Apple unveils App Store Awards 2022, starting with Apex Legends Mobile

Apple has revealed the winners of the 2022 App Store Awards, with Respawn’s Apex Legends Mobile winning iPhone Game of the Year.

The awards highlight 16 apps and games that inspired users to engage more deeply with the world, expand their imaginations and stay connected with friends and loved ones, Apple said. Apple judged the games and awards on technological innovation, user experience and design.

This year’s winners represent a diverse community of developers, from solo developers to large corporations around the world whose apps and games have been selected by the global editors of Apple’s App Store for delivering exceptional experiences and making a profound cultural impact.

“This year’s App Store Award winners reimagined our experiences with apps that offered fresh, thoughtful, and heartfelt perspectives,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “From self-taught solo creators to global teams around the world, these entrepreneurs are making a meaningful impact and represent the ways apps and games are impacting our communities and lives.”

Apex Legends Mobile won Best iPhone Game for bringing the fast hit Battle Royale game to iPhone. Moncage, the popular iPad game, forces users to see things from different perspectives to solve puzzles, and the immersive card fighter Inscryption (top Mac game) attracts players with experimental storytelling.

El Hijo, a Wild West story, is a cleverly designed stealth game for Apple TV. Wylde Flowers, Apple Arcade’s unique life sim, invites players into its charming world of diverse characters and magical spells, and League of Legends Esports Manager allows players to manage the most influential esports leagues in the world.

As for non-gaming apps, Apple said its social app BeReal gives users an authentic look into the lives of their family and friends, and fitness tracker Gentler Streak helps users balance fitness and rest to maintain a healthy lifestyle. preserve.

GoodNotes 5 takes digital note-taking to the next level with best-in-class Apple Pencil support. MacFamilyTree 10 encourages genealogy exploration through visual family trees and collaboration with loved ones around the world, as the creators behind ViX: Cine y TV en Español elevate Spanish-language storytelling to the forefront of entertainment.

2022 App Store Award Game Winners

iPhone Game of the Year: Apex Legends mobilefrom Electronic Arts

“It’s heavily inspired by the popular game on console and PC, but it’s a very different product,” said Myke Hoff, senior product director at Respawn Entertainment, in an interview with GamesBeat. “Our goal with the game is to have something easy to pick up and play with a very high mastery curve to keep you coming back.”

The idea was to bring Apex Legends to a new group of gamers and add to the diverse backstories of characters in the Apex Legends universe. The game still has 60 players in a match. But mobile players won’t play with console or PC gamers, given the differences in controls.

“Instead of porting the Legends, we looked at them all and really focused on how to make them the most fun for players on their phones,” said Kevin Childress, creative director at Respawn Entertainment, in an interview with GamesBeat. “So players have mentioned some of the changes to their favorites like Crypto and Octane, which are welcome additions and changes to the franchise. And we’ve also put a lot of effort into developing Mobile-first Legends to expand the Apex roster .

Respawn built the game with help from Tencent and tweaked things like progression for mobile players where necessary. And since many players play the game without sound, the team changed the game to have more visual cues for players.

EA has not disclosed how many players the game has. And tomorrow the company will start the seventh season for the mobile game.

iPad Game of the Year: Monk cagefrom XD Network

“We strive to make games for our people regardless of age, identity, aesthetics and languages ​​speak and bring the unforgettable experienced players,” said Dong Zhou, co-developer of Moncage, in an interview with GamesBeat. “We wanted to make a game that really anyone can do and inspire people.”

Zhou co-developed the game with Yijia Chen. They started while attending school in New York and eventually moved to Irvine, California. Now they have a team of five and are working on a new game. Moncage was their first game, created with the mission to show that gameplay can be based entirely on a game’s visuals.

The game creates optical illusions and you can solve puzzles by looking into a 3D cube from a different perspective. The art is handmade. It is a story about a veteran who has nightmares and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The main theme of Moncage is about breaking free and finding true peace,” Chen said in an interview.

Mac Game of the Year: encryptionfrom Devolver.

For Inscryption, Mark Hickey, vice president of mobile publishing at Devolver Digital, spoke on behalf of the lone creator, Daniel Mullins. Hickey said the Mac version is the same as the PC and console versions.

“The way the game starts is you wake up and find yourself in this old creepy creaky cabin in the woods,” Hickey said. “And there’s a strange table in front of you. And there’s a strange-looking deck of cards on the table and an even weirder and creepier-looking opponent facing you who may or may not be your kidnapper.

He added: “So he starts by teaching you how to play, you know, and lays out the rules and you play a few hands and then it seems easy at first, and you might think you’re actually doing it a after winning the first hand and then he gives you these rusty damn tongs that signal that nothing good is coming.

Devolver is known for bizarre games.

“When Daniel first approached us about publishing an inscription, I mean, the whole thing made us so terribly uncomfortable. It was an instant yes,” Hickey said. “The stakes are high because they are measured in blood and sometimes even teeth. Every choice you make can have unpleasant consequences. So if you play wisely and carefully and learn the systems and cards you will progress and become more powerful and know that soon you will finally be able to get up from the table and explore your creepy hut in the forest prison . .”

Hickey said inspirations include games like Magic: The Gathering, Telling Lies and Her Story, as well as movies like The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield. Hickey said it’s rare to see solo developer teams today, but he also believes it’s easier than ever to make games because of the availability of tools.

Apple TV Game of the Year: El Hijofrom HandyGames.

Apple Arcade Game of the Year: Wylde Flowersfrom Studio Drydock Pty Ltd.

China Game of the Year: League of Legends Esports managerfrom Tencent.

Winners app App Store Award 2022

iPhone App of the Year: Be realfrom BeReal.

iPad App of the Year: Good notes 5of Time Base Technology Limited.

Mac App of the Year: MacFamilyTree 10from Synium Software GmbH.

Apple TV App of the Year: ViX: Cine y TV en Españolfrom TelevisaUnivision Interactive, Inc.

Apple Watch App of the Year: Softer Stripefrom Softer Stories

Cultural impact category

In addition to recognizing the best apps and games on Apple devices, the editors of the Apple App Store selected five cultural impact winners who have made a lasting impact on people’s lives and impacted culture. This year’s winners encourage users to engage more deeply with their emotions, connect authentically with others, and pay homage to their heritage and the generations that came before them, as they envision how they can create a better world today .

How we feel of the How We Feel project — By encouraging users to tap into their emotional well-being with the ease of daily check-ins, How We Feel helps users put difficult emotions into words and presents strategies for addressing those emotions in the moment.

Dot’s house of the Rise-Home Stories project — Dot’s Home highlights systematic housing injustice and subsequent impact within communities of color through a compelling and thoughtful time travel narrative.

Medallion widget from Locket Labs — Locket Widget allows users to send live photos directly to family and friends’ home screens, creating an intimate bond between loved ones, free from the traditional pressures of social media.

Water tracker Water llama by Vitalii Mogylevets – With its colorful design and gentle guidance, Waterllama makes meeting hydration goals fun, using creative challenges, reminders and cuddly characters to keep users on track.

Inua – A story in ice and time from Art Experience — This story offers a captivating, mystical adventure for users to discover historical events intertwined with elements of Inuit traditions, folklore and breathtaking stories.