iOS to get its first streaming games subscription service

Big Fish Games has secured an agreement with Apple for a first-of-its-kind subscription games servcie on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

It will use the subscription functionality introduced to iOS as part of the Newsstand app. Bloomberg reports that access to dozens” of titles will be offered for $6.99 a month, though this will be discounted to $4.99 for its first few months of availability – 30 per cent of which goes to Apple.

A free version will also be available that limits play time to 30 mins per day and includes advertising.

Users will only have to download a single application, through which the assortment of games can be accessed. The games themselves will actually be streamed from the Big Fish servers and will require a wi-fi connection to access.

Big Fish’s IPs include Mystery Case Files and Mahjong Tower

This is the first time that the technology has matched the business model,” he said,” Big Fish founder Paul Thelan stated. We’re at scale, have great momentum and remain in a position to pursue a public offering or any number of alternatives if the markets allow.

It took longer than usual to be approved. [Apple] needed to be convinced there’s a reason to charge customers every month.”

The service has specifically been designed to allow for easy porting to other platform such as Android and IPTV.