Google Play Pass is here, and it’s gunning for Apple Arcade

Google’s newly launched Play Pass will grant users access to up to 350 games and apps for Android users through the Google Play Store on a monthly subscription basis. The subscription will rid users of ads and in-app purchases.

This comes just days after Apple launched its own very similar monthly app and gaming subscription service, Apple Arcade. In an effort to stay competitive Google is offering new user fees of just $1.99/mth for the first year and then $4.99 from there onwards. In addition to this US customers will be allowed a 10-day free trial before they commit.

The Play Pass subscription fee ($4.99) is exactly the same as the Apple Arcade fee. However, you won’t be seeing the same opening deal that Google is offering with Apple’s service.

Subscribers will see the new Play Pass tab in the Play Store once they’ve signed up which will enable them to browse the games and apps included in their Pass. According to a statement made by Google product manager Austin Shoemaker, the apps included will be well-known, with names such as “Terraria, Monument Valley, Risk, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and AccuWeather”.

In addition to the many well-known titles included you’ll be able to share your pass in the Google Play Family Library with up to five other members. Users can access their content simultaneously and it won’t affect user experience. Apple Arcade also offers account sharing with up to five other users, although there is speculation that Google’s database of apps is larger than Apple’s.

Ben Wood from the consultancy CCS Insight has commented that although “Apple has worked really hard to curate some cutting-edge content of a very high quality, Google has been able to throw a wider net and get more titles”.

Unfortunately, Google has simply asked the rest of the world to “stay tuned” for news of wider availability. We’ll be ready with an update as soon as we know more.