Last week, tech giant Google made headlines when it revealed its official entry in the gaming industry with the announcement of Google Stadia during GDC 2019. Now, reports unveiled that another tech company is eyeing the gaming industry and is rumored to announce its own game subscription service soon.

The company in question is none other than Apple, known for innovating the mobile phone market with the introduction of the first iPhone back in 2007. Bloomberg reports that Apple is seeking for new ways to capitalize its gigantic user base, given that the company's hardware sales are currently stagnating. Now, rumors about the tech giant wanting to revolutionize the gaming industry are nothing new after reports surfaced a couple of months ago that Apple is planning to introduce a service that will serve as the "Netflix for Games."

Unlike the cloud-based streaming service of Google Stadia that will require an Internet speed of 25mbps or more, Apple's offering will be focused on iPhones and iPads and will bundle together paid games from multiple developers, which can then be accessed by consumers via a monthly subscription fee. Apple will then distribute monthly fees collected from players to developers depending on how much time users spend on playing these games.

Bloomberg claims that Apple may announce the new game subscription as early as Monday, March 25, during the company's special event which will be held in the Steve Jobs Theatre in Cupertino. The event will be the venue for Apple to introduce new services that will include the announcements of a video streaming and news subscription, so it is not unlikely that the company will also reveal its video game streaming service if rumors turn out to be true.

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If Apple does announce a game subscription service on Monday, it will be interesting to see how this, together with the Google Stadia, will change the landscape of the video game industry in the near future. Nintendo and Sony saw a drop in their stocks immediately after Google announced Stadia, by 4.6 and 4.5 percent respectively, which is not surprising given that Google's announcement challenges the traditional home console business model with its cloud-based streaming service.

As of the moment, it is too early to tell whether Google and eventually Apple, will succeed in bringing a revolutionary service in the video game industry. Nonetheless, it is exciting to see how veteran console manufacturers will respond and how the threat of streaming will affect the features of the next-generation home consoles in the future.

Source: Bloomberg