Apple Arcade developers claim that working with the company to put their games on its subscription platform is akin to being in an “abusive relationship,” with developers suffering at the hands of poor tech support, bad communication, and late payments.
The revelations come by way of a new report from Mobilegamer.biz’s Neil Long, who revealed this week that despite good money, “many” developers are unhappy with their treatment at the hands of Apple.
Grievances listed by sources include studios waiting up to six months to get paid, with one indie dev nearly going out of business as a result.
There were also woes reported when it comes to communication and support.
“The Apple Arcade team do not respond to routine emails for weeks or even months if they respond at all,” the report states. One developer involved in a “semi-regular” meeting with Apple said, “half the Apple team won’t turn up and when they do they have no idea what’s going on and can’t answer our questions.” Another described Apple’s tech support as “miserable” and “the worst I have ever seen anywhere.”
Apple Arcade agony
Apple Vision Pro got a kicking too. Developers bemoaned that the spatial computing headset struggles with “complex games” and said developing for the platform is “like going back in time 10 years” because of a lack of tech support.
“Apple engineers are ‘unable to offer any insights’ into how Vision Pro’s hardware or software works, or ‘how essential middleware is meant to work with it,’” the report states.
Another developer claimed that the discoverability of games on Apple Arcade was “like their game “was in a morgue’.” Finally, one quoted developer likened working with Apple to being in an “abusive relationship.”
The experiences, while certainly eye-brow-raising, don’t seem to be universal. According to the report “most developers” thought Apple paid developers well “particularly in the first few years of Arcade,” especially early on in a title’s life cycle. One said that it was now a “very difficult and long process to sign a deal with Apple” and lamented the “the lack of vision and clear focus of the platform.”
While one developer said the advances on their game were “fantastic” and “off the charts compared to what we’re used to being paid,” they noted that payments had gone from being prompt to “a five-month backlog.”
The report contains expanded insight from some of these developers venting their frustrations, but was summed up by one developer who said it feels as though Apple “treat developers as a necessary evil.”
Launched in 2019, Apple Arcade is the company’s gaming subscription service available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV, as well as Apple Vision Pro. For a small monthly fee (or as part of the Apple One bundle) gamers can get access to a wealth of titles including popular games like Temple Run and Stardew Valley. It’s pretty excellent value for customers, but clearly some developers don’t feel like they’re getting much out of the platform.
Apple faces growing pressure from other burgeoning game subscription offerings, perhaps most notably Netflix, which offers games to subscribers at no extra cost. It recently added one of the best puzzle games of the year, and includes other great titles including the Grand Theft Auto series.
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