More premium games are launching on the App Store this year than last, Apple’s ‌App Store‌ Worldwide head Carson Oliver told Polygon , including more franchises coming from PC and consoles. Oliver said:
We’ve seen incredible growth of games coming to the App Store, in general, with more premium games releasing on the App Store this year than last. While many of those are indies, we’re also seeing more console and PC franchises coming to mobile, as it is a burgeoning audience for those games. Oliver singled-out "Balatro," "Stardew Valley," "Slay the Spire," and "Bloons TD 6" as games finding success on mobile, and singled out cozy games, management simulations, and roguelikes as particularly successful categories. Oliver suggested that part of the opportunity comes from players whose first gaming device was an iPhone. Having grown up playing with touch controls, those users give independent developers an audience accustomed to games designed around a touchscreen. For an entire generation of players, their very first gaming device wasn’t a console or a PC, it was an iPhone with a touchscreen. These users embrace direct touch as their primary controller, making iPhone and iPad the ultimate canvas for indie innovation. The interview followed Apple’s Indie Games Week promotion, which highlighted seven new and upcoming iPhone and iPad games, including "Sifu," "Vampire Crawlers," "No Man’s Sky," and "Little Kitty, Big City." With games such as Vampire Crawlers being sold directly on the ‌App Store‌, Polygon asked where Apple Arcade fits into the company’s plans…
