Apple could be making its biggest foray into gaming yet

Key Takeaways

Apple is potentially developing a new gaming app to combine App Store and Game Center features.
The app could have tabs for finding games, browsing your library, and finding friends, plus potential FaceTime and iMessage integration.
The app has similarities to the Xbox app, and could revolutionize mobile gaming on Apple devices.

Mobile gaming has changed a lot in the past 15–20 years. We went from playing simple games on our phones like the all-time classic Doodle Jump to playing fully fledged AAA games like Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Not only that, but in 2019, Apple launched Apple Arcade, a mobile subscription service full of all sorts of different games you can play across your Apple devices.

Now, it seems Apple is looking to take it one step further in the mobile gaming space. According to 9to5Mac, “reliable sources familiar with the matter” say Apple is working on a new gaming app which combines both features from the App Store and Game Center. The app will not replace Game Center, but rather integrate with the user’s existing Game Center profile.

The app will feature games from both the App Store and Apple Arcade. According to 9to5Mac‘s sources, the app will have multiple tabs users can navigate, including a Play Now tab, presumably for finding and launching games, a tab for your game library, as well as a tab for friends. Apple is also potentially experimenting with integrating FaceTime and iMessage into the new app. I could imagine this integration being found in the friends tab, so players can easily communicate with each other.

A photo of an iPhone on the Apple Arcade free trial screen with a pink hue.

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It sounds like Apple is making an app similar to Xbox

A separate app just for gaming would be a lot of sense

Screenshots of Apple Arcade within the App Store.

Pocket-lint

What Apple is potentially doing here could completely change gaming on Apple devices. A separate app just for playing games and finding Apple Arcade games makes a lot of sense to me, and would be a great way for Apple to create more of a foothold in the gaming space.

So far, the app’s potential features remind me a lot of the Xbox app. On the Xbox app, users can message friends, explore Xbox Game Pass and even remotely install games to their Xbox. Obviously, Apple’s new gaming app will be different, since you can launch and play games on it, but the interactivity of the Xbox apps sounds similar to what Apple is working on.

Also, Apple making a new centralized gaming app on its devices could entice more users to subscribe to its Apple Arcade subscription. The service costs $6.99 a month and lets you play a variety of games across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and Apple TV. Right now, Apple Arcade is integrated within the App Store itself, while this new app could see it basically move out and become a separate, more feature-rich app.

Apple’s move to centralize all its gaming initiatives into one app would be a good move by the Cupertino-based company, and could revolutionize mobile gaming on Apple devices.