As first noted by MacRumors, Apple has added a new section with yesterday’s refresh of the App Store highlighting the “best new game updates” for iPhone and iPad.
The games featured by Apple include Plants vs. Zombies 2, Zen Pinball, Dungeon Hunter 4, and Battle Nations; most of them were updated in the past week ahead of yesterday’s refresh. The section, which is not available on the Mac App Store, is an addition to the company’s current galleries for “best new apps” and “best new games” (also updated weekly), and it seems to suggest a focus on putting the spotlight on existing games that have been enhanced with brand new mechanics, levels, or content. Currently, the section is only available for games, and not for apps.
“Best New Game Updates” follows Apple’s launch of automatic app updates for iOS 7 and increased curation efforts with the roll out of curated categories in more international App Stores, an Indie Game Showcase, and a collection of best monthly app releases. With automatic updates on iOS 7, it’s possible that customers may not be aware of changes to their installed apps and games, and the curated section on the App Store’s front page could help with discoverability of existing software that’s been recently updated.
With iOS 8, Apple will launch Explore, a brand new page of the iOS App Store that will collect several custom categories, app collections, and curated sections in a unified interface.
