It looks like Apple isn’t the only game in town with the Arcade subscription service. Indeed, the games as a service concept wars is heating up as Google which has been quietly working on its own subscription service, Google Play Pass.

But what is it? It turns out that Play Pass is just like Arcade in the sense that it will offer users access to a select number of apps and games for a monthly fee (incidentally it is US$4.99 like Apple Arcade).

There is more variety, as much as 350 apps, in Google’s offering as it offers not only games but also apps to its users. Admittedly, Play Pass does not feature any attention grabbing big game or unique indie titles.

Instead, it leans heavily on its own roster of premium games (which aren’t that many) such as Knights of the Old Republic, Stardew Valley, Reigns: Game of Thrones and many others.

As many as five family members can share one Play Pass subscription.

Now, the sad news is that Play Pass is only available to the United States at the moment but Google should be releasing to international markets in due course.

Google is really taking the fight to Apple as it is looking to slash the price of its monthly subscription down to just US$1.99 per month for the first 12 months after launch.

Regardless how you look at it, this will be interesting times for the mobile games industry.