Rumor: Apple is investing half a billion dollars in game development for Arcade

Apple is reportedly investing half a billion dollars in game development for its new Apple Arcade service. The amount would benefit the development of more than a hundred games. Apple pays, among other things, for temporary exclusivity.

The Financial Times says it has heard from multiple sources that Apple is investing several million dollars per game and that the total budget is probably more than half a billion dollars. Apple would pay developers extra if they temporarily keep their game exclusive to the Arcade service and not release it on other platforms. After a few months, however, the games should also be available on, for example, Android or consoles.

Apple has not officially disclosed how much money is being put into game development for Arcade. At the announcement of the service, the Cupertino company did announce that it invests in developers itself.

Apple Arcade is a subscription service for iOS games that will be released in the fall. These are single player games that do not contain microtransactions or advertising. Players must download the games that Apple offers to play them, it is not a streaming service. For a fixed monthly fee, players get access to a catalog of ‘more than a hundred’ games. Apple has not yet announced a price.

Oceanhorn 2, one of the games coming to Apple Arcade