Apple revealed its mixed reality headset, Apple Vision Pro, today – and confirmed that over 100 Apple Arcade games will be playable on launch day.
Apple did not reveal a firm launch date, saying that it would arrive “early next year”, and that the base-level device will cost $3499.
NBA 2k23 was briefly showcased at part of the lengthy WWDC23 reveal event, and was shown being played with a PS5 controller.
“Spatial computing makes new types of games possible with titles that can span a spectrum of immersion and bring gamers into all-new worlds,” Apple said in a press release. “Users can also play over 100 Apple Arcade games on a screen as large as they want, with incredible immersive audio and support for popular game controllers.”
Apple Vision Pro will run on VisionOS. Susan Prescott, the head of Apple’s developer relations division, appeared during the presentation to explain what developers might be able to create for the headset.
The focus was mostly on productivity software, but games were namechecked briefly and Unity was announced as a key tools partner for the platform.
“We know there’s a community of developers who have been building incredible 3D apps for years,” said Prescott. “We’ve been working with Unity to bring those apps to Vision Pro. So popular Unity-based games and apps can gain full access to VisionOS features, such as pass through, high resolution rendering, and native gestures. And because these Unity apps are running natively on Apple Vision Pro, they can sit side by side rendered simultaneously with other VisionOS apps.”
“Apple Vision Pro will have a brand new App Store where users can discover and download all the apps built for VisionOS as well as compatible iPad and iPhone apps,” said Prescott, who added that there would be more detail on how developers can work with VisionOS in the Platforms State of the Union presentation later today at WWDC.
There was a brief glimpse of that new App Store, which looked broadly similar to the one on Apple TV currently. Apple said users will be able to “access hundreds of thousands of familiar iPhone and iPad apps that run great and automatically work with the new input system for Vision Pro.”
“Apple’s developer community can go even further and take advantage of the powerful and unique capabilities of Vision Pro and VisionOS to design brand-new app experiences, and reimagine existing ones for spatial computing,” it added.
