Way back in 2011 keen gaming fans among you may remember that OnLive announced plans to bring an OnLive gaming app to iOS. iPhone and iPad owners got pretty excited at the idea of having access to thousands of games on their devices with the over-the-air console gaming platform but many months later it appears that OnLive app approval is still needed for iOS gaming.
No sooner had iOS owners got themselves steamed up for the idea of the OnLive app and using its dedicated controller, than talk started to die down and the launch timeframe of the app appeared to slip further and further away. From seeming to be imminent at one stage, we still don’t appear any closer to knowing when it will finally arrive and the reason for this is that six months after the iOS client was submitted to the App Store by the OnLive team, the app has still not been approved by Apple.
This is not as much of a mystery as you might think when you consider that the OnLive app is likely to affect Apple’s App Store revenue. iDownloadBlog brings the news about the continued delay in the iOS OnLive app, sourced from MacRumors, and it seems that OnLive still have no idea when the app will receive approval, neither have they been informed what the holdup is.
Nevertheless MacRumors’ sister site TouchArcade, who spoke to the OnLive team at E3 about this situation, points out the factors that Apple could be opposed to. There’s the fact that Apple will have no control over what is a complete platform, the idea that the OnLive app will promote a gamepad and also the fact that content for it can be purchased outside of the Apple ecosystem. All of these seem to be very valid pointers as to why Apple is dragging its heels.
We all know that Apple is pretty far-reaching in its desire for control of the App Store and that this has caused raised eyebrows in some quarters when apps have been denied approval or pulled. However in a way it seems understandable to us that Apple would not want to jeopardize sales of other apps in its App Store. One thing that is for sure is that Apple’s final decision will be hugely important for other opportunities for developers although it seems that for now at least we’ll all have to hold on longer to find out what that decision will be.
Are you one of the many gaming enthusiasts who were eager to get hold of the OnLive gaming app? Do you think Apple will eventually approve it or maybe you think there’s no chance? Let us know with your comments.
