Apple presented a new service that can be a great impulse to have its own gaming platform that attracts more attention. The company boasted that the iPhone and iPad have become the most popular consoles in the world and that’s thanks to the millions of games in the App Store.
However, among all these games we only have a few tens who can really face the games that we have available for consoles. The main problem is that many users are not willing to pay for an iPhone game and therefore the big game developers have not bet on iOS.
However Apple’s subscription platform could give a big boost and Apple has announced a catalog of more than 100 available and exclusive games. Apple’s service has been launched just a few days after Google’s Stadia, but are they the same or compatible? Let’s analyze it.
Apple Arcade vs Google Stadia
Two of the most important companies in the world, Google and Apple, have decided to create a subscription service to videogames practically simultaneously. Stadia and Arcade were born in early 2019 and will not be available until the end of the year. We show you their similarities and their differences and then we will analyze if they are compatible.
Similarities
Both Apple Arcade and Google Stadia are based on a subscription service. That is, you pay a fee per month and you can enjoy all the games in the catalog without a time limit. As with Apple Music or Spotify, no matter how much you use it, you will always pay the same.
The two services are multi-platform, which means that you can play on several devices. However, Apple Arcade is limited to Apple devices: iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac. Stadia will be available on Apple devices, Android and Windows.
Differences
The main difference between both systems is that for Google Stadia you will need internet connection to play. Apple Arcade can be played offline since the games are downloaded to your device.
This difference makes that the potential games that arrive at Google Stadia will be more similar to those of the consoles. Since they do not depend on the device to play them. Google Stadia games are processed on Google servers, so you can play on any screen with an internet connection and a browser.
The games of Apple Arcade will improve notably both the graphics and the stories with respect to the current ones that we see in the Apple Store, but they will hardly be able to approach the quality that Google intends to offer since the resources of the iOS devices are more limited.
Another big difference between the two are the available games, Apple has shown that it has more than 100 exclusive titles ready for the launch of Apple Arcade in the fall of 2019. For its part Google has just shown a catalog of games and we have no official release date .
To finish, we have the official control that Google has launched, the Stadia Controller. Apple has not released any official command and will be compatible with Apple Arcade any Mfi driver.
Apple users have an advantage
As we see Apple Arcade and Google Stadia are completely complementary so that Apple users can enjoy both from our devices. Yes, we must pay the subscription to both services and prices have not yet been disclosed. Maybe there is the key to everything.
This 2019 looks very interesting for lovers of video games with two perfectly compatible platforms and which we can access from our iPhone, iPad or Mac.
Also published on Medium.