in an evolving industry is quickly rising, and it will be interesting to see how the segment brings novel experiences to gamers who like some entertainment on the go in the coming years.
