Game Development & Mobile Adaptation - Black Salt Games adapted "Dredge" for iOS, focusing on maintaining the original PC and console quality [5][6] - The company redesigned controls for touch screens, adjusting UI elements for thumb placement and visibility [5][11][12] - The studio implemented a tap-to-interact system for fishing, improving the inventory flow on touch devices [17] - Black Salt Games chose to maintain price parity with PC and console versions, launching at $24.99 [19][20] App Store Strategy & Performance - The company utilized Apple's Universal App system, offering a single purchase for iPhone, iPad, and Mac with cross-platform save data [21] - Black Salt Games implemented a "Try Before You Buy" demo, resulting in a 30% higher conversion rate compared to a standard paywall [23][24] - Preorders on the App Store had four times the purchase rate compared to other storefronts, accounting for roughly 4% of mobile sales in the first six months [26] - "Dredge" reached over 1.5 million players via the App Store since its February launch, expanding accessibility in regions where console gaming is less common [27] - The iOS version of "Dredge" achieved financial success within the first month and received an Apple Design Award [28][29] Key Takeaways & Future Outlook - Apple's systems, like Universal App and "Try Before You Buy," helped Black Salt Games provide flexibility and build player confidence [32] - The company emphasizes the importance of quality and care in game development, regardless of platform [31][32]

My name is Mike Escudero and I'm on the App Store business development team looking after games in particular. So I'm going to spend a little time today talking about the App Store in general, and then drill down and talk about premium games on our platform. Free to play games, as we all know, are predominant on mobile and the App Store, but we see other game types and business models also find success.As I'll show you in the next couple of slides, the App Store is a huge platform reaching hundreds of milli ...

Hello everybody. So my name is Adrianna Lewis and I am part of the content strategy and acquisition team here at Apple Arcade. So many of you have likely heard of arcade or even have active games here on the service, but if you don't today, I have the great privilege to share with you all what arcade is all about.So the goal of arcade has always been to create the next generation arcade by offering fun, safe and unforgettable gaming experiences. But before I dive in, here's a short video showing a compilati ...

Performance Optimization on Apple Devices - Apple Silicon creates a unified gaming platform across Mac, iPad, and iPhone, presenting challenges in delivering console-quality experiences on mobile devices [1] - The industry employs a systematic loop for performance optimization: observe, isolate, diagnose, and tune [5][6] - Metal Performance HUD is used as a live dashboard for spotting issues in real-time during development and QA [7][8] - Xcode Instruments, with the Game Performance Overview template, supports long captures to identify issues appearing over time [12][13] - Metal System Trace provides a detailed, low-level view of GPU hardware scheduling [15] - Metal Debugger, with frame capture, helps scrutinize single frames to identify the root cause of performance issues [17][18] Power Efficiency and Scaling - Sustained Execution Mode gives a steady performance state and a good target for optimizations; thermal metric in Metal Performance HUD helps catch issues early [27][28] - The industry monitors and controls power usage by marking games in info.plist to enable Game Mode [27] - Developers can use rendering resolution, asset/feature quality, and device capabilities to tune games for different devices [32][33][34][35] - MetalFX can bridge the performance gap by using spatial or temporal upscaling [4]

Hi there. My name is Rich Forster and I'm here to talk to you about bringing your game and its renderer to Metal. I'm assuming you have a PC or console game, and you want to make it part of the growing catalog of titles on Mac.Bringing your game to Mac means that you can target a range of devices with the common foundation of Apple Silicon. This is inZOI, by the way. Apple Silicon means that you have a strong baseline of advanced rendering features, and knowing the capability of each device, you can give yo ...

Hi, I’m Alexey and I lead the Game Technologies team here at Apple. Your players expect the best possible experience in your games. And today I want to talk about the frameworks, tools and resources that are available to help you achieve it.In fact, the Apple Arcade system is really outstanding when it comes to gaming. The vast majority of players already have more than one device available, and they are carrying these devices around using them every day. They don't need an additional dedicated device just ...

