Apple changes App Store rules to allow streaming of game services

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Apple is changing the rules of its App Store to allow game streaming services, which allow people to play video games over the Internet in a similar way to how they stream movies on Netflix. The move marks the iPhone maker’s recognition of the changing ways some people play video games.

Apple said the new rules will allow apps to connect to game streaming services like Sony’s PlayStation Now, Microsoft’s Xbox xCloud, Google’s Stadia, and Nvidia’s GeForce Now. But there is a catch.

Apple will not allow game companies to publish an app like movie and television companies do. Instead, game streaming companies must submit an app for each individual game on their service, which Apple will then review like any of the other 1.8 million shows on the App Store.

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As a result, people who want to use a game streaming service will find its associated games in the Apple App Store, with reviews and ratings like any other app. When they open the game app, it will likely connect to the streaming service and allow them to start playing.

This also means that if a subscription service offers hundreds of games, each one will need a separate application that connects to that service.

“Games offered in a subscription to the game streaming service must be downloaded directly from the App Store, must be designed to avoid duplicate payments by a subscriber, and must not harm non-subscribing customers,” Apple said in its new guidelines. .

The company’s move is Apple’s latest recognition of the way people are rapidly changing the way they interact with entertainment. Several years ago, game subscriptions were a small part of the industry, offered by few companies. But as previous catalogs have grown, game makers say they have realized the opportunity to help people access older games in new ways, including through subscriptions, game streaming, or some combination. .

The move also emphasizes Apple’s power in the games industry. Although the iPhone and iPad are not typically considered traditional video game consoles, the devices are used by more than 1 billion people in 175 countries. And games are one of the most popular things people do on devices. That makes Apple devices, as well as those powered by Google’s Android software, an attractive opportunity for console makers like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.

The new iPhone maker rules also go into effect just before the company is expected to release its iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 software for your iPhones and iPads. Apple is also expected to announce a new set of iPhones sometime in the next few weeks, with a new design and promising superfast 5G wireless speeds.

Developers and tech companies say that the promised speeds of 5G make streaming games possible while on the go. And some tests including a recent one in South Korea, have shown promise.

Meanwhile, Apple’s changed rules mean the company is effectively reversing its previous stance against allowing game streaming services on iPhones and iPads.

From Apple App Store Review Guidelines, which your employees use to decide whether programs submitted to the App Store meet the company’s criteria for security, usability and monetization, previously they did not allow game streaming services. In August, the company said in a statement that it was concerned that it would not be able to review each individual game on a given gaming service. Changes in the company make it possible.

Play with a subscription

Game streaming services first made waves in 2010, when services like OnLive and Gaikai demonstrated that they could stream a game over the Internet. Sony eventually bought both companies, starting its PlayStation Now service in 2014. grown to offer more than 800 titles.

More recently, Microsoft, Google and chipmaker Nvidia have all offered their versions of the technology, driven by subscriptions or individual game purchases or some combination of the two.

Microsoft, for example, plans to offer streaming technology via their Xbox Games Pass Ultimate service for $ 14.99 per month, which gives people access to more than 100 games on Xbox or PC, as well as their social network of games Xbox Live. The company already debuted early access to the service for Android devices, but in August it said Apple’s App Store rules meant Xbox streaming service. cannot run on iPhones or iPads.

“Apple is the only general-purpose platform that denies consumers gaming subscription services and cloud games like Xbox Game Pass,” the company said at the time. Microsoft had no immediate comment on the new policy.

Google and Nvidia declined to comment. Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment.