Mobile versions of console or PC titles used to carry the stigma of being poor cousins, but as games like Fortnite and Genshin Impact have shown, it's possible for mobile games to be just as good as their console counterparts. At first glance, NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition seems like it will follow suit; the game looks very impressive, the action runs smoothly, and every NBA team (with full rosters) is available from the start. I thought I'd have all I need to enjoy some great NBA action wherever I went, but the more I played the more I realized what I thought would be a deep experience was instead very shallow.

NBA 2K21 Arcade is the annual basketball franchise's first appearance in Apple Arcade, and it features three main modes: Play Now, MyCareer, and Black Top. The game does a great job of bringing the impressive visuals of the NBA 2K games to iOS, with player models here looking pretty close to their real-life counterparts.

The Play Now feature is straightforward: pick two teams and play a game. The short amount of time it takes from booting the game up to playing a game is impressive, only lasting as long as it takes you to pick teams. But actually playing a game is where things get tricky, with the game's on-screen touch controls being too sensitive at best and non-functional at worst.

Mobile versions of console or PC titles used to carry the stigma of being poor cousins, but as games like Fortnite and Genshin Impact have shown, it's possible for mobile games to be just as good as their console counterparts. At first glance, NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition seems like it will follow suit; the game looks very impressive, the action runs smoothly, and every NBA team (with full rosters) is available from the start. I thought I'd have all I need to enjoy some great NBA action wherever I went, but the more I played the more I realized what I thought would be a deep experience was instead very shallow.

NBA 2K21 Arcade is the annual basketball franchise's first appearance in Apple Arcade, and it features three main modes: Play Now, MyCareer, and Black Top. The game does a great job of bringing the impressive visuals of the NBA 2K games to iOS, with player models here looking pretty close to their real-life counterparts.

The Play Now feature is straightforward: pick two teams and play a game. The short amount of time it takes from booting the game up to playing a game is impressive, only lasting as long as it takes you to pick teams. But actually playing a game is where things get tricky, with the game's on-screen touch controls being too sensitive at best and non-functional at worst.

For some gamers, it’s been an interesting challenge adapting to the $70 price point for some next-gen games, and that includes the Returnal developers at Housemarque.

According to Axios, Housemarque found out that Returnal would be priced at $70 at the same time as the general public.

Housemarque’s marketing director Mikael Haveri shared how internal demos of Returnal continually impressed Sony, who were funding the game. After each demo the studio showed Sony, Haveri says Housemarque "got a little bit more availability to scope it out more and to grow the game."

These positive impressions led to the scope of Returnal expanding, and subsequently, it became one of the first games in decades to be sold for more than $60. Housemarque’s team learned about Sony’s decision to price most next-gen games $70 “around the same time as the general public” back in September 2020.

Housemarque’s earlier titles, like Resogun or Nex Machina, tended to sell in the ballpark of $20 given their arcade, smaller-scale nature compared to the 3D Returnal.

Despite this lower-priced history, Housemarque was already focused on making Returnal a bigger game than its previous titles after proclaiming in 2017 that "arcade is dead." This was after lackluster sales for Nex Machina, which pushed Housemarque to start venturing into console-scale development.

Housemarque reiterated in the interview that it is focused on bringing “new content and updates and fixes,” to Returnal, referencing known issues with save file corruption as well as Returnal not allowing players to save in the middle of a likely multi-hour run. Housemarque has repeatedly made it clear that they’ve heard fans' comments, but it appears an amicable solution is something the studio is continuing to work on and unable to promise a specific timeline on.

Despite those issues, Returnal appears to be a huge success for Housemarque, which has previously suffered through lackluster sales of its previous games. Housemarque told Axios that the studio now staffs 85 people, “so we’re bigger now than we’ve ever been.”

If you’re worried that might change some of the core tenets of Housemarque games, the studio wants fans to rest easy. “Arcade as a core tenet of all our games, the gameplay side of it, that's exactly what we'll bring to the new titles that we make,” Haveri said.

For some gamers, it’s been an interesting challenge adapting to the $70 price point for some next-gen games, and that includes the Returnal developers at Housemarque.

According to Axios, Housemarque found out that Returnal would be priced at $70 at the same time as the general public.

Housemarque’s marketing director Mikael Haveri shared how internal demos of Returnal continually impressed Sony, who were funding the game. After each demo the studio showed Sony, Haveri says Housemarque "got a little bit more availability to scope it out more and to grow the game."

These positive impressions led to the scope of Returnal expanding, and subsequently, it became one of the first games in decades to be sold for more than $60. Housemarque’s team learned about Sony’s decision to price most next-gen games $70 “around the same time as the general public” back in September 2020.

Housemarque’s earlier titles, like Resogun or Nex Machina, tended to sell in the ballpark of $20 given their arcade, smaller-scale nature compared to the 3D Returnal.

Despite this lower-priced history, Housemarque was already focused on making Returnal a bigger game than its previous titles after proclaiming in 2017 that "arcade is dead." This was after lackluster sales for Nex Machina, which pushed Housemarque to start venturing into console-scale development.

Housemarque reiterated in the interview that it is focused on bringing “new content and updates and fixes,” to Returnal, referencing known issues with save file corruption as well as Returnal not allowing players to save in the middle of a likely multi-hour run. Housemarque has repeatedly made it clear that they’ve heard fans' comments, but it appears an amicable solution is something the studio is continuing to work on and unable to promise a specific timeline on.

Despite those issues, Returnal appears to be a huge success for Housemarque, which has previously suffered through lackluster sales of its previous games. Housemarque told Axios that the studio now staffs 85 people, “so we’re bigger now than we’ve ever been.”

If you’re worried that might change some of the core tenets of Housemarque games, the studio wants fans to rest easy. “Arcade as a core tenet of all our games, the gameplay side of it, that's exactly what we'll bring to the new titles that we make,” Haveri said.