Game developers for Apple Arcade and Vision Pro said that working with Apple is “unbearable”

Independent game developers for Apple Arcade and the Vision Pro virtual reality headset are increasingly expressing dissatisfaction with their working conditions, calling their relationship with Apple intolerable and “toxic.” In a recent report highlighted by Eurogamer, some developers anonymously shared their experiences, claiming that Apple does not understand the needs of gamers and does not provide the necessary support.

A report from MobileGamer.biz notes that one of the main problems is the lack of contact and technical support from Apple. One source said: “We may go weeks without hearing anything from Apple, and their overall response time to emails is three weeks, if they respond at all.” This creates significant challenges for teams working on new projects.

For Vision Pro developers, the situation is even more critical. One described Apple’s technical support as “the worst I’ve ever seen.” He added that developing games for the platform feels like “going back 10 years,” despite the headset’s touted high-tech features.

While Apple offers good payment terms, developers report significant delays in royalty payments. One of them said that he had not received a reward for six months and almost went bankrupt. Another source noted that Apple representatives “blocked” him so that, in his opinion, he would not pay the due payments. There are also no financial incentives to create apps for Vision Pro, unlike rival Meta✴, which offers more attractive terms.

Apple did not directly respond to Eurogamer’s request for comment, but pointed to a recent interview with Alex Rofman, senior director of Arcade, in which he states that “games are more important to Apple than ever.” However, according to the developers, without real changes in the company’s approach to business, these words will not be able to improve the current situation.