games

In Skate City: New York, you take your skateboarding game to the iconic streets of the Big Apple, where you can master hundreds of tricks in real-world locations. The game hit Apple Arcade on Friday, and is playable on iPhone, Mac and more.

Several other titles also joined Apple’s gaming service, including a remodeled version of the original Final Fantasy.

December 21, 1994: Mac gamers get their hands on Marathon, a sci-fi first-person shooter designed as an answer to the massive success of PC title Doom.

Created by Bungie, the team that would later make the Halo games, Marathon introduces important features to the FPS genre. Just as importantly, it isn’t available on PC. Marathon quickly becomes a favorite among Mac gamers.

Apple unveiled its annual roundups of top apps and games — that is, those most downloaded titles — across iPhone, iPad and Apple Arcade platforms Monday. The comprehensive year-end lists are featured on the App Store’s Today tab. They offer insights into user preferences across more than 30 countries and regions. And once again, free app and games dominate, overlapping with recent App Store Award winners.

Monument Valley 3 launched Tuesday, the latest edition in one of the best puzzle game franchises ever. The challenges offer the same M. C. Escher-esque defiance of visual perspective as their predecessors, but there’s a new twist: a sailboat.

ustwo’s latest creation is available for iPhone and iPad (plus) Android, but it’s a Netflix Games exclusive. A subscription to the streaming service is required to play.

The updated version of Capcom’s classic Resident Evil 2 horror game can now be played on recent iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. And the cost has been slashed by 75% for a short time.

It’s the latest in the long-running series to hit Apple devices.

Support for Sony PlayStation VR2 hand controllers is reportedly coming to Apple’s Vision Pro headset. The goal is supposedly to make playing virtual reality games easier on the AR headset.

Apple and Sony allegedly worked together for months to make this happen.

The newly launched GameSir X3 Pro Mobile Gaming Controller packs Hall Effect sticks, dual rumble motors, micro switch triggers and detachable grips. And its USB-C connector and telescoping design means it fits a range of iPhone and Android models.

A stand-out feature is a cooling plate designed to prevent the handset from overheating while playing very demanding games.

The updated version of Capcom’s classic Resident Evil 2 horror game launches on recent iPhone, iPad and Mac computers in under a month.

It’s the latest in the long-running series to hit Apple devices.

Looking forward to some holiday downtime, maybe hunched over your Apple device with a glass of eggnog by the fire? Apple is set to expand its gaming catalog of over 200 titles with 15 new Apple Arcade games this holiday season. They include highly anticipated releases and reimagined classics. That sounds like hours of holly jolly fun.

CD Projekt Red promised on Wednesday that Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition reaches Mac gamers in early 2025. The graphically intensive action role-playing game earned a lengthy list of awards since its original debut in 2020.

This is the latest AAA game headed for Mac, along with Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

NBA preseason games start this weekend. If you didn’t make the draft this year, you can still get in on the basketball action with NBA 2K25 Arcade Edition, which launched Thursday. This is the definitive basketball game for Apple devices, and each new annual upgrade adds even more features.

The feature-packed offering is now on Apple Arcade for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV.

Football season starts Thursday, and basketball season is only a few weeks away. Get in the game now with NFL Retro Bowl ’25, and NBA 2K25 Arcade Edition launches in a few weeks.

Both are part of Apple Arcade, Apple’s gaming service.

GameBaby from Bitmo Lab is both an iPhone case and a game controller. The innovative design allows users to play retro games on their phone with real buttons.

The goal seems to be a GameBoy for 2024.

The Epic Games Store launched Friday, allowing iPhone users to install the popular Fortnite for the first time since Apple kicked Epic out of the official App Store in 2020.

But there’s an important caveat: the new iOS app marketplace is available only in the European Union.

Apple is set to bolster Apple Arcade gaming with three exciting new titles in September. NFL Retro Bowl ’25 headlines the additions. It’s an exclusive collaboration between the National Football League and the creators of the popular App Store game Retro Bowl.

Frustrated game developers continue to vent about working on Apple Arcade titles, in a new report citing anonymous sources. In the story, a follow-up to one from earlier this year that noted “the smell of death around the service,” devs complain about poor communication with Apple, slow payouts, and big problems working on Vision Pro games.

The opinions expressed in the new story aren’t entirely negative, but they paint a pretty ugly portrait of Apple Arcade from some developers’ perspectives.

Epic Games will make its highly popular game Fortnite and other titles available via AltStore PAL, the first app marketplace for iPhone to open in the European Union. The game developer is also continuing to work on its own iOS app marketplace, because it’s banned from Apple’s App Store.

So the days of playing Fortnite on iPhone will be back soon … but only for those who live in the right region.

New game Roia challenges players to guide a river down a mountain by rearranging the terrain. It’s another unique premise from Emoak, a team of developers with a history of creating standout games.

I spent a couple of hours playing it on my iPhone, and found the game to be demanding but also relaxing. And not like anything I’ve played before.

iPad users, get your game on. The Delta retro game emulator that launched for iPhone in the spring is now out for Apple tablets, too.

The software can handle ROMs originally for the classic Game Boy plus NES, SNES, Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS.

Apple Arcade is set to welcome three exciting game titles in August, further expanding its diverse catalog of over 200 ad-free games. The new titles are Temple Run: Legends, Vampire Survivors+ and, for Vision Pro, a spatial version of Castle Crumble, the iPhone giant said Tuesday.

Outlanders 2: Second Nature, a town-building strategy game, offers new players new tropical and wintery environments to build in, much more resources to work with, and more challenges.

It’s one of three games to launch on Apple Arcade on Wednesday, along with Punch Kick Duck+ and Zen Koi Pro+.

Resident Evil 7 biohazard by Capcom launched Tuesday on iPhone 15 Pro, top-tier iPad models and M-series Macs. The horror title is the latest AAA game to hit these Apple devices.

Two other games in the series are already available for premium Apple devices, and Resident Evil 2 Remake is in the process of being ported, too.

Apple is introducing a new Game Mode in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. The feature minimizes background activity to deliver higher sustained performance and smoother gameplay.

Additionally, Game Mode will reduce audio latency with AirPods and game controllers for better responsiveness.

Rabbids: Legends of the Multiverse from Ubisoft is a deck building game featuring a crazy collection of characters exploring five outlandish universes. It just launched for iPhone, Mac and more.

It is joined by three classic games that are all now playable via Apple Arcade.

The Apple Design Awards recognized 14 “best-in-class” apps and games, the iPhone giant said Thursday. It will hand out the awards, which celebrate excellence in design and outstanding technical achievement, to winners at WWDC24 on Monday.

“It’s inspiring to see how developers are using our technology to create exceptional apps and games that enhance the lives of users,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “This year’s winners have demonstrated how apps can create powerful and moving experiences — and we’re excited to celebrate their hard work and ingenuity at WWDC this year.”

And this year the awards added a new spatial computing category.