[bigyabai]

Hmm... let's think. Why would iOS, iPadOS and TVOS all be ignored when discussing margins on gaming profits? Any guesses?

Oh! The Mac! Whenever you let publishers compete with software storefronts of their own, Apple is chronically incapable of making money for some reason. You know, like how League of Legends and Steam and World of Warcraft and all support the Mac but conspicuously don't show up on the macOS app store or get ported to the mobile platforms that could clearly support them. Or how Photoshop and Pro Tools and Premiere all support the Mac, but just refuse to put their professional software on the App Store or iPad! What's up with that?

The fact that those storefronts are entirely captive audiences might be it. When you add macOS to the lineup, it becomes the punchline to a tortuously protracted joke.

[pjmlp]

Ignored by HN folks like yourself, that is, industry knows what they should care about.

"- Mobile games generated $81 billion revenue in 2023 across both platforms

- iOS was responsible for $47.7 billion of that revenue, Google Play generated $33.3 billion

- Mobile was responsible for 49% of total game revenues, close to PC and console totals combined"

https://www.businessofapps.com/data/mobile-games-revenue/

Laugh at will, we don't want sad people.

[bigyabai]

Yes. I'll say it however many times you need to hear it, nobody is looking at Apple's captive gatcha economy and saying it's a bonafide "gaming" market with a straight face. These "gamers" only ever get to play commercial failures that get ported to iOS as a contingency measure. RE8, Cyberpunk 2077, Death Stranding... if this was a console lineup it would be sadder than the Xbox. Oh, and the lootbox & microtransaction games that obviously account for the lion's share of Apple's game revenue. But we don't have to mention the ugly bits.

Instead, serious economists turn to markets that are representative of Apple's ability to compete, for example, the macOS App Store. When Apple has to compete, how much market cap are they actually earning from the App Store? We have the numbers, you just know they aren't flattering.