Apple has revamped its Game Center platform with a new dashboard and other features alongside other game-related improvements across its 2020 software updates.
Game Center, which first debuted in 2010, has long been one of Apple’s lesser-known features. In 2016, Apple even killed off the Game Center app in iOS 10, leaving the platform as a behind-the-scenes framework for connecting multiplayer gamers.
For example, there’s a new Game Center dashboard that developers on iOS, macOS and tvOS can add to their platforms. That dashboard lets users easily see leaderboards, achievements and profiles within game apps and the new Game Center pane in Settings.
There are deeper social components to the updated feature, including an option for users to see which Apple Arcade titles their friends are playing and a new leaderboard with recurring game rankings.
Apple has also added support for new game controllers, including the Xbox Elite 2 and Adaptive, and new features like custom button mapping and rumble feedback for existing controllers.
Although the spotlight of attention hasn’t been on Game Center in a while, Apple appears to be steadily pushing toward bolstering its mobile gaming ecosystem. During WWDC 2020, for example, it’s held no less than seven sessions about games and game development.