Many of us love our Game Center, even when Apple changed it from an app to a service for iOS and iPadOS. Then another new iOS comes along and adds more changes! It might feel overwhelming and unnecessary, but once you get through the hard stuff iOS’ Game Center just may surprise you! And best of all, starting with iOS 11, it’s easy to add multiple player accounts in Game Center.
Working with Multiple Players on a Single iDevice?
Many of us routinely hand off our iDevices to our children, household members, or others to use. It’s an excellent distractor! And when our kids get ahold of our devices, games are some of their most frequently used apps. Many families, like mine, have 3 or more Game Center accounts in use on our iDevices, each associated with a different family member. So having the ability to switch from one account to another quickly is a big plus for us. That way none of us lose our progress in any of our games!
Can I have two Game Center accounts one Apple ID?
No. Not anymore. You used to be able to create a Game Center account by signing out of your account and creating a new Game Center ID in the Game Center App or even in the game itself if supported. That’s before Game Center IDs and Apple IDs became one in the same.
So today, we’ll show you how to navigate the Game Center landscape in a step by step tutorial. You’ll even learn how Game Center iOS 11 offers features for fast account changes, without the need to completely turn off Game Center.
There’s just one requirement for multiple player accounts in Game Center
Each family member (or another person) must have their own Game Center Account ID and password. Usually, this is their Apple ID. But if folks have an older Game Center account, it’s their GC ID and password. And remember, your kids need Apple IDs too! Children over 13 can create their own. But kids under 13 require verified parental consent for a child to have their own Apple ID and the parent must create the ID on the child’s behalf.
Yeah, so let’s get to it!
How to Make a New Game Center Account If You Already Have One
Visit the Apple ID site on a browser to create another Apple ID
Fill out all the information and verify your account
Test your new account
On your device, go to Settings > Game Center
Toggle GC on (or if signed in with a different account, toggle off)
Tap on Not (previous GC account) or Sign In
Enter the new Apple ID and Password
If you’re unable to sign in to Game Center, go to iCloud and turn off Game Center and try again
Let’s use the new Setting called Accounts and Passwords
So first, go to Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Website & App Passwords. It asks you to Touch ID, Face ID, or Passcode depending on model and how you set up your iDevice
Tap Website & App Passwords in your iOS settings to view usernames and passwords.
Once your Saved Passwords opens, tap the plus sign to Add Password
Fill in the three listed fields for Website, User Name, and Password
For this step add something generic for Website–like GameCenterID1.com, GameCenterID2.net, or similar. Just make sure you add that .__ at the end of your name. Each website corresponds to a different Game Center ID–that’s what matters here! We’re not actually linking to a site but rather your Game Center IDs
For Username, enter your Game Center email
And for Password enter your Gamecenter Password and press Done
If Done is grayed out, check that you added that .com or whatever at the end
Return to step 2 and create an “Add Password” for each Game Center account you want to use
Don’t Forget to Verify!
Now, you’ve added all your current Game Center account info to your iDevice’s Saved Passwords.
To verify that all your information is stored in Accounts & Passwords, return to Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Website & App Passwords and scroll down the list to confirm your Game Center information is there.
If you decide you want to add another account, perform those same steps for any additional accounts, now or later.
Next, Open Game Center’s Setting
Go to Settings > Game Center
If you are currently logged into Game Center with your primary Apple ID, toggle off Game Center and then toggle it back on
When asked to use your iCloud email (main Apple ID,) select the option “Not (name/email)?”
If you see “Use a Different Apple ID for Game Center” instead, tap this
You should now see the Apple ID sign-in screen
Tap on Apple ID Email
Don’t type anything, instead select the key symbol in the top-right corner of the keyboard
Give permission to access your passwords via Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode
Scroll down and choose one of your Game Center accounts from the list you just created
If you have two-factor authentication on, type in the verification code from one of your trusted Apple ID connected devices
Your GC account info should populate automatically!
