{"id":30079,"date":"2020-09-11T15:27:16","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T19:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=30079"},"modified":"2020-10-20T15:20:57","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T19:20:57","slug":"new-apple-store-guidelines-for-streaming-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/11\/new-apple-store-guidelines-for-streaming-games\/","title":{"rendered":"New Apple Store Guidelines for Streaming Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple<\/a> (also: Federico Viticci<\/a>, John Voorhees<\/a>, Juli Clover<\/a>):<\/p>\n

3.1.2(a): Games offered in a streaming game service subscription must be downloaded directly from the App Store, must be designed to avoid duplicate payment by a subscriber, and should not disadvantage non-subscriber customers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

I’m not sure what that means. Are games not allowed to be subscriber-only? Are discounts<\/a> forbidden for customers who purchased directly?<\/p>\n\n

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4.9: Streaming games Streaming games are permitted so long as they adhere to all guidelines — for example, each game update must be submitted for review, developers must provide appropriate metadata for search, games must use in-app purchase to unlock features or functionality, etc.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Of course, there is always the open Internet and web browser apps to reach all users outside of the App Store.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ah, yes, the very sweet solution<\/a> that Apple disadvantages<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

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4.9.1: Each streaming game must be submitted to the App Store as an individual app so that it has an App Store product page, appears in charts and search, has user ratings and review, can be managed with ScreenTime and other parental control apps, appears on the user’s device, etc.<\/p>\n

4.9.2: Streaming game services may offer a catalog app on the App Store to help users sign up for the service and find the games on the App Store, provided that the app adheres to all guidelines, including offering users the option to pay for a subscription with in-app purchase and use Sign in with Apple. All the games included in the catalog app must link to an individual App Store product page.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Apple is trying to force a new paradigm into its old App Store model. It’s not a good sign when rules have so many special cases. Apps that offer curated catalogs of other apps are not allowed, except for streaming games. Multiple copies of the same shell app just showing different content are not allowed, except they are required for streaming games. With video and book apps, there can be innovation in managing that content within a single app, but not for streaming games.<\/p>\n\n

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2.3.1: Don’t include any hidden, dormant, or undocumented features in your app; your app’s functionality should be clear to end users and App Review.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Don’t be Epic.<\/p>\n\n

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2.3.1: All new features, functionality, and product changes must be described with specificity in the Notes for Review section of App Store Connect (generic descriptions will be rejected) and accessible for review.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Let’s see whether this is actually enforced.<\/p>\n\n

Kyle Howells<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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In other news: Netflix will be allowed on the AppStore, but each tv show episode or movie must be available on the AppStore as it’s own separately downloadable app.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

John Voorhees<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Obviously, many game streaming services offer games that aren’t UIKit games that can be downloaded from the App Store, which will be a technical roadblock to many services.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Steve Troughton-Smith<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Of course, that will mean that any game provided by xCloud needs to follow Apple’s other rules — which means in-app purchases would need to go through Apple’s system (which, due to the nature of xCloud, basically means any game with microtransactions will not be allowed)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Jason Snell<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Real question is, did Apple create these guidelines knowing that Google and Microsoft will never agree to them? And would access to iOS be worth Google and Microsoft jumping through all these hoops? My guess is yes and no, but you never know.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Dan Moren<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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From Apple’s point of view, it now has explicit rules to point to, but honestly, all this really means is that there won’t be game streaming services on the App Store. Neither Microsoft nor Epic is going to spend the time or money on what is not an insignificant amount of work and<\/em> have to hand over the 30 percent cut to Apple on top of that. Just not going to happen.<\/p>\n

To my mind, this remains a short-sighted and ill thought out decision on Apple’s part. Game streaming services aren’t going away, and if iOS is the only platform that they’re not available on, then, honestly, that just hurts iOS. Apple has clearly decided that it doesn’t care about losing those customers—that it’s an acceptable trade-off for not losing the revenue and the control over App Store contents.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Michael Gartenberg<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Unbelievable what’s going on over there. It’s Apple going to war with developers and Apple has the upper hand? Where do devs go to get on the platform of choice for so many. App store was once great for all parties. Not so much anymore.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Rich Mogull<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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I just don’t get these updated App Store guidelines. If the game is streaming and not running locally the security model is the same for all games. Basically, this is like approving every movie on Netflix and having a different App Store listing for each. What am I missing?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

It’s not about security.<\/p>\n\n

McCloud<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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The added friction alone is a significant handicap. Yes, your streaming library is there but you have to extract it title-by-title from the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying “Beware of the Leopard”.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Eli Hodapp<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Here’s what’s TRULY unbelievable about today’s App Store policy update to “allow” xCloud and Stadia, that you can really only appreciate if you’ve been following the wacky decisions of Apple on how to awkwardly handle everything to do with games…<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

Apple cited 4.3 in the App Store guidelines, specifically telling Choice of Games that their separate apps are “too similar,” even though each of them were their own truly unique narrative adventure. To Apple, books with words on a page and choices are all just the same I guess.<\/p>

Apple held firm on the decision to block Choice of Games from releasing individual books, instead forcing them to rapidly develop an omnibus app that could serve as the singular container for all of their titles since individual skus were no longer allowed.<\/p>

This was a complete nightmare for Choice of Games as their releases were at a complete standstill until they could develop this new container app that Apple was forcing them into. It also created a huge support headache as you can tell by the FAQ<\/p>

With this in mind, it’s really amusing that Apple’s “solution” for xCloud and Stadia being “allowed” is having them spam the App Store with what could be quite literally hundreds of viewer apps for all the different games, particularly with the secondary App Store-only versions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n