Apple's new 'console'

Good Morning. Yesterday’s poll was a close one — looks like 55% of our readers agree that ‘candy crushers’ are gamers too. While casual mobile games are a great way to pass the time on a boring commute, it looks like there are some big things on the horizon that’ll add some serious length (and depth) to your mobile gaming sessions. You might just miss a stop or two.

More on this in our Main Quest section below.

— Jason Liu, Derek Neville

MAIN QUEST: Apple’s double-down on gaming

Gaming was front and center during Apple’s Wonderlust event, where iPhone 15 and its Pro version were announced. The new GPU in the 15 Pro will make the phone a serious gaming device.

• New hardware enabling ray tracing tech. Powered by the A17 Pro chipset, the redesigned GPU promises 20% faster performance. The shader architecture supports hardware-based ray tracing and mesh shading, setting new standards for mobile gaming and graphics capabilities.

• Console-like remakes will be available. Announced titles include Resident Evil 4, Death Stranding, AC: Mirage, and The Division Resurgence.

Why this matters: companion consoles are hot (Steamdeck, ROG Ally) and capable phones could make them obsolete fairly quickly if AAAs are being developed specifically for mobile. It reminds us of the tablet market — yes, bigger screen has its use but the market is miniscule compared to mobile.

HUD

• 💰 Unity is adding a “Unity Runtime Fee” every time a game using the Unity Engine is installed. The fee will apply to games that have passed thresholds on yearly revenue and lifetime installs.

• 📆 Bungie’s XDefiant will be delayed until at least mid-September after it failed to receive certification from both Xbox and PlayStation.

• 🌩️ Intel confirmed details of its next-generation Thunderbolt 5 cable, set to release in 2024. Thunderbolt 5 will have the ability to transfer data at up to 120Gbps.

MAJOR W

• 🪖 Steam celebrated its 20th birthday yesterday by turning the background of the Steam Store to its original “army green”

• 🦸 My Hero Academia returns to Fortnite in the latest update with 3 new skins available in the shop, as well as Todoroki’s Ice Wall quirk useable in the game.

THIS DAY IN GAMING HISTORY

On this day in 1985, Super Mario Bros. was released. The Mario franchise is the best selling video game franchise in history and has had at least one game released for every major Nintendo console. Can you guess which franchises are #2 and #3? Check in tomorrow!

HIVE MIND

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