The Apple Games app on Mac, iPad and iPhone: A deep dive into its discovery potential

Apple introduced the Apple Games app yesterday and its significance is starting to become clear as more details come in.

The app will be pre-installed on the Homescreen of every single new MacBook Pro, iPhone or iPad sold — and it will be pre-installed with the new OS update, MacOS 26 — and it will provide a personalized home for games and playing with friends.

I saw a beta of it at Apple’s headquarters in the past couple of days and had a briefing on the details of the Apple Games app but no real hands-on play. I had a rare visit to Apple during the Worldwide Developer Conference to get Apple’s view of the world of games and talk with various Apple developers.

I think of this app as a kind of justice and reconciliation for developers, where Apple is doing work to improve game discovery with recommendations and ...