Press Sign In–GC populates your user data and profile info
If you’re unable to sign in to Game Center, go to iCloud and turn off Game Center and try again
Last, open your Game Center supported App and check if the player information is correct. The easiest way to know? Look for that friendly Welcome Back banner–and see if it recognizes the GC account change.
Game Center in iOS and iPadOS (11+): It’s All About Switching Accounts
The beauty of using iOS’ and iPad’s Passwords & Accounts is that you can quickly switch from one account to another fairly swiftly since your GC info is now stored in Passwords.
No more typing passwords!
You don’t even have to type anything! All your GC accounts are literally a tap away!
That also means you can add or delete accounts pretty much anytime!
What About Multiple Game Center Accounts iOS 10?
Yes, you can indeed use multiple accounts in iOS 10, but you’ll need to enter all your Apple ID (or legacy Game Center ID) information manually, each time you sign in and out of Game Center’s Settings.
Game Center Login iOS 10
Go to Settings > Game Center and toggle it off
If needed, tap Sign Out
Select Not (the previous Apple ID or Game Center ID)
Sign In with another Apple ID
Create a Game Center Profile, a nickname for your account if you don’t have one listed
Start your Game Center supported game. You should see the welcome banner with your updated account nickname.
Verify that all your game data is correct and associated the changed Apple ID
Getting Errors?
If you’re unable to sign in to Game Center, go to iCloud and turn off Game Center. Then return to Settings > Game Center and see if you can log in to Game Center with your alternate Apple ID (Game Center) information.
For most of her professional life, Amanda Elizabeth (Liz for short) trained all sorts of folks on how to use media as a tool to tell their own unique stories. She knows a thing or two about teaching others and creating how-to guides!
Her clients include Edutopia, Scribe Video Center, Third Path Institute, Bracket, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Big Picture Alliance.
Elizabeth received her Master of Fine Arts degree in media making from Temple University, where she also taught undergrads as an adjunct faculty member in their department of Film and Media Arts.
I play a game called Lords Mobile with 2 different Game Center accounts. I have my main account tied to my Apple ID and email address. This is the account I have had for years. I set up a second account with a gmail address and have been playing between the 2. Any purchases on either Game Center account have been charged to my main Apple ID. I never set up any payment to my second Game Center account.
I would like to give away my smaller game account, but I want to make sure if I give my friend the login and password for the Game Center account, it won’t somehow still be linked to my credit card.
Is that possible? Is my second Game Center email address and login its own Apple ID? I never set up payment for that account, but it still was always charged to my main account on my devices. I want to give it away, but I don’t want to see any of my friend’s purchases on my credit card.
I play a game called guns of glory and west of glory…I would like to be able too to put more than two games on Game Center for binding the accounts….is there a way of doing it without having too always change the password and Apple ID?
It makes it frustrating always having too change Apple ID in order to play the game when you have more the one account for these two games…. there has got too be an easier way of doing this…..please help
This works pretty well on my iPhone, but not quite as well on my iPad.
On my iPad, I’ll log out of my main account in GC, and when I go to use the alternate account info I set up in passwords, and the keyboard pops up without the key icon or anything that allows me to tap into passwords.
I can still switch accounts, but I have to type in all the info every time. B
oth the phone and the iPad run the same iOS. Weird.
What iOS version are your devices using? To check, go to Settings > General > About > Software Version.
Another method to switch accounts is to go directly to Settings > Game Center > and toggle Game Center off OR tap the line “Use different Apple ID for Game Center” at the bottom of Game Center settings. Then sign back in with a different Apple ID.
Hello. Just tried setting up a new GC account on my iPad using my Mom’s Apple ID.
She passed away a couple of years ago so thought I would try using her Apple ID instead of creating a new one.
Everything went fine and I am able to log into both GC accounts without issue.
However, when I open up any of the games I play on my iPad using the new GC account, nothing has changed.
