Apple App Store finally allows game streaming apps – Xbox Game Pass, GeForce Now & more on iPhone

thesixthaxis.com:

As part of major changes to Apple’s App Store policies to comply with EU regulations, the company has also announced that game streaming apps are now to be accepted on the App Store for the first time. This opens the door for Xbox Game Pass, GeForce Now, PlayStation Plus, Amazon Luna and other game streaming subscriptions to have dedicated apps on iPhone and iPad – they were previously only accessible via built-in web browsers.

“Developers can now submit a single app with the capability to stream all of the games offered in their catalog,” Apple wrote in a blog post detailing the myriad changes to their policies. This same rule also applies to apps with mini-games, mini-apps, chatbots and plug-ins. These will apply worldwide as well, where many other changes are EU specific.

Just because game streaming platforms are now admissible, doesn’t mean Apple won’t still exert control, though. Anything available within the app will still need to stick to Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines, and the overarching app will have to have an age rating applicable for all available experiences. So if there’s a single 18+ rated game, then the whole streaming service will have to be behind that age gate.

Apple is also opening up the ability for those various games to then offer in-game stores for DLC and microtransactions, offering up Apple’s in-app purchase system out of the goodness of their heart to facilitate this.

Still, that’s far more preferable than the previous situation. When Xbox Game Pass and GeForce Now were first looking to make an entrance on smartphones and tablets, they ran into the brick wall of Apple’s App Store restrictions. Every single game would have to go through App Store approval individually, and be offered on the App Store individually as well, and Apple would levy their 30% cut to boot. This was pretty much untenable, so they’ve fallen back on less-then-optimal streaming via the in-built Safari web browser.

This news is part of a major overhaul as Apple opens