MANILA, Philippines – Apple is serious about making a dent in the content space. 

They not only have star power for their entry into the streaming wars, Apple TV+, having gotten the likes of Steven Spielberg and J.J Abrams to produce shows for them, but they have stellar forces at work in the gaming department too: Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and The Sims and Sim City creator Will Wright are on board.

The two luminaries will among the game makers for Apple’s new game subscription service, Apple Arcade, which Apple says will feature “over 100 new and exclusive games.”

Apple describes the Arcade experience as “a handpicked collection of titles that are all-you-can-play, have no ads, ad tracking or additional purchases, and respect user privacy.”(READ: Everything Apple announced at its March 25 event) 

Sakaguchi and his Mistwalker studio are making a game called Fantasian, a title whose distinguishing trait is that it puts 3D characters into beautiful hand-made dioramas. “I’m a little scared of how many sets we are going to have to build in the end,” Sakaguchi said in a video shown during the Apple event.

Will Wright’s game, meanwhile, has yet to be announced.

Apple said that it is curating the games in Apple Arcade and is also contributing to the development costs. Other developers that are making games for the platform include Annapurna Interactive, Bossa Studios, Cartoon Network, Finji, Giant Squid, Klei Entertainment, Konami, LEGO, SEGA, Snowman, ustwo games, and according to Apple, “dozens more.”

Games can be played on the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV, and players can switch devices and just pick up where they left off.

Apple Arcade will launch in the final quarter of 2019 in more than 150 countries. Pricing has not yet been announced. Developers interested in being considered for Apple Arcade should visit developer.apple.com/apple-arcade. – Rappler.com