I wrote about Apple’s new video game ambitions for years now, But I still expect the company to get to know what a player wants today. My cessation enthusiasm is often tempered by what the company regularly shows at its private and public events. As if to put a pin on that point, Apple shared the first look at its all-new games WWDC25. It is a player -launcher, achievement tracker and gameplay for contacts in one. The technology giant’s flaccid attempt to mark Apple as a going to gaming are pre-installed on most Apple devices when the iOS 26 And MacOS 26 Updates arrive later this year, but I don’t need to wait until then to say that this is not what Apple needs to claim about console or prime ministers.
The Apple Games program Combines the company’s previous game center and Apple Arcade -bob in one place. The app must offer news about upcoming and current titles on iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Vision Pro. If this is not exciting enough, the app will offer achievement badges to perform any in-game tasks or challenges. Users will also be able to communicate with friends who play the same games or check boards for scoring-based titles.
The iPhone remains one of the most popular devices to play games around the world, though few would call it a device built for the rigors of today’s gaming environment beyond running Honkai: Star Rail, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, And -s-after five-year absence-Fortnite. A good mobile controller helps to facilitate some pain points, but nothing beats a device dedicated exclusively to gaming. Apple has promoted interplatist games on iPhone, including recent hits in the Resident Evil Series, but the Mac is the one platform where you expect the iPhone manufacturer to try and paste gaming. Instead, WWDC25 was a showcase for how little Apple understands the video game scene.
The Apple Games app on Mac includes everything it does on iPhone, albeit with more access to games like Civilization VII And Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The update also presumably includes a game, accessible without needing to leave your session. Compared to most overlaps, including the Xbox game bar in Windows, the Mac version appears naked. It gives access to the sound, brightness, and Bluetooth tunes to adjust or change a controller. There is no option to record gameplay at native resolution. Apple’s overlap doesn’t even give the opportunity to see frame rates or latency.
Apple introduced a game mode in 2023 to limit background tasks and may increase in-game performance, but the Mac still lacks what players expected from a gaming platform. The lack of video game specific looks would look thin on a gaming console, even less a device that most often compared to a computer. Without a framework that players can easily access, they won’t know if they get the optimal experience of the game they play. Apple could have looked at Nintendo and offered easy ways to talk and flow game content to each other over a Disagreement-like interface. You can see your friends in your contacts and chat with them while FaceTime, although Apple has failed to show if this feature creates an on-screen window where you can watch your friends’ cups and still pay attention to what’s going on on the screen.
Despite the new roof, this first repetition of Apple’s gaming app seems largely oriented to smartphones. The Mac version could possibly incorporate games purchased outside Apple’s first party work suite, like Steam, though we didn’t. We still do not know if Apple will help it work with various emulating programs Available at iPhones Last year, although we doubt Apple wants to step on a single inch into the legal minefield of Game -sule.
Macs are much better for gaming than before. Thanks to updates to Apple’s metal graphics APIs and improving graphic skills on the M-series chips, I regularly surprise myself with an action on Mac. The most recent M4 MacBook Air were able to play Gate III of Baldur And Resident Evil 4 On average settings with stable frame rates – something rare can be seen with light laptops. The Mac Mini with M4 Pro Chip It was a surprise power that could handle some more required titles. Apple also showed Gizmodo like its M3 ultra chip On the latest Mac studio could run the demanding Cyberpunk 2077 On high settings with radio tracking-all with a system, which lacked a discreet GPU for a high range, although we still have to try it personally.
Apple has worked behind the scenes to make more support for its own arms-based chips, but Windows still beats it about software support from many, many miles. Apple said more games other than Cyberpunkincluding Eve Frontier,, Architect: A country of exiles, And Cronos: The new dawn makes its way to Mac, eventually. It’s a drop in the bucket. Promising that I can play InzoiA game that could best be described as The sims Without personality, it is not enough to make me pick up a MacBook the next time I am ready to find some game that will help me relax after a full day of coverage of Apple’s latest software updates.
