Six years after launch, Apple Arcade is striving for a bigger audience

In 2019, Apple Arcade launched with roughly 70 premium mobile games that had no ads, no in-app purchases, and no sex or violence. Some of the games in the initial launch period, like What the Golf?, were praised for their innovation and depth beyond what’s typically expected of mobile games. In the six years since, Apple Arcade has grown its game offerings, and while it maintains its credo of family-friendly content, its library no longer garners the same critical praise.

Alongside Netflix’s mobile games subscription service, it seems that Apple Arcade has shifted its focus toward titles that offer endless engagement with little depth. However, Apple Arcade senior director Alex Rothman doesn’t necessarily see that as the case. Instead, he says the shift has come from trying to satisfy such a varied audience.

“Apple has a very large customer base,” said Rothman. “There’s no narrow lane that we can operate in and satisfy the broad base of Apple users.” That broad base has led to a multifaceted strategy of game acquisitions for the service. In response to player feedback, in 2021 Arcade expanded beyond exclusive titles and started bringing in classic games like sudoku, chess, and more. Then it took the games already popular on the App Store, like Fruit Ninja and Stardew Valley, and brought them to Arcade with their ads and in-app purchases removed.

“Today, we offer a pretty broad and deep catalog of more than 250 family-friendly games from across genres,” Rothman said. Arcade continues to grow and add games every month, and works on supporting the games already within the service. Apple also connects its partner developers with big IP holders for collaboration opportunities. That’s how Hello Kitty Island Adventure got made.

“I think Hello Kitty is an interesting story,” Rothman said. He detailed how the indie developer Sunblink first launched a game called Heroish on Apple Arcade in 2022. Rothman said that Heroish was “very high quality” and thought Sunblink would make a great partner to bring a Hello Kitty game to Arcade. “We were able to put Sunblink together with Sanrio to do something really special,” Rothman said. “There have been many attempts at creating Hello Kitty games over the years, none of which were really very successful until we matched Sunblink with [Sanrio].”

And while Hello Kitty Island Adventure has enjoyed great success, winning Apple Arcade Game of the Year in the App Store Awards in 2023 and being ported to consoles earlier this year, its existence is also part of a growing shift toward games attached to big, attention-drawing IP. On September 4th, Apple is launching NFL Retro Bowl ’26, a game that came about by connecting indie studio New Star R&D with the NFL. Earlier releases this year include titles from Play-Doh, the PGA Tour, Angry Birds, Lego, and Uno.

“By no means are we going all into only IP,” Rothman said. “It’s a broad mix, because we have a broad player base.” And while Rothman understands the criticisms Arcade has faced, he says Apple is invested in Arcade for the long haul. “We care very deeply about games,” he said. “Not just the Arcade team, it’s across the company.”

Apple Arcade was once seen as a home for premium mobile games that no longer had a place in the App Store. And while some indie darlings still come to the platform, overall the focus on a broader audience has meant a big change in the kinds of experiences released on Arcade compared to when it first launched. Apple may not only want recognizable properties and family-friendly games, but they are the kinds of experiences that dominate the service right now. However, there may be reason to be excited for the future.

Rothman says Apple is selective and exacting in its selection of games to add to Arcade, and notes that the games coming later in the year are something to look out for. “Keep your eyes peeled,” he says, “because there’s lots of great stuff coming.”