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Report: The Next Version Of Apple TV Will Have A Gaming Focus
For the past week, there have been rumors that Apple is finally going to be making a move on the living room gaming market. Those murmurings are further strengthened today by a new report.
The New York Times reports that Apple will be putting gaming front and center for its next set-top device, Apple TV. The Times’ sources suggest that the new hardware will be announced on Wednesday.
If accurate, this move would be long overdue, as Apple has put gaming in millions of casual gamers’ pockets. According to Newzoo, mobile games across all platforms raked in $25 billion in 2014 and are projected to pass the $30 million mark this year.
While Apple certainly has a foothold amongst gamers, it faces the same uphill climb that Android microconsole manufacturers have dealt with. Poor adoption and lackluster support have plagued the hardware segment, with Kickstarter success Ouya recently folding, with some assets being sold off to Razer.
We’ve reached out to Apple for comment and will update should we receive a response.
[Source: New York Times]
Our Take
While Apple has had enormous success making gaming a reality on smartphones, it faces a few challenges replicating that performance in the living room. Designing a comfortable and durable controller is a bigger challenge than it seems, especially if the idea would be to bring touch-powered iOS games over.
The company must also deal with the problem that plagues the app store: clutter. Unless something is featured or appears on one of the top download or revenue lists, discoverability is a major hurdle. Getting developers to take the risk at developing something for hardware that doesn’t have the iOS install base is also going to be a challenge.
I’m eager to see what happens with this, but Apple’s name doesn’t guarantee success. It just means we’re paying attention.
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