Apple rumoured to be preparing fresh run at mobile gaming market

Apple is reportedly making a fresh bid for relevance in the lucrative mobile gaming market with the creation of a new gaming-focused app.

It’s an oft-repeated claim that Apple doesn’t ‘get’ gaming, and there’s some merit to that, despite positive glimpses such as the early days of Apple Arcade and the company’s impressive custom silicon.

Now, with the aforementioned Apple Arcade seemingly running out of steam, the company is said to be preparing a fresh approach. According to 9to5Mac, Apple is working on a new gaming-focused app that would combine the functions of Apple Arcade, the gaming section of the App Store, and Apple’s neglected Game Center system.

The report claims that this new gaming app will have multiple tabs, including a ‘Play Now’ tab with recommendations and gaming editorial, one for your installed games, and one for any gaming activity involving your friends. The Game Center element will be represented by challenges, leaderboards, and achievements.

This new gaming app will apparently be used to promote special gaming events, and to keep gamers informed on important updates.

Intriguingly, the report claims that Apple is looking to integrate FaceTime and iMessage, which would seem to suggest that Apple is looking to emulate some of Discord’s social gaming network features.

Another new feature that Apple is said to be playing with is permitting developers to create mini games using the existing App Clips system.

Apple’s approach with this new gaming app is likened to the Xbox app, which grants gamers an overview of their gaming activity and that of their friends, as well as enabling them to browse for new titles.

Whether this new holistic gaming app will make an appearance over the coming months, or as part of next year’s iOS 19 update, remains to be seen. Apple has already thrown gamers a bone in iOS 18 with its new Game Mode, which optimises iPhones and iPads for gaming by minimising background activity while boosting CPU and GPU performance.