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[Bullet Club]

Apple planning $4.99/month price for Arcade game subscription service after free trial, works with Family Sharing

Last Saturday, 9to5Mac got access to Apple’s early access program for Apple Arcade, which was announced back in March when the company 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. Now we’ve discovered that Apple Arcade will likely be priced at $4.99 per month.

The early access program was being offered to Apple employees for the symbolic price of 49¢ per month, with a one-month free trial, until the end of the early access period, which was said to be when iOS 13 ships to customers.

Today, I was able to get information about the price of an Apple Arcade subscription to customers. This information is available in one of the APIs used by the App Store app. According to a promotional message found in the service, the price for Apple Arcade will be $4.99 / month, including a one-month free trial. As Apple previously announced, the service will allow access to all members in a Family Sharing account.

Since the price has not been officially announced yet, it’s possible that it will change before the announcement, which is likely going to on September 10, when Apple is expected to hold a special event to announce new iPhones.

Source: 9to5Mac

 

[Vawn]

We are moving toward a future where the only way to play all the games we want is to pay a ton of separate monthly subscriptions each of which forces you to also pay for a ton of games that you don't want - aren't we?

 

[PhilipDoesMatter]

We are moving toward a future where the only way to play all the games we want is to pay a ton of separate monthly subscriptions each of which forces you to also pay for a ton of games that you don't want - aren't we?

Yes we are.

 

[manfestival]

We are moving toward a future where the only way to play all the games we want is to pay a ton of separate monthly subscriptions each of which forces you to also pay for a ton of games that you don't want - aren't we?

Sounds like the whole "Cable TV" service deal in a nutshell. Except now we have more options than just our local providers with PS Vue, sling TV, and etc.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

We are moving toward a future where the only way to play all the games we want is to pay a ton of separate monthly subscriptions each of which forces you to also pay for a ton of games that you don't want - aren't we?

Except there is a critical flaw to that plan; game developers are finding out that it takes a lot of resources to sustain a subscription. They actually had to do work to keep people paying every month. Subscription cuts both ways. FFXIV is earning money, but they are working their ass off to get that privilege.

 

[DESTROYA]

I’ll stick to PC and console gaming , haven’t seen any iOS game worth enough to start a subscription service over, they did say they will have some original game content but if I want to do gaming on the go I’ll stick to my Switch.

 

[LordOfChaos]

That's not bad.

I do think they should do an updated Apple TV bundle with a game controller and some months/a year of Arcade thrown in. An actively cooled A10X is performant, but an actively cooled A12X, or A13X? That would be a screamer, and now they've incentivized making better experiences for it, over the typical freemium mobile fare.

 

[shaddam]

Wonder how game developing will change. More grind hoping for a next months sub?

 

[Neff]

We are moving toward a future where the only way to play all the games we want is to pay a ton of separate monthly subscriptions each of which forces you to also pay for a ton of games that you don't want - aren't we?

And the amazing part is that I remember a ton of people asking for this here only a few years ago.

 

[joe_zazen]

We are moving toward a future where the only way to play all the games we want is to pay a ton of separate monthly subscriptions each of which forces you to also pay for a ton of games that you don't want - aren't we?

Sounds a lot like cable tv.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Apple has worked hard at trying to make mobile gaming a thing, probably after seeing the success that Nintendo has but it always feels like a backup to Apple's primary focus' (laptops, itunes etc.)