It’s like the games are seeing the device only (my iPad) and not the particular GC user.
The only thing that’s different when you open up the games is the “Welcome so-and-so” user name.
Otherwise, it’s just as if I was signed in with my regular GC account.
What I expected and hoped would happen is that I would be able to start a game over from the beginning as if I was a brand new player.
But that’s not the case.
Am I missing something here?
Or do I just not understand how all this gaming stuff works.
There is a particular game that I like a lot but it has become way too difficult and I just want to start over from the beginning.
I thought this would be the answer.
Can you shed any light on this?
I know I could try contacting the gaming company and ask them to reset the game but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to go that route. Let me know. Thanks.
Can you check if you have Game Center data stored in iCloud?
Go to Settings > Apple ID Profile > iCloud > and scroll down to Game Center. Is it toggled on? If not, toggle it on.
My thinking is that your game center information is currently stored locally on your device, so when you switched accounts, it mirrored what was already on your iPad rather than pulled from iCloud.
Once your game app stores your game center progress in iCloud, you can reset it back to default. Doing this removes all data for this specific game from all Apple ID connected devices that have Game Center toggled on in iCloud:
Tap on Settings > Apple ID Profile > iCloud
Tap on Manage Storage
Scroll the list for the game app and tap it
Select Delete Data
Sometimes, games save to your iPad’s local storage instead of iCloud, even when you specify to save on iCloud! And there’s just no way to know ahead of time.
Also, some games do not save to iCloud at all, while others only provide this option manually.
If you don’t mind completely resetting your game, then let’s try that. This involves deleting the game from your device and reinstalling it.
Deleting the game from your iPad should remove the game stored data.
But first, let’s turn off Game Center in iCloud and then delete the game. Go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud and toggle off Game Center.
Next, close all your open apps–in particular, your game apps!
Close an app
1. On an iPhone or an iPad with no home button from the Home screen, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause slightly in the middle of the screen
2. On an iDevice with a home button, double-click the Home button and swipe right or left to find the app that you want to close
3. Swipe right or left to locate the app you want to close
4. Swipe up on the app’s preview to close it
Next, delete those game apps
Then go to Setting > General > iPad Storage > and find the game on the list of apps storing data locally
Tap that game app
See if it’s storing your data by looking at the size of Documents & Data
If you believe the game app is storing your data locally, choose Delete App
Repeat for any additional game apps, always checking how much data is stored in Documents & Data
Once you delete all those game apps, restart your iPad.
Finally, open the app store and reinstall the game app.
After you reinstall the app and test it out, try reconnecting Game Center with iCloud.
Go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud
Toggle on Game Center
Toggle on iCloud Drive
Them, scroll the list of apps using iCloud and toggle on any game app you want to store data in iCloud, if applicable
Hopefully, that works!
Let me know if it works or if the problem persists!
If it doesn’t work, please let me know what game apps you want to reset back to default.
For Fishdom, are you connect via Facebook as well as Game Center? If so, try disconnecting the game from Facebook within the Fishdom app and then delete/reinstall the game again.
This may or may not work.
Reviewing the support center documents for Fishdom, it states the following: “You can’t start the game over on the same device. However, you can install the game on a different device to play from the beginning.”
It’s worth a shot to disconnect from Facebook and delete/reinstall the app.
Keep me posted.
Liz
Pschwabsays
I opened a new GC account following above directions, but I have lost all my progress on original game that I have been playing for over a year. No matter which GC account I log into, the newly created game shows up. Any suggestions?
Sorry, you lost your game progress in Game Center.
A couple of things to check:
1) Do you backup that game and Game Center with iCloud? To check, go to Settings > Apple ID Profile > iCloud and scroll down the list using iCloud to backup and sync data. If Game Center and/or your game app is listed and iCloud is enabled, toggle it off and then on again to force a resync. If Game Center is not enabled in iCloud but you recall it being on in the past, toggle it on and see if your game progress syncs
2) If you back up your iDevice using iTunes or iCloud, that game data may be in your backup so restoring a previous backup might bring that game progress back.
