In an interview with PolygonCarson Oliver, Apple’s new head of the global App Store, Carson Oliver, discusses the company’s broader gaming ambitions, the growing number of popular iPhone games, and where Apple Arcade fits into its strategy. This is what he said.
The new head of the App Store talks about the App Store’s gaming
Apple’s ambition to be seen as a proper gaming platform owner isn’t exactly new. In recent years, the company has made several attempts to attract major game developers and convince players to seriously play games on its devices, with varying degrees of success.
And those efforts show. As Apple has highlighted many times during WWDC keynotes and product announcements, the company has introduced hardware-accelerated light tracking, made major improvements to its Metal graphics framework, and developed tools that make it easier to port PC and console games to its platform.
Earlier last week, shortly after the promotion of Carson Oliver as vice president of the App Store, Apple announced Indie Games Week, highlighting seven new and upcoming games for iPhone and iPad, including:
By showing that, Polygon Conduct an email interview with Oliver, who shares interesting details about the state of the game in the App Store and Apple’s plans for the future.
Oliver told Polygon:
“We’ve seen an incredible growth of games coming to the App Store, in general, there are more premium games released in the App Store this year than last year. (…) While many of those games are indie, we’re also seeing more console and PC franchises coming to mobile, as it’s an ever-growing audience for those games. Seven of these games are available at Indie Games Week captured where there’s a variety of games and the iPhone without a secret. Compromise on quality.”
Oliver also touched on the technical improvements that Apple has made over the years, some of which we mentioned above, as well as the role that the younger generation of players has in shaping the mobile gaming market.
According to Oliver, “all gamers” grew up with the iPhone as their first gaming device, rather than a traditional console or PC.
He added:
“These users embrace direct touch as their primary controller, making the iPhone and iPad the ultimate canvas for indie innovation.”
for Apple Arcade, and it fits with Apple’s broader gaming strategy along with increasing the number of popular games launched directly in the App Store, Oliver said. Polygon It comes from giving game developers more flexibility:
“We want to give developers a reliable place to reach users around the world, support them every step of the way, and help them build a successful business. (…) To achieve this goal, we give developers a flexible business model. That means that a broken phenomenon like Balatro can grow as a popular download, and it can also find a home as part of the Apple Arcade service. Play the way they want.”
To read Oliver’s full interview with Polygonwhich also touches on the discovery of the App Store, and the type of games that find success on Apple’s platform, Follow this link.
