Apple has made it clear that it's not ready to throw in the towel on Apple Arcade yet, but the service still faces an uphill battle to prove its value.
When Apple Arcade initially launched in 2019, the company decided that its primary draw would be exclusive content. You couldn't get Apple Arcade titles anywhere other than Apple Arcade.
That was its whole thing.
It lauded itself as an incubator for innovative games and an unparalleled gaming experience. And all the content would be unlocked and free of IAP and ads.
Unfortunately, that strategy didn't seem to have the draw power that it hoped for. In 2021, Apple expanded its Arcade offerings to include some big-name IP as well.
Apple Arcade senior director Alex Rothman told The Verge that the service has had to adapt to best serve its audience — a task that is not particularly easy to accomplish.
"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."
Today, Apple offers 250 family-friendly games. The service also adds anywhere between three and ten new games a month.
While some of these games are still Apple Arcade exclusives, many of them are simply "unlocked" versions of existing IP.
This includes much beloved games like Fruit Ninja+ and Stardew Valley+. Fully unlocked and included in the $6.99 per month price tag, they make a solid argument for subscribing to the service.
It also goes out of its way to help new games get developed. Apple has a lot more influence than a small-time studio.
Indie developer Sunblink, who previously made castle defense title Heroish, was tapped by Apple to create another game for Apple Arcade. It was Apple who managed to put Sunblink together with Sanrio, and thus Hello Kitty Island Adventure was born.
'Hello Kitty Island Adventure'
And, the game has actually gained quite a bit of traction. Not only did it land Best Game of the Year at the 2023 App Store Awards, it was also nominated for Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards 2023.
Rothman says that Apple Arcade intends to maintain this strategy of Apple Arcade exclusives, unlocked games, and new IP-driven releases.
"By no means are we going all into only IP. It's a broad mix, because we have a broad player base."
And Apple doesn't seem like it's going to abandon Apple Arcade anytime soon, either.
"We care very deeply about games," Rothman told The Verge. "Not just the Arcade team, it's across the company."
Apple Arcade's longevity
To date, this shift in strategy hasn't been enough to "save" Apple Arcade? When Apple Arcade launched, I was very excited to try it out. And I used it — for a while.
I liked a lot of the early titles. I played a ton of The Pinball Wizard, a delightful game that combines the twitch reflexes of pinball with the "no, wait, I can do better!" of roguelikes. That one is gone from the service now.
Rest in peace, The Pinball Wizard — it was removed from Apple Arcade in 2024
I'm a huge fan of the What the...? series. I played way more What the Golf? than I should probably be ready to admit.
I loved Reigns+. For a time, Apple Arcade had me hooked.
However, I eventually stopped playing enough games to justify the subscription. I did what Apple was hoping to avoid — I washed out after about five months.
And that seems to still be the rule, not the exception.
An inside source allegedly told The Information that Apple had about two million users in its first year. This meager success was dampened even further as a quarter of those players were on free trials.
In 2025, it was suspected that Apple Arcade saw anywhere between three and five million users per month. Again, these numbers are a bit juiced — it's likely that a large amount of these users come from Apple One subscriptions.
And that's after it opened the service to existing, "unlocked" IP.
I will be transparent here: I'm probably not Apple's target audience. I'm hardly a gamer, save for the ten hours a week I log in Hearthstone.
Hearthstone on iPhone
Gaming is frequently expensive. I don't have a gaming PC, and my Steam Deck has sat on my dresser so long that there's now a fine layer of dust on it.
And I've never been one to play a lot of games on mobile. I'm rapidly approaching 40, so games that require lightning-fast reflexes on small screens aren't particularly appealing to me.
It also takes a lot of time. I don't have the time I used to when I was younger.
But then again, maybe I am Apple's target audience.
Apple Arcade, at least at launch, offered games with a decent amount of substance. There were plenty of narrative-driven titles and puzzles, and many didn't expect you to sink hundreds of hours into them, either.
And it was $4.99 at launch — hardly expensive. Even now, $6.99 for a play-all-you-want for a library of more than 250 games seems pretty reasonable.
But I still haven't gone back.
For me, personally, it's a mix of reasons. Yes, I don't play games as much as I used to — but even if I did, Apple Arcade wouldn't be that appealing.
The service overwhelmingly caters to children. While Apple calls all of its titles "family friendly," a lot of titles are geared towards elementary-aged — or younger — kids.
Crayola Scribble Scrubbie Pets+ | Image Credit: Apple
Games like Crayola Scribble Scrubbie Pets+, Play-Doh World, My Talking Tom+, and a veritable smorgasbord of Lego titles litter Apple Arcade. And I'm glad that Apple includes titles for very young kids — but there are just so many.
And even games that aren't catered to kids often look like they are. And I'm not saying that I need violence, blood, or gore to enjoy a game.
I'm saying that I don't really want my games to look like they were designed by Fisher Price. And this is coming from someone who has probably logged at least a thousand hours in the Katamari series.
Frankly, a lot of titles on Apple Arcade just look cheap.
And I think that's probably one of the bigger issues. Adults overwhelmingly don't see the value in the service.
Balatro+
When Balatro+ came out, I briefly debated reactivating my Apple Arcade subscription. As I've previously demonstrated, I'm a sucker for a card game. I've spent nearly 300 hours in another roguelike card game: Slay The Spire
But then I remembered that you could just buy Balatro for Steam. So I did that instead.
I love the idea of a library of games free of IAP and ads that you pay a low subscription fee to access. That idea is less appealing when the library is lacking in games you want to play.
I may eventually go back to Apple Arcade. Maybe it'll release a game that I absolutely can't live without.
It's possible. Maybe.
Apple Arcade was always going to be a hard sell. The service hasn't found its equivalent of "Severance" or "Ted Lasso," the way Apple TV+ has.
Until it does, I don't anticipate that Apple Arcade is going to become a household name.
