Indie games make up many of the new premium games on the App Store, says Carson Oliver, Apple’s head of App Store Worldwide. More console and PC franchises are also coming to mobile, he said. In all, more premium games have come out this year than last.
Oliver gave the figures in an email interview with Polygon, published on Friday. Polygon called it his first interview since he took on the role. It came during Indie Games Week, an App Store event that began on 12 October.
In July, GamesIndustry.biz reported a 77% rise in premium mobile games in 2025. Oliver would not say whether that matched the numbers Apple sees.
A new App Store chief
Oliver took charge of the App Store after Phil Schiller stepped back in August. He runs it day to day and reports to Eddy Cue, Apple’s services chief.
What players are buying
Oliver said cosy games, management sims and roguelikes are doing well on the App Store. He named Balatro, Stardew Valley, Slay the Spire and Bloons TD 6 as successes. He said a generational shift is part of what draws players to premium games.
“For an entire generation of players, their very first gaming device wasn’t a console or a PC, it was an iPhone with a touchscreen.” Carson Oliver, head of App Store Worldwide at Apple
Apple Arcade stays
Vampire Crawlers, one of the week’s games, went straight to the App Store. It did not join Apple Arcade, the subscription service. Oliver signalled that Arcade is not changing. He said Apple gives developers a choice of business models.
“That means a breakthrough phenomenon like Balatro can thrive as a premium download, and it can also find a home as part of the Apple Arcade service.” Carson Oliver
Chips, tools and artwork
On hardware, Oliver pointed to ray tracing on the A20 Pro chip. He also named the new vapour chamber in the iPhone 18 Pro. On software, he named Game Porting Toolkit 4, Metal, MetalFX and Apple’s open-source Unity plug-ins. He said these tools save developers time, effort and money when they bring PC and console games to Apple devices.
Apple has also just launched Creative Assets. It lets indie developers pick the artwork that appears in search results and in the header of their product page.
The seven games
Apple brought seven indie games to iPhone and iPad for the week. They are Sifu, Vampire Crawlers, No Man’s Sky, Little Kitty, Big City, 9 Kings, Dome Keeper and Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall.
No Man’s Sky arrives on 28 October. The port includes ten years of updates, Polygon reported. It is a 5GB game that runs on an iPhone 11.