GoKawiilOver a decade ago, with the launch of the of the Apple TV HD and the first version of tvOS, Apple set off on a rather unsuccessful journey to turn the Apple TV into a gaming platform. The efforts have largely died off, but I think this year could potentially mark the beginning of a renaissance, if Apple wanted to. Let’s outline it.
The history of Apple TV gaming
You might not remember this since it was over 10 years ago, but Apple had a massive gaming push for the Apple TV. It started with the previous Siri Remote design with a baked in gyroscope and accelerometer, which brought many iOS games like Crossy Road and Jetpack Joyride.
Then, a year later, after a massive back and forth with developers, Apple finally allowed MFi game controllers as a primary interface on tvOS, eventually bringing Minecraft to the Apple TV. It didn’t perform well, but it was there. It’s worth noting that at the time, the Apple TV only had an A8 chip.
Skip forward a couple years to 2019. Apple Arcade launches and Apple allows Xbox and PlayStation controllers to natively pair to Apple TV. There’s still two key limitations with gaming on tvOS: for one, apps had to adhere to a strict 4GB bundle size, and the Apple TV was still powered by a measly A10X chip.
In 2021, Apple updated the Apple TV with an A12 chip – giving it a slight boost in power, but the company also redesigned the Siri Remote, removing the gyroscope and accelerometer. This meant that a lot of the original games on tvOS no longer worked unless you went out of your way to buy an old remote.
Now, the Apple TV has an A15 chip, Apple has had many pushes for gaming on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and yet – Apple TV has missed out on all of the fun. That could change, though.
What could come next
If you’ve been watching Apple events for the past couple years, you’d know that most of them have had some kind of AAA game highlight. Whether that be Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Resident Evil Village, or massive highlights around the potentials of ray tracing with Apple Silicon. Apple has also put work into its game porting toolkit over the past couple years.
Later this year, the Apple TV should be getting a new chip, likely the A17 Pro, potentially even better. In any case, that gives it ray tracing and much more power to work with.
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