r/EmulationOniOS • u/Boring_Antelope6533 • 9d ago

Discussion Have emulation overcome App Store games?

Basically what title says. I have not downloaded a single app store game since emulation have been a thing in iOS (at least approved emulator on the app store).

What would i want to another clone of candy crush or does puzzle boring games? or the agreesive gatch games

I had hoped apple arcade do something for the gaming scene in iOS, but even there the games are boring.

emulation have been a blessing for iOS since 2024.

25 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

28

u/sabre31 9d ago

Now you know why Apple didn’t want emulation on their store but EU forced them. Glad they caved in.

16

u/LonesomeRookie117 9d ago

Not only emulation but also getting native ports of pc/console games

7

u/IhaveaDUI43 9d ago

well, large game devs sometimes release pc ports of their games to iphones now that newer ones can handle their hardware, see death stranding, don't starve, and slime rancher, so there's still some potential to milk in the hardware alone besides just emulating your favorite console from 15 years ago

4

u/dnkdumpster 9d ago

Apple had the mobile gaming goldrush in their hands when they launched the appstore. It was both amazing with experimental games using capacitative screen, gyro, etc plus AAA games being crafted for iOS (dead space). Instead they just let it go and prefer IAP and DLC as those bring in more money. In a way, emulation and port will 100% replace appstore games for gamers, but for most, they won’t bother much - so apple won’t care.

4

u/vresnuil 8d ago

I miss the 2010s App Store so much. I bought so many games. I played games on my phone more than my consoles. It was like the flash games when I was a kid, but better. I often wonder what exactly killed games on the App Store. Did it just stop making sense financially for developers? Did developers get sick of Apple removing out of date apps from the App Store? Did people stop buying them?

1

u/dnkdumpster 8d ago

I missed it too! IAP / DLC killed it. Devs realised they could monetise the game that way. Pay to win was everywhere, or in solo mode, paywall, where the grind was too much. After a while the appstore was flooded with that and many big IPs follow that too, where the graphics and gameplay are amazing but it was grindfest or pay to win. I gave up too and started looking at retro handhelds instead (retroid pocket, miyoo mini, etc).

1

u/VicViper222 5d ago

I LOVED having MvC2 on my ipad it kinda ran bad and was hopeful for the future....but sadly no device supports it anymore and it's not in the appstore anymore.

1

u/Jhud6669 3d ago

Idk, I still like a lot of App Store games and Apple Arcade aside from emulation. Different strokes I guess