Em entrevista ao Polygon, o vice-presidente da App Store, Carson Oliver, comentou o Apple Arcade e a relação da Maçã com os desenvolvedores de jogos independentes.

As declarações ocorreram em meio à Indie Games Week, evento que deu destaque a alguns títulos de sucesso disponíveis para os dispositivos da Apple, como Sifu, Vampire Crawlers e No Man’s Sky.

A matéria avalia que a investida da Apple no mercado de videogames ao longo da última década foi consistente o suficiente para conquistar de fato o público gamer. Oliver, vale lembrar, assumiu a liderança da loja de aplicativos do ecossistema da Apple, após Phil Schiller deixar o posto em agosto.

O executivo falou sobre os esforços da empresa no segmento, que, segundo ele, vão além da distribuição, e ressaltou a chegada de títulos AAA ao ecossistema:

O que está acelerando esse movimento hoje é a tecnologia que impulsiona esse ecossistema. Apoiamos os desenvolvedores na App Store com muito mais do que distribuição. Continuamos investindo pesadamente em gaming: de novas tecnologias de hardware que entregam o mais alto desempenho sustentado, como o ray tracing acelerado por hardware do A20 Pro e a câmara de vapor de última geração no iPhone 18 Pro; a ferramentas de desenvolvimento, como o Game Porting Toolkit 4, o Metal e os nossos plugins de código aberto da Unity.

Temos observado o crescimento no número de jogos que chegam à App Store, em geral, com mais títulos premium este ano do que no anterior. […] Enquanto muitos são indies, nós estamos vendo mais franquias de consoles e PC chegando ao mobile, já que é um público em expansão para esses jogos.

O executivo também falou sobre a relação da Apple com os desenvolvedores independentes, além de destacar as diferentes formas de levar os jogos a Macs, iPhones e iPads:

Desde o primeiro dia, a App Store foi pensada para equilibrar as condições de descoberta e distribuição, de modo que um título indie possa se equiparar às maiores franquias do entretenimento. […]

Nós queremos dar aos desenvolvedores um ambiente confiável para alcançar usuários ao redor do mundo, dar-lhes suporte em cada passo e ajudá-los a construir negócios bem-sucedidos. […] Para atingir esses objetivos, nós oferecemos modelos de negócio flexíveis. Isso significa que um fenômeno inovador como Balatro pode prosperar como um jogo premium, e também pode encontrar um espaço no serviço Apple Arcade. O importante é que damos aos desenvolvedores a flexibilidade para fazer a melhor escolha e, a todos os jogos e jogadores, a liberdade de jogar como quiserem.

O Apple Arcade conta com mais de 200 títulos no acervo (livres de propagandas ou compras internas), os quais podem ser acessados por até cinco membros de um Compartilhamento Familiar em iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple TVs e/ou Apple Vision Pros. O serviço de jogos custa R$14,90 por mês e também faz parte do pacote de assinaturas da empresa, o Apple One.

NOTA DE TRANSPARÊNCIA: O MacMagazine recebe uma pequena comissão sobre vendas concluídas por meio de links deste post, mas você, como consumidor, não paga nada a mais pelos produtos/serviços ao usar os nossos links de afiliado.

I dove into Big Walk with no expectations at all. I’d seen trailers leading up to the launch and knew that it was a co-op puzzle game from House House, the makers of Untitled Goose Game, but that was about it. And because most of my gaming is done solo, I initially tuned out most of the game’s post-launch headlines. Still, Big Walk is published by Panic, which has a great track record for finding and publishing great indie games, so I decided to give it a try earlier this week. And you know what? I love it.

Big Walk is about as low-key as a puzzle game gets in the best possible way. Co-op is the only mode, so you’ll need to coordinate a time to play it with a friend or group. One person takes the lead, setting up the session and inviting the others. The process is far simpler than trying to find a time that works for everyone in your group.

As players join, you’re dropped into a space to wait for the others and explore a little. This lobby space is where you’ll learn the game’s controls, too. Big Walk supports keyboard and mouse input as well as a controller, which is what I used, playing on an M4 Max MacBook Pro.

Once you get your bearings, it’s time to exit the lobby and start exploring. That exploration is core to what Big Walk is all about. You aren’t told what to do, but there are just enough clues to push you forward, figuring out the goals on your own without too much trouble.

