Carson Oliver, recently promoted to vice president of the App Store and now head of App Store Worldwide, discussed Apple's gaming strategy in an email interview with Polygon, reported by 9to5Mac on October 19, 2026.
Oliver said the App Store is seeing more premium game releases this year than last, with console and PC franchises increasingly coming to mobile. He pointed to Apple's Indie Games Week, announced shortly after his promotion was reported, which highlights seven games for iPhone and iPad: Sifu, Vampire Crawlers, No Man's Sky, Little Kitty Big City, 9 Kings, Dome Keeper, and Yes Your Grace 2: Snowfall.
Oliver said an entire generation of players grew up with iPhone as their first gaming device and embrace direct touch as their primary controller, making iPhone and iPad what he called the ultimate canvas for indie innovation.
On Apple Arcade's place alongside premium App Store releases, Oliver said Apple's approach is flexibility for developers and players, citing Balatro as a game that thrives both as a premium download and inside the Arcade subscription.
The interview also covered App Store discoverability and the kinds of games succeeding on Apple's platforms; Apple's gaming push has included hardware ray tracing, Metal framework upgrades, and console-game porting tools.