Apple is preparing a mobile games store separate from the App Store

It’s been a month since Apple released iOS 18 to the general public, and now the company is preparing a new major software product – mobile games are becoming an increasingly important area for it, and it is now working on an application that resembles the App Store, but is entirely dedicated to games , reports 9to5Mac.

Image source: apple.com

The application combines the capabilities of the App Store and Game Center – it will receive integration with the latter, but will not replace it, the publication’s source claims. When opened, the user will be offered several tabs, including “Play Now”, a tab with the user’s games, friends’ achievements, and much more. The app will feature games recommended by the platform’s editors, current offers, challenges, leaderboards and achievements.

The new store will feature games from the App Store and Apple Arcade, gaming events and important announcements; Apple is also experimenting with integrating FaceTime and iMessage into the new gaming app to help players communicate with each other. We are exploring the possibility of collaborating with developers to create mini-games based on the App Clips application format, which can be launched without downloading or installing. Apple’s new gaming platform has a lot in common with the Xbox app for iPhone, where gamers see their status, friends’ activity, search for new games and can work with their own game library.

The company currently offers Apple Arcade, a subscription service with games for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV, that integrates with the App Store and costs $6.99 per month. With the release of iOS 18 and macOS 15, new tools are available to make it easier to transfer games from desktop to mobile. The fate of the new gaming platform is still unknown – it may appear in one of the iOS 18 updates or debut with iOS 19.