Apple announced Apple Arcade back in March when it held its special event dedicated to Services. Apple Arcade will allow iOS, Mac, and Apple TV users to pay a flat monthly fee and access a bundle of otherwise paid apps through the App Store.
Apple is currently running an internal early access program for its employees, charging a small subscription of $0.49/mo, with one month free trial. It says the testing program ends with the launch of iOS 13.
Today, 9to5Mac was able to gain access to this Apple Arcade early testing program on the Mac App Store. The process starts with a welcome page that highlights some of the content available through the subscription. It’s likely the page will be very similar when the product launches, presumably with the release of iOS 13 to the public in mid-September.
There’s a big button that allows the user to start a free 1-month trial of the service, which is also likely to be available to the general public when released. The price will most likely not be the 49¢ per month though. That’s likely just a temporary price for the internal testing period. We don’t have information about the price of the Apple Arcade subscription that will be offered to Apple customers.
After the subscription is confirmed and the trial starts, a new page shows up with featured games. To download a game, it’s as easy as clicking the “Get” button, just like downloading a free app or game from the App Store. The game’s product highlights a big artwork with a small section for the game’s title and tagline, with the download button easily accessible. Scrolling down reveals a bar with information such as the age rating, category and size of the game, the rest of the page is similar to any regular App Store product page.
Here are some of the games currently highlighted in Apple Arcade:
Way of the Turtle: “Play as two curious turtles lost on a cursed island in the middle of nowhere. Obtain shells containing special powers such as dash and attack to defeat enemies and overcome different challenges”.
Down in Bermuda: “Adventurous aviator Milton left his loving wife and daughter to voyage across the Atlantic on the journey of a lifetime.”
Hot Lava: “Hot Lava transports you back to your childhood imagination. Relive those moments of excitement, joy and chaos. Run, jump, climb and surf in first person across nostalgia-packed environments flooded with hot molten lava.”
Other titles currently highlighted are “Sneaky Sasquatch”, “Kings of the Castle”, “Frogger in Toy Town” and “Lame Game 2”. Most games are still in-development builds, as mentioned in their descriptions. When Apple announced the service back at its services event in March, they promised 100+ titles and that number is still highlighted in the marketing copy presented to users.
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