I played using AirPods Pro 3, and the game made great use of their mics and speakers, simulating the environments we were in. Closed spaces were echoey, and speech was distant and faint when we were separated. Sound even becomes part of the mechanic in some puzzles, such as an early one where you have to look through an open window to hear each other properly and help guide the other player’s actions.

That cooperation is the key part of the game’s loop. You may see how to solve Big Walk’s puzzles on your own, but implementing the solution will require you and a companion to work together.

The togetherness of it all extends beyond the puzzles, too. Big Walk’s environment (at least in the early stages) is mountainous with large rocks and trees that make it possible to get separated from others. Add to that day and night cycles where it’s almost impossible to see where you’re going at night without a light, and you have every incentive not to wander off on your own without a plan for how to reconnect.

I’ve played through Big Walk’s first couple of sections, and it was a blast. The puzzles were clever and challenging without being frustrating, but most of all, I enjoyed working through them with someone else. There’s no time pressure or monsters lurking around corners – just puzzles and a chance to chat.

Ultimately, that’s what makes Big Walk work. It’s a good hang built against the backdrop of a beautiful landscape and low-key, fun challenges. I highly recommend giving it a try.

Big Walk, which supports crossplay and 2–12 players, is available on the Mac App Store for $14.99. The game is also on Steam, the Switch 2, and PS5.

EA Sports has released Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition, a version of the popular football simulation franchise that Apple Arcade subscribers can play on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. It’s a big release built specifically to take advantage of Apple hardware, allowing players to play the game on a wide variety of hardware.

I was struck by how easy it is to pick up and play the game whether you’re a diehard NFL fan or not. I don’t follow football closely, but I was able to get the hang of the game and have fun right away, knocking out a Quick Play match when I had a few minutes to spare.

Quick Play tightly limits the overall time it takes to complete a matchup, but it doesn’t sacrifice depth in the process. There are long lists of plays you can run, including suggested plays, play types, formations, and recents, as well as a wide variety of statistics. And after a big play, you can replay it with total control over the camera angle, too.

However, if you want to go really deep, the game’s Franchise Mode lets you play a full NFL season, managing your team all the way through the playoffs. You can also draft your dream team from the game’s huge catalog of real-world NFL stars. Plus, during the real-world NFL season, player attributes shift based on their actual performance.

Madden NFL 27 also looks terrific. The 120Hz playback is smooth on the iPhone, where I spent most of my time with the game, and even nicer on a bigger screen like my 14” M4 Max MacBook Pro, making for an immersive experience.

What impresses me most about Madden NFL 27, though, is how well it makes use of the Apple hardware and technologies at its disposal. Too often, those sorts of details get left behind when a big release is published on Apple platforms.

To its credit, EA has done an excellent job adapting Madden NFL 27 for Apple Arcade subscribers. You can play across every device mentioned above, leaving off on one device and picking up on another seamlessly because saves sync across devices. Every device supports game controllers and touch where applicable, and those devices with 120Hz displays support that, too.

Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition is available now on the App Store as part of an Apple Arcade subscription. The game is debuting on other platforms next week.

Over at Snazzy Labs, Quinn Nelson has a great in-depth look at the changes coming to Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit with macOS 27 this fall. Paired with Metal 4, it’s a real leap over what’s possible today, and Nelson showcases the difference well.

Thanks to the upcoming update, Nelson was able to use CrossOver, a Windows-to-Mac compatibility layer that allows PC games to be played on a Mac, to spotlight some impressive numbers on games ranging from Red Dead Redemption to the recently released 007 First Light.

Not all games Nelson tried showed the same leap in performance, but that’s true on compatibility layers like Proton on the Steam Deck, too. What’s remarkable is that it’s all done in software and as Nelson points out, the advent of coding agents like Codex and Claude may help bring more PC games to Mac using the Game Porting Toolkit by reducing the porting costs.

Nelson also makes a pitch for an Apple gaming device. I agree with him that more than ever, the pieces, right down to a hardware-focused incoming CEO, are all there for such a device, and I remain optimistic. However, I’ve made the case for such a device for years now to no avail. Still, whether or not Apple builds gaming hardware itself, watch the full video above. It’s a fantastic view of how far the Mac has come as a potential gaming platform since the advent of Apple silicon.