Gaming hardware company Backbone has announced its lineup for the 2023 holidays, with its new USB-C controllers, updated app service and more available in advance of the festive period.
The icing on the cake for Backbone users is three months’ free access to Apple’s gaming subscription service Apple Arcade, providing players with over 200 games in one neat gift. All Backbone users will be granted free Apple Arcade admission, meaning that starting today (November 8) fans of joypad play can dive into a host of exclusive titles from ustwo’s Assemble with Care to ZeptoLab’s Cut the Rope 3.
Access to Apple Arcade is unlimited throughout the three-month period, Backbone has confirmed.
An evolving landscape
Backbone adds physical controls to mobile devices and games that support such control systems. The hardware started out as an Apple-exclusive attachment but expanded to Android devices this year with the Backbone One PlayStation Edition, modelled after the PS5’s DualSense5 wireless controller.
The latest range - their new USB-C controllers - feature universal compatibility including the new iPhone 15, Apple’s latest phone line that has taken an overt alliance with mobile gaming. Typically iPhone advertising has veered away from the gaming side, but the iPhone 15 Pro was premiered as a gaming device with specifications clearly designed to take mobile games into a new frontier - with dedicated ray-tracing hardware, desktop-level CPUs and more.
There are even multiplatform games on the horizon, like Resident Evil 4 launching on consoles and mobile at the same quality, meaning console prices on app stores too.
"This is our most exciting holiday lineup in company history. With upcoming mobile titles like Call of Duty Warzone Mobile, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Death Stranding, Resident Evil 4, The Division: Resurgence, and more, there’s no better time to join the Backbone ecosystem," said Backbone.
"We are also launching a new experience inside the Backbone app that will complement the free trial and enable instant game launching and gameplay of the Apple Arcade titles."
More and more games are choosing to launch with Apple's subscription service as an opportunity to release complete products without relying on in-app purchases; with "the only Bond game available for mobile" among them.
