Google is launching a new subscription-based mobile game service. WSJheard breaks down how it could fare against its competition. WSJWhatsNow
By Dan Gallagher Sept. 24, 2019 7:00 am ET In tech, no good idea goes uncopied. Sometimes even before it is clear if the idea was actually good.
Google, owned by Alphabet , GOOG -1.24% is launching a subscription-based mobile game service this week. Known as Play Pass, the service allows users of Android devices to play games and access other apps free of advertising and in-app transactions for about $5 a month. It comes just days after Apple formally launched Arcade—a similar service at the same price. Arcade was previewed by Apple earlier this year as part of the company’s expanded slate of entertainment offerings.
Google and Apple together own the operating systems that power nearly every smartphone. But even the two most powerful companies in mobile tech face an uphill battle in getting smartphone gamers to pay upfront. The vast majority of top-grossing mobile games on both platforms are free to download and play, and generate revenue through in-game transactions. On the iPhone, only one paid game—Microsoft’s “Minecraft”—sits in the current ranking of 50 highest-grossing games, according to App Annie.
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Granted, Google’s Android is on 85% of the world’s smartphones, which means Play Pass could generate a sizable business by converting just a small portion of that enormous base. But despite its dominant share, Android’s app business hasn’t proven nearly as lucrative as Apple’s. Ben Schachter of Macquarie estimates that Google Play will generate about $8.7 billion in revenue next year—half of his projection for Apple’s App Store.
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