It’s been a minute since we saw something of a big wildcard strategy play from Apple but it’s become clear that the folks at Apple have renewed their efforts to court gamers to the ecosystem.
Big indicator here was the WWDC announcement of MacOS Gaming emulation that temporarily blew up the tech internet with videos of games like Cyberpunk 2077 running on Mac, a previously unthinkable proposition. And not just running, but running well. However, given Apple’s previous endeavors, it was easy to write this off as a one time thing; a side effect of the capabilities unlocked by the M series era of chips. Recall the M1 was demoed with Tomb Raider; a respectable but undemanding game that proved a point nonetheless that an Apple laptop was capable of gaming at a higher level than had previously been taken for granted by the public.
(I wouldn’t be surprised at all if gaming receives a big chunk of the attention at this weeks Scary Fast special event)
And then in September when Apple announced in no uncertain terms that they want iOS to be the best console in the world with a slate of AAA titles like Assassin’s Creed and Resident Evil all playing at full console quality with Console textures on the A17 Pro chip of the iPhone 15 Pro.
iOS is Apple’s biggest platform by far, and one of the most influential platforms in the world. It is also by some measures the largest gaming platform in the world. But it has also been derided by gaming culture as too casual, microtransaction centered, and generally not being legitimate. I am inclined to agree somewhat. Recall the collaboration with Nintendo to bring popular IP to the platform in the form of Super Mario Run and other related titles that failed to generate any large-scale commercial momentum?
I am doubtful that Ubisoft expects Assassins Creed to do the kind of numbers on iOS that they get on PC and console. So why are they getting into the iOS game?
Sure, the software stack is now unified so an iOS port can also be sold on Macs which are finally strong enough to handle games. External display and controller support has finally gotten good. And the ecosystem as a whole has reached a level which can support gaming development. Additionally, Macs are growing ever popular. I would also be surprised if Apple wasn’t doing quite a bit of dealmaking in the background to make this shift happen as well.
But there is something else too…
Vision Pro is the wildcard here. We saw during WWDC users casually sitting back while playing video games over controllers on a massive floating window. If the headset catches on in a big way, it could be the TV of choice for the next generation of users. This would be very bad news for the console industry which relies on the prevalence of TV. This is certainly not a for sure deal. But in many ways, spatial reality displays could shape up to be a 1:1 replacement for home television. It could also be the next computer of choice for people. This is a powerful motivator. Ubisoft and others know that the core fundamentals of their product delivery is at risk. You go where the customers are. and pushing console games onto iOS is a good way to be ready to capture the momentum of the coming boom.
Talking Shop With city_block 