iOS is one of the largest gaming platforms in the world, and Apple makes a lot of revenue from third-party games sold through the App Store. But it doesn’t always do a great job of promoting (or preserving) high-quality games or encouraging innovation and creativity. That may soon change, according to a new report.
A news story by 9to5Mac, based on “reliable sources familiar with the matter,” claims the company is working on a new app that will largely emulate the structure and purpose of the App Store, but will be devoted entirely to games. It will also incorporate elements of Game Center, but won’t replace it.
The site’s sources say the app, like the App Store, will be based on a tabbed interface: there will be one named Play Now, focused on curated suggestions and editorial content, while others will list the user’s games and friends, and offer challenges, events, and achievements. It will cover games that are part of the Apple Arcade subscription service, as well as the free and paid-for games currently accessible via the App Store.
So far, it just sounds like a reorganization of existing features from the App Store’s Games and Arcade tabs, and from Game Center. But 9to5Mac believes Apple is experimenting with newer concepts and features, such as ways for gamers to communicate with each other through the integration of iMessage and FaceTime, and mini-games based on App Clips.
This all feels like a promising and sensible move and one that’s long overdue. Lumping apps and games together in a single store and a single interface has always felt like an unhelpful simplification, given the huge variance in iPhone owners’ interest in gaming. A proper games storefront would be a baffling imposition for a large proportion of users, yet a similarly big chunk of the market is shortchanged by the minimal representation currently offered by the main App Store app. It makes sense to create a dedicated store and give users the option to opt in or out.
However, it’s also worth emphasizing that Apple’s mobile games ecosystem has had problems for a long time and that gamers will be understandably skeptical about the idea that the company is finally going to give the medium the attention it deserves. Apple Arcade was conceived to support the innovative game developers who tend to lose out to cloners and scammers on the main App Store but ended up losing its nerve and prioritizing ROI and engagement metrics.
A dedicated games store might be a sensible idea in theory, but it doesn’t address the fundamental issue that the easiest way to make money with an iOS game is to use exploitative casino-style incentives (or copy someone else’s idea). Will the Play Now tab really surface bold, creative new ideas? Or will it end up defaulting back to the games that make Apple the most money?
Still, it’s a nice idea. 9to5Mac’s sources are unsure when the new app is likely to roll out. It could appear later in the iOS 18 update cycle or may become part of iOS 19 from summer 2025.