Google Play Pass, an obvious competitor to Apple Arcade, is now online, offering 350 games and non-gaming apps at € 5 a month. But to soften the deal, you can try it for free for 10 days, after which you can sign up for a € 2 discount a month for a full year before the normal price applies.
Unfortunately, this service is only available in the United States and it is unclear when it will be available elsewhere.
While Google announced that the Google Play Pass would arrive in early September, the company was coy with the details. But now that the service has been launched by surprise, very shortly after the public launch of Apple Arcade, against which it is clearly in competition, we know almost everything.
How is ya unlike Apple Arcade
It's no coincidence that Google Play Pass launched so soon after Apple's popular mobile game subscription service, but they differ.
For one thing, the Google Play Pass subscription library is larger, with 350 games and non-gaming apps, unlike the Apple Arcade game catalog. But while the latter's selection criteria strictly only allow for new titles, the Google Play Pass includes a set of existing games, including beloved classics like Limbo, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Monument Valley 2, Terraria, etc.
And yet, iconic as it may be, KOTOR was launched in 2003; There is something to be said that it only includes the selection of newly selected titles in its service for a more orderly experience. In a short time with the service, we have already found it difficult to peruse the Apple Arcade catalog. To browse more than 300 is a larger order.
We also do not know the complete list of games and applications that appear in Google Play Pass, so it is more difficult to adapt to the Apple service. Two-thirds of the catalog is games, while the apps include AccuWeather and Hi-Q recorders.
Like Apple Arcade, the games featured on Google Play Pass are ad-free and require no in-app purchases. If you had already purchased a game before it appeared on the service, you will find that all monetization is removed and additional content is fully unlocked, according to The Verge.
Google Play Pass is cross-platform like Apple Arcade and works with mobile devices, laptops and tablets equipped with version 16.6.25 or Android 4.4 from the Play Store, according to the official Play Pass FAQ.
The future of Google Play Pass
Google Play Pass is not as complex as Apple Arcade from the developers. It does not directly fund developers for games to appear on the service. But this also does not impose exclusivity, which is an important feature (and a strict requirement) for games to appear in Apple Arcade.
Of course, the real value of either service lies in the upcoming games, which could make it suspicious if a title appears in one or the other.