Apple Arcade’s new annual subscription option includes two months for free

Get a discount by signing up for a full year

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Now you can subscribe toApple Arcade,Apple’s multi-device subscription gaming service, for a year in advance - and if you do, you’ll get two months free.

In other words, instead of re-upping your monthly $5 / £5 / AU$8 subscription fee, Apple’s giving you a $10 discount if you commit to a full year.  The new rate was first spotted byiFun.de.

It’s a crafty move for Apple to lock folks in: the service had its own spot in the limelight atWWDC 2019and went live shortly after the launch of theiPhone 11series, but we haven’t heard much about it since.

That’s partially because of Apple Arcade’s strict criteria to only includenewgames as a way to distinguish itself from other gaming services. And since all games are required to run on current iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple TVs, the service isn’t adding much-hyped AAA titles like, say, those coming toXbox Game Pass. Apple Arcade’s highest-profile launch,Ultimate Rivals: The Rink, is the debut title from studio Bit Fry Games.

Apple Arcade: still a value

Apple Arcade’s pitch was simple: microtransaction-free unlimited play from a launch library of 60-odd games that will slowly expand over time, all for a modest monthly fee. Apple has kept its promise thus far, adding 4-6 new games every month or so across a variety of genres. As of now, the catalog has grown to 86 titles.

Assuming one or two are games you’d actually buy anyway, the service is a bargain. While it doesn’t have AAA titles, it seems to be a promising showcase for smaller, more thoughtful games - an important (though very select) space in a market that sees dozens of indie games go live on digital storefronts every day.

Given gamers’ fickle attention spans as they look from one big release to the next, enticing folks to sign up for a year could be long enough for more consumers to see value in the slowly-growing Apple Arcade - but we’ll have to see how many will be won over for a year of Apple gaming.

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ViaThe Verge

David is now a mobile reporter at Cnet. Formerly Mobile Editor, US for TechRadar, he covered phones, tablets, and wearables. He still thinks the iPhone 4 is the best-looking smartphone ever made. He’s most interested in technology, gaming and culture – and where they overlap and change our lives. His current beat explores how our on-the-go existence is affected by new gadgets, carrier coverage expansions, and corporate strategy shifts.

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