Dedicated Apple Games app could be revealed during WWDC 2025
Apple has long been the butt of the joke for gamers, but that won't stop the company from trying, yet again, to be more serious about the industry with a rumored dedicated gaming app.

Apple could introduce a dedicated gaming app
Apple's WWDC 2025 is already going to be packed with potential ecosystem-wide UI redesigns and AI tools, but a new rumor suggests Apple could also begin a different significant push. There have been moves by the company in and around the gaming space for years, but a dedicated gaming app could help promote Apple Silicon'sgaming abilities.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple wants to sell gamers and developers on the idea that it is a leader in the market with an app. The Apple gaming app would debut during WWDC 2025 alongside iOS 19, macOS 16, and the rest.
Going with Apple's usual naming conventions, we're referring to it as "Apple Games" for now. The rumor arrives just as it was revealed that Apple acquired two-person gaming studio RAC7, which makes Sneaky Sasquatch.
The app apparently goes further than Apple's current, limited, gaming experiences on iOS. Currently, gamers can see Game Center from select menus in supported games, which shows leaderboards and trophies.
Apple Arcade has also been around as a part of Apple's services push. While very few games have stood out as big winners on the service, like What the Golf? or Fantasian, it seems to be a popular option for ad-free games on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro.
The new Apple Games app will act as a mesh between Apple's disparate gaming systems. It is rumored to show editorial content about games, the App Store games page, Apple Arcade, leaderboards, and more.
Mac users may also get an app which would tie to games downloaded outside of the App Store. This particular rumor likely applies to the game launching aspect of the app.
The Apple gaming app has been rumored before, but all the way back in October 2024. It mentioned the app launching and editorialized content, as well as possible integrations with iMessage and FaceTime plus App Clips for demos.
Beyond Game Center
Apple's app doesn't sound that dissimilar to one offered by the controller maker Backbone. That app is an exclusive gaming social network of sorts for those that bought the iPhone controller.

Backbone already offers a well-made game launcher and social network
If Apple truly wants to compete and prove its seriousness in the space, it'll need to go beyond simply offering a game news and app launcher tool. Leaderboards and trophies are nice, but gamers would also gravitate to in-game chat and matchmaking tools.
Apple has a benefit that other app makers do not -- platform control. It could provide an API that lets game developers tie their in-game chat tools and matchmaking to the Apple Games app.
It isn't clear exactly what form a gaming app from Apple will take, but it will hopefully be something more than Game Center. Apple has an opportunity to better cement itself as an entity in gaming in the minds of gamers, even if it already has in their wallets.
Rumor Score: Likely
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Comments
If I remember correctly Apple Arcade was focused more on full game experiences without excessive in app purchasing which was a cool idea and I liked it… but I guess the game/gambling industry hated that
Jeez, if Apple wants to be anything of consequence in gaming, they need to do something bold, like buying Steam. That's what an entry ticket looks like. After that, they'd need to dedicate real resources to it long term. Something they've NEVER done with any of their feeble attempts so far.
https://www.idownloadblog.com/2020/08/13/apple-arcade-achievements-game-center-iphone-ipad/
This will give them something more like Steam. They wouldn't have to buy Valve but they could partner with them so that achievements and some purchases sync across games. If someone is playing Resident Evil 2 on iPhone and completes an achievement, it should register in their Steam profile and vice versa, same with save games.
This is really basic syncing, request a sync for a Steam id, verify it in Steam, store a sync token, then sync JSON data for game ids that includes purchases, save games and achievements.
The reason mobile gaming ended up with the casino-like pay-to-win model is that people weren't willing to pay money for lightweight games and that set the expectations for payments on mobile.
It would be good if Apple could find a way to get mobile gaming to be more like the Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck where people are willing to spend $60+ on a single good quality game but it's going to be very difficult to do when the expectations have been set for so long and for so many people. I think they would have more success trying to get people to spend $4.99-9.99 outright for titles similar to how Super Mario Run did it. It's free to download to get the first level and then unlock the rest of the game. This wasn't very successful for Mario but if they kept promoting this model, it would gain traction eventually by managing player expectations.
For AAA gamers only. Mobile games lapped the PC/console industry for revenue a long time ago. When Microsoft bought Activision/Blizzard, Candy Crush was the second most lucrative franchise that they acquired. Only Call of Duty was generating more $$.
As far as non-Steam stuff, I'm not sure what this is other than rearranging the App Store tab for games to its own thing. And after Game Center and Arcade and everything else they've failed at in gaming, I'm failing to see how this moves the needle — YET. Maybe there's more to the story.
The SMART thing would be to bring back Steam VR and integrate with Apple Vision Pro, even bring back HTC and other headset compatibility. Bring VR gaming to the Mac. We had it, kinda, for a second, in like 2017. That was my biggest disappointment with AVP.