14 DAY TRIAL // If you thought that your life would be easier as an iOS developer that wants to start creating games for the new Apple TV, think again because you will have to make sure that any game you develop with support for a third-party game controller also comes with full compatibility with Apple's Apple TV Remote.
As Apple describes it on the "Working with Game Controllers" page on the tvOS Developer Library website, the first rule that all Apple TV games must obey is that they "must support the Apple TV remote." However, they "may not require the use of a controller."
This makes it obvious that, although they offer support for third-party game controllers, Apple does not consider that all or any Apple TV game for that matter must or should also provide support for them, and this is understandable if you consider that the final goal is for all the apps to support the standard controller available on the Apple TV platform, the Siri Remote.
The obvious problem here though is that, by forcing developers to offer support for the Apple TV Remote in all games, if a game comes with complex controls, the Siri Remote might not be enough to allow the user to play the game as it should.
Apple's decision to force Siri Remote support for all games might drive away some game developers from the Apple TV platform
What does this mean for tvOS game developers? It means that they will either have to dumb down their games' control schemes or, if this is not possible, give up porting or creating the game for the Apple TV platform altogether.
It remains to be seen if Apple will change its mind until the release tvOS 9.0 stable release or if they'll stick to their guns. If you find the versioning odd, it must be because, unlike in the case of the watchOS, where Apple started numbering the version from 1.0, tvOS' first release borrows the numbering from the iOS platform, as a hint of their similarity.
tvOS was announced by Apple during the September 9 "Hey Siri" keynote and it is an operating system with an iOS 9 core designed to bring the immersive experience of iOS apps and games on the new Apple TV.
Playing Crossy Road on an Apple TV using the Siri Remote:
