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Is Apple going to ruin indie gaming for consoles and PC?

The new video game subscription service for iOS plans to start buying exclusives, forcing consoles and PC to wait several months.

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Unlike Google Stadia, the annoucement of Apple Arcade last month didnt make much of a ripple in most video game circles.

The new subscription service allows you to play all of its games offline, without any ads, in-app purchases, or user data tracking – which is interesting but perhaps difficult to get excited about at this point, until you realise just how much money Apple are putting into it.

According to The Financial Times, via MacRumors, the service has a budget of over $500 million just to secure exclusive games, which could severely affect the release of games on other formats.

The approach is similar to the way Epic Games has tried to secure exclusives for its new PC store and could radically change how indie games are released on consoles and PC.

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Apparently several million dollars will be spent on over 100 games in the launch year. But while the exclusivity is primarily aimed at keeping the apps off the Google Play store, PC and console versions will still only be allowed after a few months of exclusivity.

A number of games highlighted in the Apple Arcade reveal – including Overland, Sayonara Wild Hearts, The Artful Escape, and The Pathless – had already been announced for other formats, so whether that means theyll now be delayed and forced to appear on Apple Arcade first is unclear.

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