With new EU rules designed to quash anti-competitive practices among tech giants looming, Apple has announced it’ll soon be permitting Game-Pass-style “streaming game services” and “apps that provide access to mini apps and games” onto its App Store.
As per Apple’s new guidelines, which will come into effect worldwide today, developers can now submit a single “host” app for distribution on the App Store that provides access to a catalogue of “streaming games, mini-apps, mini-games, chatbots, and plug-ins”.
Apple says developers can incorporate its In-App Purchase system into the new-style apps to offer users paid digital content or services “such as a subscription for an individual chatbot”. It’s also confirmed, in response to a query from Eurogamer, that its existing App Store terms — including its commission (it currently charges developers a 30 percent fee for paid apps and in-app purchases) — will apply to mini-apps, mini-games, subscriptions, and all other digital goods and services sold via the new host apps.
Apple adds that host apps must adhere to “all App Store Review Guidelines” and must maintain an age rating based on the highest age-rated content contained within.
These changes, it continues, are being implemented to “reflect feedback from Apple’s developer community” and it insists the move is consistent with the App Store’s mission “to provide a trusted place for users to find apps they love and developers everywhere with new capabilities to grow their businesses”.