Apple's Unified Gaming Platform - Apple's unified gaming platform enables developers to target Mac, iPad, and iPhone from a single code base, supporting graphically demanding games across various hardware and platforms [3] - The unified architecture also serves as the foundation for building games for spatial computing on Apple Vision Pro [3] Game Engine Support - Unity and Unreal Engine offer deep support for Apple platforms, leveraging Metal for direct GPU access, simplifying the process of targeting Apple devices [7] - Apple provides Unity plug-ins that bridge native APIs, allowing developers to integrate features like Game Center, Game Controller support (MFI compliant controllers, Sony, Microsoft), accessibility features (VoiceOver, Dynamic Type), and Core Haptics [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] - Apple's Game Center plugin facilitates integration of Leaderboards, Achievements, Challenges, and matchmaking [11] Game Porting Toolkit - Apple offers a Game Porting Toolkit for bringing Windows or console games to Apple platforms, enabling developers to leverage existing PC workflows and tools [21] - The toolkit includes an evaluation environment to run existing x86 Windows binaries on Mac, Metal developer tools for Windows, and Mac remote developer tools for Windows [22][23][26][28] - The Metal Shader Converter automatically converts DirectX Intermediate Language (DXIL) into a Metal library [29] - Metal-cpp, a header-only C++ wrapper for the Metal API, allows developers to use Metal in a familiar language [31] - The Game Porting Toolkit includes Human Interface guidelines for games, offering advice on platform conventions, on-screen controls, and input handling [31][32] - The game porting sample code serves as a tutorial for porting and a standalone example of a native game built for Mac, iPad, and iPhone [33][34]

Hi, I'm Greg. It's great to see so many of you here and online. And I'm Adrienne.Greg and I are part of Apple's Worldwide Developer Relations team. We're so excited to welcome you to a full day focused on game development across Apple platforms. Every day we collaborate with developers just like you, from indie dreamers to Triple-A powerhouses, pushing what's possible on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro.Today, you'll hear from the Apple teams who build the tools and technologies that make that possibl ...

Spatial Audio Design Principles - Immersive audio design should account for the entire visual frame, as viewers can explore different areas and focus on mini-stories within the scene [1][2][5][6] - Spatial audio should consider the sonic world behind the viewer, utilizing equirectangular representations to place sounds accurately in 360-degree space [7][8][9][10] - Headlocked stereo is suitable for elements like voiceover and narration, where the sound should remain constant relative to the viewer's ears, rather than being spatialized within the scene [12][13][14][15][42][43][44] DaVinci Resolve Fairlight Integration - DaVinci Resolve integrates editing, color correction, and Fairlight audio post-production, enabling a collaborative workflow without data exchange between pages [17][18] - Fairlight offers standard DAW tools, including faders, spatial panners (azimuth, elevation, Cartesian view), built-in EQ, dynamics processors (compressor, gate, limiter), and bus routing [18][19][20][21][22] - Fairlight supports ASAF (Apple Spatial Audio Format) master bus output, allowing for mixing in binaural, stereo, or speaker system configurations, optimized for the listening environment [23][24][25][26] - Buses can be set up in Fairlight to route audio signals to different destinations, including ambisonic formats for Apple Immersive Video [27][28] ASAF Workflow and Features - ASAF and ambisonics enable realistic positioning of sounds in the sound field, such as placing stereo sounds in the upper canopy of trees [37][38] - Headlocking in Fairlight can be achieved by routing a track to the main ASAF output, selecting the track, and enabling the headlocked option in the inspector [43] - DaVinci Resolve Fairlight's IntelliTrack, an AI-based tracker, automates complex pan moves by tracking objects in the video, saving time for audio engineers [52][53][54][55][56] Project Setup and Delivery - Apple Immersive Audio requires DaVinci Resolve Studio (the paid version) and enabling Apple Spatial Audio in the Video and Audio I/O preferences [57][58] - Final output for Vision Pro or master files can be delivered through the Deliver page, with options for Vision Pro Review or creating a master file bundle [58][59]

Immersive VFX Challenges & Solutions - Immersive VFX is more complex than traditional VFX due to stereo lenses, high frame rates (90 fps), and 8K resolution per eye [2] - Even simple VFX elements can have a significant impact in immersive environments if executed well [3] - Previsualization in 180 degrees is crucial for planning various aspects of production, potentially justifying budget through cost savings [4][5] - Data capture on set (HDRIs, photogrammetry, LiDAR scans, etc) is essential for adding elements, cleanup, and ensuring spatial awareness in stereo [6][7] - Camera tracking accuracy is critical due to the realistic stereoscopic depth in immersive experiences [9] - Reviewing VFX work in Apple Vision Pro is necessary at all stages to avoid discrepancies between 2D monitors and the final immersive output [10] DaVinci Resolve/Fusion Workflow for Immersive Video - DaVinci Resolve's Fusion tab offers tools for immersive VFX, including Immersive Patcher, LatLong Patcher, and Panomap [15][18] - The Immersive Patcher converts lens space images to rectilinear images for easier paint and compositing work, with adjustable angle of view [20][21] - The Panomap tool converts between different formats, such as immersive to lat-long, useful for stabilization and CG render mapping [23][24] - Fusion allows previewing work in the Apple Vision Pro headset by combining left and right eyes into layers using a combiner node [26][27] - DaVinci Resolve can pass through the ILPD metadata into EXRs, maintaining camera information throughout the VFX pipeline [74] - Spherical Stabilizer in Fusion can stabilize shaky camera footage by converting immersive space to lat-long space [86][87]