Up next: Sonic Dream Team’s exclusive release on Apple Arcade sparks anger among fans

Nov. 1 saw the announcement of the upcoming game Sonic Dream Team, which features colourful new stages and the return of several playable characters in a 3D Sonic game.

Although this may not seem like much, it’s actually quite uncommon for even some of the ensemble cast of the series to be fully playable since 2007.

As a result, many fans were shocked to learn that this complete game—which was created by the mobile game studio Sega Hardlight—would only be available on Apple Arcade, a subscription video game service that launched in 2019 and provides seamless compatibility with iPhone, iPad, Mac, and even Apple TV.

Gamers have previously expressed dissatisfaction with Apple Arcade exclusivity. It took six months for the Apple Arcade launch title Exit the Gungeon to appear on other platforms.

Since its 2019 release, Rayman Mini has only been available as part of the subscription service, and there aren’t many Rayman games.

That’s precisely why it seems a little out of place for people to be upset about Sonic Dream Team’s exclusivity.

With the release of Sonic Frontiers in November of last year, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog on April Fools’ Day, Sonic Origins Plus in June, and Sonic Superstars in October, fans of the franchise aren’t exactly lacking in content.

It doesn’t seem reasonable to be upset about missing out on just one game from a franchise that usually goes out of its way to grace as many platforms as possible,

unless Sonic Dream Team turns out to be the hedgehog’s greatest game in a decade or longer. When Sonic had multiple games that were only available on the Nintendo Wii, the response wasn’t nearly as bad.

Whether you like it or not, companies usually use exclusivity to draw players to their service or system.

The success or failure of Microsoft’s Xbox has been determined by the calibre of the Halo video games.

Nobody anticipates seeing Mario, Kirby, or Zelda on platforms other than Nintendo ones. Sony’s exclusive games are well-known and praised, such as God of War and The Last of Us.

Because Apple isn’t a gaming company, some have claimed that it is unfair or unjust for it to acquire exclusive games.

And while it’s true that the $3 trillion company has frequently failed to give video games top priority—Steve Jobs was a well-known opponent—it seems like things are finally starting to change,

as Apple recently unveiled a plethora of gaming-focused enhancements for the upcoming Mac M3 chip and introduced the Game Porting Toolkit for developers.

Given that they are latecomers and find it challenging to support a gaming industry “underdog” that is such a powerful force in related industries, I can understand why gamers are reluctant to accept Apple’s bid for the gaming industry.

While Apple Arcade’s cross-platform integration is excellent, there isn’t much cutting edge technology available at this time, so it merely serves to further divide the gaming market without contributing much value.

However, Sony wasn’t always a gaming company. Known mostly for their Walkmans and Trinitrons,the company confused both critics and players when it introduced the PlayStation in 1994 into an already crowded market that was dominated by Nintendo and Sega, with Atari and 3DO providing sporadic competition.

People were even more perplexed when the system started drawing in developers by the handful, who began prioritising PlayStation development over Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64 development, despite the system’s fierce competition.

In the nearly thirty years that have passed since then, the video game industry has matured significantly, making such shakeups even less likely.

Apple Arcade is not going to reach PlayStation levels of success unless something monumental happens, something even greater than Resident Evil 4 Remake running flawlessly on the newest iPhone, which is, to be honest, very impressive.

It’s possible that Apple won’t have much of an impact on the gaming industry, or it might not happen at all.

A company that has a history of making such drastic changes to its direction is hard to trust.

Although I’m not against Sonic Dream Team’s exclusivity, my only concern is that ChuChu Rocket! Universe, which was taken off Apple Arcade three years after its release and hasn’t been ported anywhere else, may receive the same level of neglect from Sega and Apple.

On December 5, Sonic Dream Team will debut.