Apple Arcade Leading the Way in the Ocean-Bound Gaming Trend

Perhaps due to the growing awareness and intrigue in the environment in real life, or the technological advances made in gaming, games featuring the ocean and underwater exploration have become very popular of late. Incredibly detailed, fauna-filled games sink gamers under the surface, often as a human explorer.

These games are popping up across all platforms, with Apple Arcade continuing to establish itself among the top platforms by being a part of this ocean-bound gaming trend. The premium mobile gaming service has a few of the very best games of this emerging theme, only helping to warrant its subscription fees.

Apple Arcade's got some of the best ocean games going

Presenting evidence that the general public, including the gaming public, is becoming more interested in the ocean environments due to a growing awareness of the destructive nature of global warming and the fishing industry, Beyond Blue is an ocean exploration game inspired by Blue Planet II. The game sees you explore the open ocean, its depths, aquatic life, and all while following a narrative.

Uniquely with Beyond Blue, the development team opted to launch the game on Apple Arcade before any other platform. Given the expanse of the title, this helped to prove the capacity of Apple devices, but also showed the platform's commitment to high-quality, novel games. The documentary-inspired adventure game wasn't the first to land on the Arcade, though.

Arriving in 2019, Shinsekai: Into the Depths has been setting gamers on an underwater action-adventure. Crafted by Capcom, it takes the form of a Metroidvania-like exploration game, but with enough scenic splendour, danger, and challenge to make it a novelty in the growing space of ocean games. In fact, it was even hailed as the best game on the platform that people weren't talking about.

Growing trend and fascination with the ocean setting

Gaming offers a distinctly unique level of immersion for its consumers beyond that of music, TV, or the movies. As such, when people truly want to experience something via entertainment, they'll turn to gaming, and increasingly, VR gaming. Still, even the game forms that don't involve directly exploring the underwater realms have seen a huge uptick in the popularity of the ocean theme.

Reef Raider, Mermaid's Fortune, and Fishin' Frenzy Megaways have all flown up the online slots chart, with each of them featuring a setting and symbols that make players feel like their spinning for the win under the waves. Some would associate the depths as a tranquil, serene space, but these games amp up the action to offer an entertaining, fast-paced experience.

Across other platforms of gaming, several games have crossed from console to PC to offer all premium gamers the chance to experience ocean life in some way. The biggest and most highly praised of these are Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero. Even though the sequel added the opportunity to explore the land, the icy tundra still only makes up about ten per cent of the content. Abzû is a far less alien experience than Subnautica, still offering an exploratory adventure through the depths.

As interest in the ocean and ocean-bound gaming continues to grow, Apple Arcade certainly won't be behind the trend, thanks to the likes of Beyond Blue and Shinsekai: Into the Depths.