3) Contact the game app support team and see if they have a specific method to recover your game data
I haven’t used my game center account in a long time and mine and my sister’s accounts are both tied to the same Apple ID. Whenever i use her Apple ID to sign in, it goes to her game center account and I can’t switch it to mine. Is it possible to access mine still?
Unfortunately, no. With the changes to Game Center in iOS 10 (and 11), Apple moved to allowing only one game center ID to be associated with an Apple ID. And at this time, Apple Support cannot move Game Center profiles to another Apple ID.
However, it’s possible that when you set up your Game Center ID, you associated that ID with an email address–and THAT email address is considered an Apple ID. So if you can remember what email address you used (or possibly used) AND you still have access to that email account, you may be able to retrieve the Apple ID by going to Apple’s iForgot site.
If that doesn’t work:
If you have game data that’s important to you, you can try and contact the game developer and see if they will move your game’s data to a different Apple ID–some readers report that certain games did this for them. They’ll ask for verification information to prove that the information and account are indeed yours.
One of our readers tried this, and it might work for you:
Open iCloud and turn off GameCenter. Then go to Settings > GameCenter and turn it on there. Tap Not “Your Sister’s Apple ID” and try to log into Game Center with your GC profile instead (email address.)
Are you kidding me? There are now separate screens for the email and the password, plus multiple “Next” buttons to click. You have to click the key/lock TWICE to get both the email and the password to fill in, and hit Next multiple times in between. This is not faster. This is the last straw for me, and I will not be using any more Apple products after this. Transferring all my games to Android now.
Just looked this up and thought great, when linked with website passwords it would work great.
Nope. Have to tap next and click the button and add my code and blah blah, so still quicker to just type everything in.
They could make it so much easier by allowing for the game center to store multiple ID’s with their passwords so it’s as simple as clicking the ID you want.
I play a game called Lords Mobile with 2 different Game Center accounts. I have my main account tied to my Apple ID and email address. This is the account I have had for years. I set up a second account with a gmail address and have been playing between the 2. Any purchases on either Game Center account have been charged to my main Apple ID. I never set up any payment to my second Game Center account.
I would like to give away my smaller game account, but I want to make sure if I give my friend the login and password for the Game Center account, it won’t somehow still be linked to my credit card.
Is that possible? Is my second Game Center email address and login its own Apple ID? I never set up payment for that account, but it still was always charged to my main account on my devices. I want to give it away, but I don’t want to see any of my friend’s purchases on my credit card.
Thanks in advance for any help.
I play a game called guns of glory and west of glory…I would like to be able too to put more than two games on Game Center for binding the accounts….is there a way of doing it without having too always change the password and Apple ID?
It makes it frustrating always having too change Apple ID in order to play the game when you have more the one account for these two games…. there has got too be an easier way of doing this…..please help
Hi Denise,
Sadly, we do not know of a way to have two separate gameplay associated with a single Apple ID.
Sorry that there isn’t this option–yet.
So here’s an annoying bug.
This works pretty well on my iPhone, but not quite as well on my iPad.
On my iPad, I’ll log out of my main account in GC, and when I go to use the alternate account info I set up in passwords, and the keyboard pops up without the key icon or anything that allows me to tap into passwords.
I can still switch accounts, but I have to type in all the info every time. B
oth the phone and the iPad run the same iOS. Weird.
I doesn’t work. My ingame account is still the same(ClashofClans)
Hi Joris,
Sorry, it’s not working for you. It should!
What iOS version are your devices using? To check, go to Settings > General > About > Software Version.
Another method to switch accounts is to go directly to Settings > Game Center > and toggle Game Center off OR tap the line “Use different Apple ID for Game Center” at the bottom of Game Center settings. Then sign back in with a different Apple ID.
