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The terms of Apple Arcade exclusivity only apply to mobile platforms, and these games could still appear on consoles at a later date, as reported by 9to5Mac.
In last week’s announcement, Apple unveiled Apple Arcade, its new game subscription service that offers over 100 games with additions scheduled every month. It will be ad-free and in-app-purchase-free, and the games are compatible across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. Apple Arcade is priced at $4.99 a month, and a Family Sharing feature allows a maximum of six users to access its library from just one account.
Apple boasted that its games are ‘exclusive’ to Arcade, but it wasn’t quite clear what that meant, because a few of these ‘exclusive’ titles are known to be multi platform releases. The company has since clarified that the exclusivity applies to mobile platforms, so these games definitely won’t appear on Android. Video game consoles are not mobile platforms in Apple’s eyes, so the exclusive games could come to console without dispute.
Sayonara Wild Hearts is one example. It’s also available on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, as well as Apple Arcade. The advantage is that Sayonara Wild Hearts is included in the Arcade subscription, whereas a singular purchase of the game for Switch or PS4 will arguably set you back a few more pennies.
Additionally, the exclusivity agreement means that these games cannot be a part of other subscription services. As such, the games will only be found in the Apple Arcade and won’t be arriving in the App Store, or be included in PS Plus.
Apple Arcade launches today through the App Store. Colm thought Sayonara Wild Hearts was mesmeric, as an endless runner and as a pop album experience. He made a whole song and dance of it while chatting to Josh, and you can hear what he had to say below.
