Apple Arcade Subscription Gaming Service Goes Live Alongside iOS 13, One Month Free Trial Available

Apple Arcade, Apple's new subscription gaming service, is now available for everyone following the launch of the iOS 13 update for the iPhone.

‌Apple Arcade‌ offers up dozens of games for one monthly $4.99 price, and reviews of the service have been positive, praising the wide selection of available titles.

apple arcade devices
Apple actually began rolling out ‌Apple Arcade‌ to iOS 13 and iOS 13.1 beta testers earlier this week, but now it is available to everyone who has installed the release version of iOS 13.

When ‌Apple Arcade‌ first became available, there were just over 50 games available, but more titles have already been rolling out. Apple says that new ‌Apple Arcade‌ titles will be coming out on a weekly basis, with at least 100 games in the works.

applearcade
While ‌Apple Arcade‌ is priced at $4.99 per month, that price allows up to six family members to access games through Apple's Family Sharing feature. There's also a one-month free trial available, so everyone can give it a try before paying.

applearcadeinterface
You can access ‌Apple Arcade‌ through the App Store using the new ‌Apple Arcade‌ tab in the navigation bar. ‌Apple Arcade‌ looks similar to the standard ‌App Store‌ with apps arranged into different categories like "Start Your Adventure," "New Arrivals," "You Have to Hear This," "No Time to Blink," and more.

applearcadecategories
Apple's editorial team will highlight standout ‌Apple Arcade‌ titles, but there's also an option to access all available games, and you can search for titles as well.

Right now, ‌Apple Arcade‌ is available only on the ‌iPhone‌, though iOS 13 and 13.1 beta testers on iPad can install the update. Apple isn't releasing iPadOS until September 30, and tvOS 13 and macOS Catalina also aren't coming out until a future date. For more details on ‌Apple Arcade‌, make sure to check out our Apple Arcade guide.

If you have a favorite ‌Apple Arcade‌ title, make sure to share it in the comments down below, because there's a lot of available content to go through. Our sister site TouchArcade also has a dedicated Apple Arcade forum for discussing games, which is well worth checking out.

Popular Stories

apple watch ultra yellow

What's Next for the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3

Friday April 25, 2025 2:44 pm PDT by
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too. 2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3 Apple didn't update the...
iphone 16 display

iPhone 17's Scratch Resistant Anti-Reflective Display Coating Canceled

Monday April 28, 2025 12:48 pm PDT by
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors. Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Reaches Key Milestone Ahead of Mass Production

Monday April 28, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple has completed Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) for at least one iPhone 17 model, according to a paywalled preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report. iPhone 17 Air mockup based on rumored design The EVT stage involves Apple testing iPhone 17 prototypes to ensure the hardware works as expected. There are still DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages to...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue

20th Anniversary iPhone Likely to Be Made in China Due to 'Extraordinarily Complex' Design

Monday April 28, 2025 4:29 am PDT by
Apple will likely manufacture its 20th anniversary iPhone models in China, despite broader efforts to shift production to India, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In 2027, Apple is planning a "major shake-up" for the iPhone lineup to mark two decades since the original model launched. Gurman's previous reporting indicates the company will introduce a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold"...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Launching Later This Year With These 16 New Features

Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...

Top Rated Comments

Unity451 Avatar
73 months ago
Can't wait to delete all the freemium garbage games on my phone!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blasto2236 Avatar
73 months ago
It’s a real bummer that this isn’t available for tvOS at launch. For me, that’s a huge part of the appeal of the service, and having tested a lot of these games on the iPadOS beta, I’m eager to try them on a larger screen with a controller.

Sadly, it looks like this won’t be possible until my free trial is mostly up. Don’t have any interest in playing these games on a tiny iPhone screen, where I have the least amount of storage space. Kinda lame that’s the only officially available platform at launch.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darkslide29 Avatar
73 months ago

No true gamer will ever take this seriously. Glorified iOS titles & company that has never gotten gaming. Fail
A game on an iOS device doesn't mean that it's a bad or a sub-par experience anymore - it's time to end that thinking. The Apple TV, and the iPad Pro specifically (remember the keynote benchmarking it equal to an Xbox One S?), are capable of running some really good games, without any sacrifice of making it a 'light' version. And for whatever market reason, many games are priced even more affordable than their counterpart on a PS4, Nintendo Switch, or Steam.

Take for example games such as Dead Cells, Oxenfree, and Hyper Light Drifter. These are examples of games that are well reviewed by 'true gamers' on PC or traditional console, but now also available on Apple devices as a complete port including proper (thank goodness) controller support in iOS 13. Hyper Light Drifter even runs natively at 120hz on an iPad Pro, arguably making it the better version vs the Nintendo Switch (60hz) if you're using a controller. So we are far from the days of glorified iOS titles.

Sure, you won't be playing Call of Duty or Borderlands 3 on an Apple TV. At least not yet. But Apple Arcade are getting good indie developers to make games, with many expressing their excitement at this. Mini Metro is very much an indie but a beloved game, so it's nice to see that the developer put out Mini Motorways on Arcade. Exit the Gungeon is another one to check out since Enter the Gungeon was such a popular and well reviewed game. So long as they continue to be enticing and bring in well established developers, it will go well. Apple aren't even requiring games to be an absolute Arcade exclusive, as some of these games will be on PC. They just aren't going to be on other mobile platforms is all. This isn't the $15/mo Ultimate Game Pass that Xbox offers for AAA games today, but at just $5, I think we can already be optimistic for this starting point and where it can grow from here.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kabeyun Avatar
73 months ago
This is what a subscription feels like it should be for: pay a monthly fee, have access to a bunch of stuff. I know I’m picking an old scab, but the current money-grabbing trend of subscriptions for a single app, even one with no services, is a bunch of malarkey. Otoh, $5/month for a gaming catalog seems reasonable.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ar40 Avatar
73 months ago

No true gamer will ever take this seriously. Glorified iOS titles & company that has never gotten gaming. Fail
Don't you mean "no true scotsman"?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aevan Avatar
73 months ago

Apple should give Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV buyers one free year of the Arcade service. Like the TV service, I'm not excited enough by this offering of what has so far looked like basic mobile games to start paying a separate monthly fee for it. Especially if these are the same games the Mac will be receiving.
Games offer much more value than a couple of TV shows. It’s a great service. The games are not exactly console level in terms of scope, true, but it’s a start.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)