Liz
Hello. Just tried setting up a new GC account on my iPad using my Mom’s Apple ID.
She passed away a couple of years ago so thought I would try using her Apple ID instead of creating a new one.
Everything went fine and I am able to log into both GC accounts without issue.
However, when I open up any of the games I play on my iPad using the new GC account, nothing has changed.
It’s like the games are seeing the device only (my iPad) and not the particular GC user.
The only thing that’s different when you open up the games is the “Welcome so-and-so” user name.
Otherwise, it’s just as if I was signed in with my regular GC account.
What I expected and hoped would happen is that I would be able to start a game over from the beginning as if I was a brand new player.
But that’s not the case.
Am I missing something here?
Or do I just not understand how all this gaming stuff works.
There is a particular game that I like a lot but it has become way too difficult and I just want to start over from the beginning.
I thought this would be the answer.
Can you shed any light on this?
I know I could try contacting the gaming company and ask them to reset the game but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to go that route. Let me know. Thanks.
Hi Lorelei,
Can you check if you have Game Center data stored in iCloud?
Go to Settings > Apple ID Profile > iCloud > and scroll down to Game Center. Is it toggled on? If not, toggle it on.
My thinking is that your game center information is currently stored locally on your device, so when you switched accounts, it mirrored what was already on your iPad rather than pulled from iCloud.
Once your game app stores your game center progress in iCloud, you can reset it back to default. Doing this removes all data for this specific game from all Apple ID connected devices that have Game Center toggled on in iCloud:
Tap on Settings > Apple ID Profile > iCloud
Tap on Manage Storage
Scroll the list for the game app and tap it
Select Delete Data
Hi Elizabeth. Thanks for getting back to me.
My iPad is/was currently configure as follows: Settings > Apple ID Profile > iCloud > Game Center > ON. So that was already set to “on”.
However when I go to Settings > Apple ID Profile > iCloud > Manage Storage there are no game apps in the list at all.
So there is nothing to delete, which seems odd since Game Center is supposed to be using iCloud.
What next?
Hi Lorelei,
Sometimes, games save to your iPad’s local storage instead of iCloud, even when you specify to save on iCloud! And there’s just no way to know ahead of time.
Also, some games do not save to iCloud at all, while others only provide this option manually.
If you don’t mind completely resetting your game, then let’s try that. This involves deleting the game from your device and reinstalling it.
Deleting the game from your iPad should remove the game stored data.
But first, let’s turn off Game Center in iCloud and then delete the game. Go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud and toggle off Game Center.
Next, close all your open apps–in particular, your game apps!
Close an app
1. On an iPhone or an iPad with no home button from the Home screen, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause slightly in the middle of the screen
2. On an iDevice with a home button, double-click the Home button and swipe right or left to find the app that you want to close
3. Swipe right or left to locate the app you want to close
4. Swipe up on the app’s preview to close it
Next, delete those game apps
Then go to Setting > General > iPad Storage > and find the game on the list of apps storing data locally
Tap that game app
See if it’s storing your data by looking at the size of Documents & Data
If you believe the game app is storing your data locally, choose Delete App
Repeat for any additional game apps, always checking how much data is stored in Documents & Data
Once you delete all those game apps, restart your iPad.
Finally, open the app store and reinstall the game app.
After you reinstall the app and test it out, try reconnecting Game Center with iCloud.
Go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud
Toggle on Game Center
Toggle on iCloud Drive
Them, scroll the list of apps using iCloud and toggle on any game app you want to store data in iCloud, if applicable
Hopefully, that works!
Let me know if it works or if the problem persists!
If it doesn’t work, please let me know what game apps you want to reset back to default.
Liz
Hi Liz.
Well, that was a nice try and should have worked, but it didn’t!
The game I was trying to reset is Fishdom.
