INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Apple Arcade introduced the idea of all-you-can-eat subscription-based mobile gaming to the mainstream
Google Play Pass soon followed as a way to subscribe to a sizable collection of both apps and games on Android devices
Today, a startup called GameClub is launching in the U.S
For $4.99 per month, mobile consumers will be able to access a library that includes some of the best games to have ever hit the App
Store.
To be clear, GameClub is not a cloud gaming platform, like Google Stadia
It a way to subscribe to actual App Store games, similar to Arcade
In GameClub case, however, the focus is not on new releases but on quality games that already have proven track records and high ratings.
In
fact, many GameClub games have made Apple own editorially selected &Game of the Year& lists in years past
And like the games offered on Apple Arcade, they don&t have ads or any in-app purchases.
At launch, GameClub library includes more than
100 titles, with around half that available for play today
More titles will roll out on a weekly basis in the months ahead
Combined, the games have over 100 million collective downloads, the company says.
On GameClub, you&ll find games like: Super Crate Box, Hook
Champ, Mage Gauntlet, Space Miner, Forget-Me-Not, MiniSquadron, Plunderland, Pocket RPG, Sword of Fargoal, Incoboto, Tales of the Adventure
Company, Hook Worlds, Orc: Vengeance, Mr
Particle-Man, Legendary Wars, Deathbat, The Path to Luma, Grimm, Zombie Match, Faif, iBlast Moki 2, Kano, Baby Lava Bounce, Run Roo Run,
Gears and many others.
It a selection that extends across gaming categories, like Action, Arcade, Puzzle, Adventure, Platformer, Retro, Role
Playing, Simulation, Strategy and more.
To use the service, you first download the main GameClub app, which becomes the hub for your
You then sign up for the $4.99 per month subscription, which includes a 30-day free trial
Within the main app, you can browse the available titles as well as read editorial content like in-depth overviews and histories, get tips
and learn about gaming strategies.
The startup was founded last year by game industry vets Dan Sherman and Oliver Pedersen.
Sherman,
GameClub CEO, has worked in the gaming industry for around 17 years, including time spent at EA and his own startup, Tilting Point
His experience has involved, predominantly, signing content partnerships with game creators
Pedersen, meanwhile, built backend systems and platforms for games, including at Yahoo Games.
Though GameClub is seemingly arriving after
Apple Arcade debut, it actually began before that
The startup was founded in 2018, ahead of any Apple Arcade rumors
It went live on iOS outside the U.S
before Arcade launched.
The founders say they were inspired to address the issues caused by the free-to-play model that has infiltrated
In addition, they had witnessed a decline in consumers& willingness to purchase content upfront, which was impacting the industry.
&I was
seeing all these amazing game developers leave mobile because the types of games they make are not the types of games that monetize through
in-app purchases and ads,& Sherman tells TechCrunch
&The free-to-play model actually only works for a handful of genres,& he explains
&A lot of companies make a lot of money through a very small number of genres and game experiences — to the exclusion of a lot of other
types of genres that GameClub is bringing back — action, adventures, arcade, tower defense — anything that can be completed.&
With
free-to-play, games are built around perpetual retention loops
&And the freemium model comes out of the casino industry, not the premium game industry,& Sherman points out.
But because this is how games
could make money, it led to homogeneity in the marketplace, he says.
GameClub aims to offer a subscription to the premium games that got
left behind.
They are meant to be wholesome and fun, not overly addictive
They&re not designed to manipulate you into spending money
You simply pay your subscription fee every month to access the catalog, then play unencumbered.
Thanks to Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass,
consumers are now comfortable with the idea of the subscription model for mobile games
And other services — like Spotify Netflix, and Xbox Game Pass, for example — have pushed the idea of subscription access to content
across platforms and genres.
GameClub is different from Arcade, however, because it not funding the development of content upfront — at
Instead, it forging agreements with largely indie developers to release their existing IP as a GameClub exclusive.
This may include bringing
an older game into the 64-bit era — something GameClub handles on their behalf.
&Many of [the GameClub titles] have been gone for many
&It with our team, our technology and our developers that they&ve been brought back
And they&ve been brought back in a way that is 100% using the original code and the exact same design…but making them look and feel new,
with higher resolution, Retina Display assets and by optimizing for the latest screen sizes and configurations,& he adds.
The company
doesn&t discuss the business model for GameClub, but it not the same as Apple Arcade pay-upfront model.
What Sherman could say is that the
more important the game is to the GameClub service, the more money the creator makes
Additionally, GameClub says it transparent with developers about its subscription revenue, so there no question about which games are
earning or why.
The same can&t be said for Apple Arcade, which is a total black box to the point that consumers don&t know which Arcade
games are most popular, developers can&t see how they&re doing compared with others and third-party measurement firms have no data.
Of
course, there could be concerns that GameClub exists in a gray area, with regard to App Store policy
Those with longer memories may recall that Apple banned app-stores-within-a-store starting back in 2012
The company had kicked out apps that recommended other apps like AppHero, FreeAppADay, Daily App Dream, AppShopper and more
It also banned the more popular app recommendation service AppGratis the following year
But Apple concern was that these apps were leveraging their power to manipulate App Store charts and rankings, often charging for that
GameClub, on the other hand, plays fairly
Its service also benefits Apple, by offering subscription access to quality games that couldn&t thrive as free-to-play
titles.
Longer-term, GameClub wants to produce its own original content and offer its service across platforms, starting with Google Play,
but eventually tackling PC and console gaming.
The startup is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Copenhagen
In addition to the founders, it includes Eli Hodapp, the former editor-in-chief of the popular game news and review site TouchArcade, and
COO Britt Myers, the former chief product officer of subscription-based edtech apps platform Homer.
With the close of a seed round last
week, GameClub is backed by $4.6 million in funding.
Investors from a round that closed last year include GC VR Gaming Tracker Fund, CRCM
Ventures, Watertower Ventures, Ride Ventures, BreakawayGrowth Fund and others
New investors include GFR Fund, Gramercy Fund, CentreGold Capital, and AET Fund.
GameClub is available on the App Store.
