M1 and iOS development

[Arthas.8264]

With the introduction of M1 Chip, Apple is on its way to unifying software development across its platforms. Essentially one app will work across Macs, iPads, iPhones and Apple TV. I wasn't a huge iOS gamer until I recently bought the AppleOne membership and I have to say that some M1 based games are fantastic. of course, most of them are casual arcade games and some have really good graphics but playing genshin impact really showed me what the platform is capable off.

GW2 on the other hand fits perfectly in this realm. Of course not everyone is a casual gamer in GW2 but there is a good chunk of people who'd like to take GW2 everywhere. GW2 is still a pretty game with relatively less taxing system requirements. Bringing this game to iOS would be amazing as it would allow people to play it on their Macs, iPads and iPhones and experience it outside the confines of our home PCs. Initially there was a lot of interest in this during GW2 earliest betas and slowly the priority shifted and the player base knows what the ArenaNet team and GW2 development went through in the last decade (probably this is the second mmo next to WoW that has a strong fanbase for over a decade). 

I can see why ArenaNet gave up on development on the Mac but developing this game as a universal app would open this game to a whole new player base: the casual iOS player base. Of course then there's the issue of giving apple a cut of Arenanet's profits. I'm sure with the recent lawsuits faced by apple (in regards to payment system), down the road (within a year or two) we will be seeing some alternatives to what apple has to offer now. But if ArenaNet really wants to expand its casual player base, this would definitely help. Both WoW and FFXIV have native M1 clients but if GW2 can become something like Genshin impact, it would be amazing! Or I'm just being way too optimistic (I've seen this game from its first GW release and waiting for the latest GW2 expansion, for the calibre this game has, it really needs the love and development that the most players of this game want )

[Infusion.7149]

More likely to hit Steam Play or Google Stadia (both use Linux). Developing for iOS (macOS and iOS are not the same thing) means a whole new client, you're better off playing on Geforce Now.

The M1 chip is literally one chip on a closed off platform.

For a MMO, something "on it's way" is not good enough to throw money at. It needs to be mature and long-lasting as well as having a sizeable userbase , which is why we are getting a DX11 client and not a DX12 client.

Apple is also not known for being lenient on developers, see the whole debacle with respect to Unreal Engine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Games_v._Apple

Edited October 1, 2021 by Infusion.7149