Comment by gavanwilhite
3 years ago
Yes, they do this! I called support and they agreed that it was in opposition to their website description of Apple Arcade, but that there was nothing they could do.
It pops up on the top of the screen every time you open the game.
They were very cagy about it, but their excuse seemed to be that it was up to the game publisher whether to include it, and that I should complain to them (even though it was sent as an Apple Arcade notification).
So it seems, there is a market right now, for quality adfree phones, since Apple has given up on that? Or rather they feel too secure in their entrenched space. I hope they are wrong about it.
It's the same market at adfree cities, ad free news sites and ad free movies.
The niche is well established and commercial entities proved viability at some scale. But there's a wall that stops it from ever becoming a prominent model.
IMO going past that wall won't happen organically. Perhaps if ad exposure (including brand and product placements) could be accepted as social level health issue we might see more realistic progress. The same way some districts just banned billboards and ad panels by decree.
People who can afford to pay for stuff to not see ads are the type of people advertisers would love to advertise to.
This is a recommendation for another Apple Arcade game. The only gain for Apple if you click this notification is if you get the game, like it, and continue to pay for Arcade. This is like taking a screenshot of Netflix's "Top Picks for You" list and saying they are ads. This notification is not from the game you're playing but directly from Apple. There's no way to ship a game for Apple Arcade if it includes ads, interstitials or in-app purchases, that's the whole point.