It did work with another game I had on my iPad, WordCrossy, but not Fishdom.
Fishdom is/was storing data on my iPad. In fact, every game I have is storing data on my iPad. None of them are storing data in iCloud.
So I guess I’ll have to contact Fishdom and ask them to reset my game unless you have another suggestion.
Thanks, Liz.
Hi Lorelei,
I’m glad it worked for one game at least.
For Fishdom, are you connect via Facebook as well as Game Center? If so, try disconnecting the game from Facebook within the Fishdom app and then delete/reinstall the game again.
This may or may not work.
Reviewing the support center documents for Fishdom, it states the following: “You can’t start the game over on the same device. However, you can install the game on a different device to play from the beginning.”
It’s worth a shot to disconnect from Facebook and delete/reinstall the app.
Keep me posted.
Liz
I opened a new GC account following above directions, but I have lost all my progress on original game that I have been playing for over a year. No matter which GC account I log into, the newly created game shows up. Any suggestions?
Hi Pschwab,
Sorry, you lost your game progress in Game Center.
A couple of things to check:
1) Do you backup that game and Game Center with iCloud? To check, go to Settings > Apple ID Profile > iCloud and scroll down the list using iCloud to backup and sync data. If Game Center and/or your game app is listed and iCloud is enabled, toggle it off and then on again to force a resync. If Game Center is not enabled in iCloud but you recall it being on in the past, toggle it on and see if your game progress syncs
2) If you back up your iDevice using iTunes or iCloud, that game data may be in your backup so restoring a previous backup might bring that game progress back.
3) Contact the game app support team and see if they have a specific method to recover your game data
2)
I can’t log into my game with game center now . And I have done what was asked and still nothing . How do I fix this issue
Why can’t Apple leave stuff that works …alone????
Game Center
Naming photos
An forget about music….
Does Apple ever take a serious survey on how many people leave Apple?
I haven’t used my game center account in a long time and mine and my sister’s accounts are both tied to the same Apple ID. Whenever i use her Apple ID to sign in, it goes to her game center account and I can’t switch it to mine. Is it possible to access mine still?
HI Devin,
Unfortunately, no. With the changes to Game Center in iOS 10 (and 11), Apple moved to allowing only one game center ID to be associated with an Apple ID. And at this time, Apple Support cannot move Game Center profiles to another Apple ID.
However, it’s possible that when you set up your Game Center ID, you associated that ID with an email address–and THAT email address is considered an Apple ID. So if you can remember what email address you used (or possibly used) AND you still have access to that email account, you may be able to retrieve the Apple ID by going to Apple’s iForgot site.
If that doesn’t work:
If you have game data that’s important to you, you can try and contact the game developer and see if they will move your game’s data to a different Apple ID–some readers report that certain games did this for them. They’ll ask for verification information to prove that the information and account are indeed yours.
One of our readers tried this, and it might work for you:
Open iCloud and turn off GameCenter. Then go to Settings > GameCenter and turn it on there. Tap Not “Your Sister’s Apple ID” and try to log into Game Center with your GC profile instead (email address.)
Hope something helps.
SK
Are you kidding me? There are now separate screens for the email and the password, plus multiple “Next” buttons to click. You have to click the key/lock TWICE to get both the email and the password to fill in, and hit Next multiple times in between. This is not faster. This is the last straw for me, and I will not be using any more Apple products after this. Transferring all my games to Android now.
Yep. I agree.
Just looked this up and thought great, when linked with website passwords it would work great.
Nope. Have to tap next and click the button and add my code and blah blah, so still quicker to just type everything in.
They could make it so much easier by allowing for the game center to store multiple ID’s with their passwords so it’s as simple as clicking the ID you want.
I don’t know why they make it so damn hard!
Extremely helpful….thank you!
I really love looking over this article. Thanks for the tips on setting up Game Center Accounts for myself AND my two daughters! Easy and efficient!