It won't take many more Apple Arcade '+' games before it risks becoming a problem

I've long said — and continue to say — that some of Apple's services are among the best value propositions around. That is very much the case with Apple TV+, priced at just $4.99 and home to some of the best content on TV. With Apple Arcade, things are a little more complicated. Because while I love some of the games I've played, the list of new releases has become troublesome. At least some weeks, where releases aren't all that new.

Apple Arcade, for those unaware, is Apple's $4.99 per month subscription service that gives iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV gamers access to tons of games without any additional cost. The games are free to download from the App Store and are completely free of ads and in-app purchases. Some of the games in Apple Arcade were clearly designed with it in mind, and those are among the best. And then we have games that weren't and, largely, aren't.

And then we have the '+' games. Some of which don't even get iPhone game controller support.

An example of a '+' game is Crossy Road+, a game recently released. It's a remake of the Crossy Road that's been available in the App Store for a good long while now, except that it's been "re-imagined for Apple Arcade." That, like I mentioned earlier, means that all ads and in-app purchases have been stripped out to make it work in the Apple Arcade model. The same goes for other games including Thumper: Pocket Edition+ and others. They're cool, sometimes good, often great games. But they're games that we've all played before — and often paid good money to do it, too.

As one Reddit user said recently, "those plus-games are not why I'm subscribed to Apple Arcade. Hopefully they have some more newer titles in line soon." Another points out that some of the games that used to have in-app purchases, and now don't, make it glaringly obvious they were supposed to be there. And games without the dreaded '+' are affected, too.

Even non plus games like Zookeeper world were clearly designed with p2w in mind even though no actual microtransactions were involved. Hurts me to see that using AA this type of game design is touted as the new normal.

What people really want from Apple Arcade is great, original gaming like Fantasian rather than rehashed versions of games that have already done their time at the top of the best-seller charts. At the time of writing, eight of the last 18 Apple Arcade releases — according to the App Store — were '+' titles. That's pretty grim, especially as gamers look for quality releases rather than games they played once. Sure, new people are playing these games for the first time. But a ton aren't — and if Apple keeps the '+' train rolling it could run the risk of alienating the group of people it needs most — early adopter gamers with money to spend on a game subscription service for their phone.