Head’s up, prospective tvOS game devs: Apple’s upcoming game-ready Apple TV refresh supports Mfi-based third-party controllers, but the developer documentation currently states that you can’t build games that require them.
As TouchArcade points out, this mandate that tvOS games must be playable with the Apple TV remote seems like a quiet about-face for the company. The initial Apple TV developer guidelines stated it was okay to make games that required a controller but “highly discouraged” (mobile game maker Rusty Moyher posted a relevant screenshot on Twitter) and in the week that followed Apple revised its documentation with little fanfare.
At this point, if you’re thinking about making a tvOS game you’d better support the Apple TV remote, which is motion-sensitive and has an intriguing bit of touch-sensitive glass built into one end.
“I actually love that Apple TV has a unique controller,” Spry Fox’s Daniel Cook told Gamasutra last week. “Big niches where established games struggle can be a godsend for indies.”