What If Apple Makes A Game Controller?

Recent news suggests Apple Arcade isn’t doing as well as it should. From mobilgamer.biz:

“Multiple mobilegamer.biz sources have voiced their concern for Apple Arcade’s future, citing a glut of cancelled projects and ever-declining developer payouts.”

I was excited about Fantasian. But otherwise, I didn’t use Apple Arcade much. Last Fall when Apple raised its service prices, my family dropped the Apple One bundle, losing Apple Arcade.

We don’t miss it at all. We have a gaming PC and more than one Nintendo Switch. And my oldest teen bought his own Meta Quest 2. Plus, sometimes I enjoy iPhone or iPad games not in Apple Arcade, like Touch Grind Skate 2 and Zen Koi 2.

I think one clear sign that Apple “gets gaming” and is serious about games would be for it to make a dedicated game controller. It should work with games on Apple TV, iPad, and MacBook.

But Apple seems to eschew buttons or controls. Physical ones get replaced by touch-screen versions (e.g. Touch Bar on MacBook). The Vision Pro, which could be a 3D VR gaming powerhouse, lacks any controllers, unlike most or all other VR headsets.

And if Apple made a game controller, it’d likely be priced too high and not worth the cost to gamers; its profit margins might also be too low. It might have a weird charging port setup, like the upside down Magic Mouse or the first Apple Pencil. Maybe a game controller is too much of a commodity product for Apple to bother with.

Still, it seems that Apple making a dedicated game controller would be worth it to the company as an overt gesture. It’d signal to the gaming industry and market that its platform is a legit gaming space. Then maybe it would attract more game developers and players.