Apple to launch ‘dedicated video game app’ around Switch 2 launch

Apple is reportedly planning to launch its own dedicated gaming app “within days” of the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 in an effort to bolster its position in the gaming space.

The app will come pre-installed across Apple‘s suite of products in an effort to unify the tech giant’s push into the gaming space.

According to Bloomberg, the app will feature a centralized achievement system, leaderboards, and other communication tools.

The app will be announced during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9, 4 days after the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2.

This new app will replace Game Center, Apple’s current gaming social offering. Game Center debuted in 2010, and while it has remained part of Apple’s video game infrastructure since then, it has received few meaningful updates.

Apple’s gaming app would also integrate Apple Arcade, the company’s subscription gaming service, which offers access to new and classic titles for a monthly fee. Editorial content about games on the Apple platform will also reportedly be a feature of this new app.

This week, Apple made its first video game acquisition.

RAC7, the two-person developer behind Apple Arcade’s 2019 hit Sneaky Sasquatch, will continue its partnership with Apple as an internal studio, it announced on Tuesday.

Speaking to Digital Trends last year, Apple Arcade’s senior director Alex Rofman cited RAC7’s Sneaky Sasquatch as one of the service’s major success stories. “We hear from customers all over the world whose kids want Sneaky Sasquatch birthday parties,” he said.