Apple is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to secure new games for its forthcoming Apple Arcade subscription service, with its total budget likely to exceed $500 million, according to the Financial Times.
The report, citing several people involved in the project's development, claims Apple is incentivizing developers by spending several million dollars each on most of the more than 100 games that have been selected to be available on Apple Arcade when the service launches later this year.
While the report claims games on Apple Arcade will not be available on Android or through other subscription-based gaming services, it says developers will be permitted to release their games on PCs or other games consoles such as the Nintendo Switch or PlayStation after a few months of exclusivity.
Apple Arcade will feature titles from well-known brands such as Disney, Sega, Lego, Cartoon Network, and Konami, as well as indie studios such as Snowman, Annapurna Interactive, WayForward, and Klei Entertainment.
Apple has yet to reveal pricing for its Arcade service, slated to launch in fall 2019 in more than 150 countries across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. All games on Apple Arcade will be fully-featured, all-you-can-play experiences, with no ads and no in-app purchases necessary.
Apple Arcade will be accessible via a dedicated tab in the App Store.
