Apple buys the maker of Sneaky Sasquatch

Apple has bought a game studio for the first time. Digital Trends reported on Tuesday that the company has scooped up RAC7. The two-person team is behind the Apple Arcade hit Sneaky Sasquatch.

For years, some investors have hoped Apple would apply its full clout to the gaming industry. Although recent years have seen the launches of Apple Arcade and Game Mode for Macs, there’s still untapped potential. Another piece of news on Tuesday makes it easier to speculate that something is brewing. Bloomberg reported that the company will launch a revamped gaming app at WWDC. The new app is said to replace the oft-forgotten Game Center.

However, Giovanni Colantonio of Digital Trends suggests the acquisition isn’t necessarily a sign of what’s to come. He notes that Apple described the RAC7 purchase as a unique situation to help the small studio grow. “We will continue to deliver a great experience for Apple Arcade players with hundreds of games from many of the best game developers in the world,” Apple told the publication.

Sneaky Sasquatch was a launch title for Apple Arcade in 2019. Engadget’s Devindra Hardawar described it as an example of how the service can let developers “cut loose and get weird.” And weird, it is. (Delightfully so!) You play as the mythic Bigfoot, tiptoeing around a forest. What starts as a quirky stealth game takes even stranger turns. As you progress, you’ll learn to drive cars, disguise yourself as a human and hit the slopes.

Over five years later, the quirky title is still one of Apple Arcade’s tentpole games. It sits alongside favorites like Katamari Damacy Rolling Live, Skate City: New York and Threes! And we can’t forget one of Engadget’s all-time favorite games, Balatro. The “almost perfect” port of the deck-building game hit the service last year.