What developers say Apple needs to do to make Apple TV better for gaming

“As we observed in our review last year, the Apple TV 4K has so much potential for gaming. Its hardware is actually pretty powerful given the type of device it is. It shares development tools and infrastructure with one of the most successful gaming marketplaces in the world — the iPhone and iPad App Store,” Samuel Axon writes for Ars Technica. “But a recent announcement shows that, instead of thriving as a gaming platform, Apple TV is struggling.”
“Last month, users who logged in to the Apple TV version of Minecraft were greeted with a message telling them that the game’s support for the Apple TV would end,” Axon writes. “This is the message users saw: ‘Effective from Monday, 24 September, the Apple TV version of Minecraft will no longer be updated or supported. We’re grateful to the Apple TV community for their support, but we need to reallocate resources to the platforms that our players use the most. Don’t worry though, you can continue to play Minecraft on Apple TV, keep building in your world, and your Marketplace purchases — including Minecoins — will continue to be available. However, we know that this experience isn’t in line with the experience on other platforms, so we will be issuing full refunds on all purchases made within the last 90 days.'”
“Many reports on this news have zeroed in on the controller question,” Axon writes. “But there’s more going on here than just controller support. To find out more, we talked to the people who would have the most complete perspective on the Apple TV’s video game credentials.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’re still waiting for the Apple gaming controller that we hoped we’d see with the release of the Apple TV App Store, but which never materialized.
Unless Apple shows some real interest, developers won’t either.