After its most recent release, is Apple suddenly serious about gaming?

New games coming to Mac and other Apple platforms in 2024 (Photo by Stephen Silver).
Last updated 10 hours agoApple is the leader in mobile gaming due to the iPhone’s widespread use. However, the desktop market share is tiny. Apple has big plans in 2024. We got a glimpse of some of the things that are coming. Apple has taken a number of steps to improve its gaming position, especially on the Mac. Microsoft took “Halo”, a game that Apple had developed, out from under them in 2000. Apple has made a few noises since then about boosting Mac gaming. However, most of them have not amounted to much. Apple has been making noises about boosting Mac gaming since the launch in 2019 of Apple Silicon. Apple has been promoting the gaming capabilities of MacBooks since 2023, when the Apple Silicon M3 was released. Apple announced at the June World Wide Developers Conference several moves to increase the company’s gaming relevance. Most of these were made possible by Apple Silicon. Apple announced several high-profile AAA games for Apple platforms, such as Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows and 11 Bit Studios’ Frostpunk 2. Capcom’s Resident Evil 7 Biohazard and PocketPair’s Palworld. These games are already available, and more will be released in the second half 2024. Apple announced that Game Mode will soon be available for iOS and iPadOS. Previously, it was only available on Mac OS. Game Mode helps games run at their maximum capacity by kicking into action when the game is launched, and providing higher and consistent frame rates. Other gaming-related WWDC news included Personalized Spatial Audio, improvements to macOS Sequoia’s Mac App Store, and Game Porting Toolkit 2, which makes it easier for developers to port games from Windows. Apple began to speak at WWDC about a “Unified Gaming Platform,” encouraging developers to see the Apple ecosystem as a single platform, rather than three. What’s next for Apple in gaming? Will this desktop gaming push be more successful than other efforts? Apple’s current position It is unclear where Apple stands in terms of gaming market share. Apple does not publish its own statistics. Since years, it has been obvious that Apple is the leader in the mobile space. According to data released by S&P Global, Apple’s gaming revenue in 2022 was $14.8 billion. This ranked Apple a distant second, behind Tencent, and ahead of Alphabet. Nintendo was also a distant second. Apple’s gaming revenue is primarily driven by its mobile gaming strength, which is fueled by commissions from downloads and in app purchases. Apple has been lagging behind PCs for a long time in terms of gaming revenue. Apple’s recent actions, leading up to WWDC 2024 in June, indicate that it is trying to close this gap. I was able to attend a recent showcase of games that were recently announced for Mac and Apple platforms. Demos of new games were shown, including “Frostpunk 2″, Hoyoverse’s Zenless Zone Zero”, and Blizzard’s Diablo Immortal. I also saw demos of games that worked seamlessly on iOS, iPadOS and macOS. Frostpunk 2 from 11 Bit Studios. (Photo by Stephen Silver).I played “Frostpunk 2”, a survival game set in the 30th year after an apocalyptic event. Publishers have referred to it as a “society-survival game.” The graphics and world-building looked impressive on a MacBook Pro. 11 Bit Studios, the publisher of “Frostpunk 2”, announced at the end June that the release of the game had been delayed by three months. Zenless Zone Zero from HoYoverse. (Photo by Stephen Silver). Another highlight was “Zenless Zone Zero,” a game with an anime style that I played on my iPad. It featured convincing streetfighting action in a fictional Asian city called New Eridu. Overall, the demonstrations showed that in the Apple Silicon age, things are better for developers who can now port games easier and aim for just one platform, instead of three. Port in progress I was also able to see the Game Porting Toolkit 2 which is being used to translate “Control: Ultimate Edition” which is due to be released in 2024. Control: Ultimate Edition as seen in Steam’s interface. (Photo by Stephen Silver).Software called CrossOver was used to run Microsoft apps on a Mac and port Windows games to Mac ecosystem. When will we see the big games? “Assassin’s creed shadows” will be available on the Mac on the same date and time as PCs and consoles. “Frostpunk 2”, originally scheduled for July, will now be released on Apple and other platforms on September 20. It is available to preorder on the App Store. “Palworld”, “Control: Ultimate Edition” and “Palworld”, will be available on Apple’s platform at a future date, which is yet to be determined. Palworld from PocketPair on MacBooks “Resident Evil 7 Biohazard is now available.” What we didn’t See One of the most noticeable aspects of the showcase was that Apple Vision Pro was not included. This shows that the developers at the showcase do not consider Apple Vision Pro a priority. Apple Intelligence was a major part of the keynote, but it was not highlighted. This shows that AI’s future in gaming is still a long way off. What it means is that AAA game makers have clearly bought into this new strategy, and see potential in developing for Apple platforms. It is yet to be seen if the gaming public will embrace this new strategy in large numbers. Some recent AAA games, such as “Death Stranding”, “Assassin’s creed mirage”, and other big titles from major publishers have not performed well in the App Store. Apple’s test will be to see if better games and increased interest from developers can help close the gap.