“When the fourth-generation Apple TV launched back in 2015, some optimistically speculated that it would be powerful enough to become a genuine gaming contender. A streaming box capable of giving the traditional consoles a run for their money,” John Archer writes for Forbes. “Sadly, this hasn’t panned out. Games developed for tvOS have been lumbered with inevitable depth and scale limitations, along with their need to cater for the fiddly, imprecise controls afforded by the Apple TV’s small remote control.”
“Now, though, the Apple TV is on the verge of becoming a ‘serious’ gaming device after all. So long as you also have a PC or Mac,” Archer writes. “This is because Steam has announced that it’s going to be launching a Steam Link app for the fourth-generation Apple TV and Apple TV 4K boxes.”
“Adding this tvOS app – which is set to become available on May 21st – to your Apple TV will allow you to stream games to it from any PC or Mac on your network that has Steam installed,” Archer writes. “You will, of course, need to sort yourself out with a Steam or Apple MFi joystick if you want to play games through your Apple TV.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hey, maybe we’ll get some more use out of those SteelSeries Nimbus controllers we have kicking around here!
If you’re a Mac user, it’s likely you’re not going to be much of a gamer and even less likely you’ll have a Windows PC around the house. I could understand if Apple actually offered a hard-core gaming Mac, but they don’t. Apple seems to be doing things half-way with AppleTV. To me, it makes sense to just buy an XBox One or Playstation 4 and be done with it.
I know many Mac users that are hardcore gamers. The two are not mutually exclusive. I myself have over 9 Apple devices but still have a high end gaming PC (along with a PS4 Pro and Switch). Apple is slowly improving MacOS with support for powerful external GPUs so I can foresee a future where hardcore gamers could only have a Mac.
I think Apple could make the AppleTV huge in gaming if they didn’t have the requirement to be able to use the remote to play the game. That is the problem.
There is no requirement to use the Apple remote.
Apple TV supports MFi, and if the developer CHOOSES to support the controller, that controller works.
They do require it…
Right from Apple’s Developer guidelines:
“Even though controllers are intended to enhance gameplay, not every person who purchases your game is going to own one. Therefore, never require the use of game controllers in your game. If a controller is not available, your game must provide alternative controls.”
From Apple’s Game Controller Programming Guide: “Even though controllers are intended to enhance gameplay, not every person who purchases your game is going to own one. Therefore, never require the use of game controllers in your game. If a controller is not available, your game must provide alternative controls.”