Developers say new Apple devices — even the Apple Watch — will be good for games

Apple product introductions are usually good for mobile-game companies. Tuesday was no different as Apple unveiled its iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and Apple Watch devices. With those gadgets, Apple is staying on its path of attracting more hardcore gamers while still broadening the reach of games to new audiences.

Mobile developers are happy to create high-end, console-like titles that take advantage of Apple’s hardware. Super Evil Megacorp, a studio based in San Mateo, Calif., scored a huge coup as chief creative officer Stephan Sherman went on stage to show off Vainglory, a multiplayer online battle offering designed for both tablets and smartphones.

Two years in the making, the game will debut on iOS in October in a serious effort to bring hardcore gaming featuring 3D graphics to mobile. Vainglory taps the power of the iPhone 6 to render 1.3 million polygons, running at high speeds of 60 frames per second. The title has dust particles, fireflies, and lighting effects from crystals. More than 100 characters can interact at once on the screen. That’s not hard to do on a console or high-end PC, but it’s a big achievement for smartphones.

176 game developers with 1,100 games and $600M in annual revenue
told us what make them the most money.

“This is why we are so thrilled about the performance now possible on the iPhone 6,” Sherman said on stage.

In an interview with GamesBeat, Super Evil Megacorp executives Kristian Segerstrale and Bo Daly said they worked with Apple for a long time and were pleased to be featured at the reveal.

“Our goal was to create core gameplay on touchscreen devices,” said Daly, chief executive of Super Evil Megacorp. “We were very ambitious. With these technology improvements, the timing is great because the things that Apple cares about now really help us tell our story.”

Above: Action from Vainglory.

Image Credit: Super Evil Megacorp

“Super Evil’s founders foresaw two years ago that the graphical performance and controls would reach the point where core gamers would want to play on a mobile device,” said Segerstrale, chief operating officer of the Vainglory studio.

The team was pretty confident when it started that they could make games for tablets. But they were pleasantly surprised to find that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus would also be powerful and responsive enough for Vainglory, which runs on a brand-new engine.

The developers said they are also glad that Apple cares about their needs and responds by consistently creating better technology. The new iPhone 6 devices have bigger screens, which help create a better experience.

“The bigger screen is great for hardcore games,” said Taehoon Kim, CEO of nWay, a publisher of free-to-play multiplayer online titles. “Especially multiplayer or control-based [games] that take up real estate for controls and buttons.”

Apple held its press event at De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif. It also showed off its previously announced Metal, an applications programming interface that removes the inefficiencies of the OpenGL graphics platform and makes it easier to take full advantage of the computing power in a processor. Metal goes particularly well with the A8, the new chip in the iPhone 6 that delivers 25 percent better central processing unit (CPU) performance and 50 percent better graphics. And it does so with better battery life. The A8 also has a motion co-processor that can absorb data from sensors, and that could also contribute to game development.

By coming out with the larger screens and devices, Apple can ward off a threat from the likes of Samsung, which is heavily recruiting game makers for its Android-based smartphones and tablets. The Cupertino giant can also slow down any migration of developers to Android.

Above: More from Vainglory.

Image Credit: Super Evil Megacorp

Electronic Arts didn’t show anything at the Apple event. But Frank Gibeau, head of mobile games at EA, said in an interview with GamesBeat that his company has a dozen big mobile offerings coming out over the next year that will likely make use of Metal and the A8 processor. Three upcoming titles are using EA’s Frostbite engine, the foundation for the recent, gorgeous-looking Battlefield games.

“We’ll be taking advantage of iOS 8 and the A8 processor,” Gibeau said. “This is getting us on par with [the next-generation] experience, which is our strike zone. We’re bullish about what it means for our portfolio and gaming in the long term.”

Three upcoming EA mobile releases include SimCity BuildIt, Peggle Blast, and FIFA 15 Ultimate Team, Gibeau said. Those games should tap into different features of the new devices, and EA’s teams have been working with Metal and other advancements for some time. The team has assessed the bigger screens of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, as well as the A8 processor, and they’ve concluded that the A8 has enough horsepower to power fast-moving games on those displays.

“Apple has done a good job matching display resolution and processing power,” Gibeau said.

Above: A match taking place in FIFA 15 Ultimate Team.

Image Credit: EA

On top of that, Gibeau said that EA could make games for wearable devices like the Apple Watch. He said that sports titles might give you more achievement points if you go out for a long jog.

“We’re also looking at dedicated games for wearables,” Gibeau said. “We see Oculus VR, Google Glass, and Apple Watch as early stages of an emerging new gaming platform, which is wearables.”

He said a couple of EA teams are designing interactive experiences for wearables.

“The Apple Watch is a next chapter in how that is unfolding,” Gibeau said.

Asked if Vainglory would run on the Apple Watch (which clearly can’t support such a title), Segerstrale laughed and said,”Never say never. If you can think of a great control scheme for such a game, we’ll think about it.”

Phil Sanderson, managing director at IDG Ventures, said, “I am hoping some game developers will be able to use [Apple’s WatchKit developer program] to develop [some titles] by launch. My sense is they will be very casual in nature when they are created, but I can see visual alerts and even simple actions for existing mid- and hard-core games on the iPhone and iPad being very helpful and fun.”

Sanderson also noted that the new Apple Pay system, where you can hold a smartphone or Apple Watch next to a device and make a digital payment, will simplify in-app purchases inside games. That will translate to more players spending money in free-to-play titles.

Above: A screenshot from SimCity BuildIt.

Image Credit: EA

Japheth Dillman, co-founder of game accelerator YetiZen in San Francisco, said that he believes the Apple Watch will serve as a second screen for the iPhone, just as the iPhone is a second screen for the TV. That could drive interesting game mechanics, he said.