Mobile gaming is often overlooked in the endless debate of iOS vs. Android, but both platforms offer substantially different experiences that directly affect how we perceive mobile games. For those who rarely touch mobile titles except in times of great boredom, these differences might appear superficial, but delve a little deeper, and the staggering imbalance between them becomes clear. Nowhere is this more apparent than Capcom’s exclusive deal with Apple to bring Resident Evil Village and Resident Evil 4 to iPhone and iPad later this year, highlighting Google’s repeated failures to provide a quality gaming service.

Announced as part of the Tokyo Game Show 2023, a port of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil Village plus DLC will arrive on the App Store on October 30th. The system requirements are strict (the only compatible iPhone models are the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max), but this is nevertheless a significant step forward in bringing AAA-quality gaming to mobile. If you hadn’t kept up with recent developments in mobile gaming, you would expect Google to provide stiff competition in the market. However, the company seems content to view gaming as a minor curiosity and not the colossal industry it is.

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To say that Google is underperforming in the gaming arena is an understatement. The sudden closure of Google Stadia in 2022 signified that the company no longer saw cloud gaming as a viable avenue. Despite steady progress on its Google Play Games for PC platform, it’s hard to see how it can compete against the plethora of established platforms like Steam. But nowhere are the company’s failures more apparent than on their own operating system.

The Capcom/Apple deal signifies that Google isn’t just approaching gaming on Android with its usual haphazard approach to product development but actively neglecting it by refusing to seek out high-profile exclusives. Exclusive games are the lifeblood of any gaming platform. While Apple users may soon have significantly more choices when choosing where they install games, it’s easy to see why users will remain with the App Store as their go-to for the best mobile games.

Source: Apple

Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil Village are the most significant exclusives announced for the App Store, but they are by no means the first. The Apple Arcade subscription service is packed with exclusive titles carefully chosen to form a small but high-quality library of mobile games. It stands in stark contrast to Google’s bloated Play Pass, which boasts over 1,000 titles, most of which are forgettable nonsense. Of course, there are plenty of fantastic games on Android, but those looking for a selection of exclusive games to match Apple’s library will be disappointed.

It’s not just Apple that’s steadily gathering up exclusives. Netflix Games (available on iOS and Android) may have launched with an underwhelming library, but it has since blossomed to offer a remarkable selection of exclusive games that is more than a match for Apple Arcade. Today, gamers with iPhones and iPads are spoiled for choice; Android users are less so.

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It’s easy to see what the future could have looked like for Google’s gaming efforts. Baldur’s Gate 3 was initially planned to launch on Stadia alongside Windows, and while it was never going to be a Google exclusive, Stadia availability on launch day would have kept Google relevant in today’s conversation about mobile games.

It might be a long time before we no longer automatically associate mobile gaming with predatory free-to-play shenanigans. Still, it’s undeniable that a quality gaming experience on mobile is no longer a fantasy. But if Google refuses to invest, a bizarre situation could arise where consumers aren’t comparing Google and Apple’s selection of games on their phones but Netflix and Apple’s.