I was an App Store games editor – that’s how I know Apple doesn’t care about games

theguardian.com:

I n the 15 years since it launched the App Store, Apple has proved again and again that it cares very little about games – though it is happy to make billions from them. I should know: I was an App Store games editor for seven years.

It all started so well. When the iPhone and iPad arrived, those devices transformed games almost as much as they upended the rest of the tech world. Suddenly everyone had powerful games machines in their pockets, and it was amazing. Some wonderful developers broke through. Zach Gage kickstarted his career with the artsy Tetris-meets-wordsearch game SpellTower; Adam Saltsman’s Canabalt turned platforming tropes into a desperate post-apocalyptic dash; ingenious gothic puzzler Helsing’s Fire gave us our first glimpse into the mind of Lucas Pope, later the creator of Papers, Please.

There were so many more. And not just indie games but mainstream bangers: Spry Fox’s brilliant Triple Town, Rovio’s Angry Birds; Flight Control; Doodle Jump; Cut the Rope; Drop7; Jetpack Joyride; New Star Soccer. All true breakthrough games for developers that had never had global hits before.

So what did Apple do next? Nothing really. It seemed to create a whole new games ecosystem by accident, and ever since has presided over it like a contemptuous landlord. It takes a tasty 30% cut of almost every in-app purchase while doing next to nothing to earn that fee. Recent privacy policies – including the introduction of that “ask app not to track” pop-up you will have seen again and again – have even actively harmed the mobile games business.

As the App Store grew and grew, Apple’s small App Review team in Cupertino, California, which checks whether a game should be approved for sale or not, was overwhelmed. At the same