Watch: The best tvOS games for Apple TV 4K

AppleInsider · October 7, 2017 5:29PM

Equipped with Apple's A10X Fusion chip, the new Apple TV 4K packs some serious processing power, transforming the set-top streaming box into a decent gaming platform. We sifted through the tvOS App Store to find the best free games that show off the new device's capabilities.

Our top 15 game picks for tvOS:

For reviews, news, tips, features and more, subscribe to AppleInsider on YouTube.

cali · October 7, 2017 6:14PM

That list is downright depressing.

%100 of those games were available last gen for the A8 professor. Nothing new.
This means %0 of games are gonna show odd the power of this new device.

Any games supporting native 4k HDR? Is the upcoming Sky at least supporting it? They never said it would or wouldn’t.

Apple really should have made deals with developers to release native 4k HDR versions of their games.

Sorry guys we’re not gonna see 4k upgrades on games anytime soon.....

Soli · October 7, 2017 7:11PM

cali said:
%100 of those games were available last gen for the A8 professor. Nothing new.
This means %0 of games are gonna show [off] the power of this new device.

One things I see gamers obsessive over are frame rates which is why they want better HW for their current games so they can increase it. Does having a better processing not help with increasing that aspect of the game or are those people lying?

goncalo81 · October 7, 2017 7:51PM

The day that a game like NLH from ea sports will be available on Apple TV, then we will talk....

cali · October 7, 2017 7:52PM

Soli said:

cali said:
%100 of those games were available last gen for the A8 professor. Nothing new.
This means %0 of games are gonna show [off] the power of this new device.

One things I see gamers obsessive over are frame rates which is why they want better HW for their current games so they can increase it. Does having a better processing not help with increasing that aspect of the game or are those people lying?

These are graphically weak games that were already running at 60fps on AppleTV 4.

This article could have came out in 2015 with the headline:
“The best tvOS games for Apple TV 4”
with an identical list.

Real Racing was the benchmark for iPhone when they’d release a new version every generation. Real Racing 3 is still hanging onto iPhone 5 visuals.

bdkennedy1002 · October 7, 2017 7:55PM

I gave up playing games on it 2 years ago. Almost all of the games suck.

foregoneconclusion · October 7, 2017 8:31PM

Some quality ATV games that have released in 2017: Xenoraid, Stellar Wanderer, Quantum Revenge, Trials Frontier, Space Marshals 2, Smashclub: Streets of Shmeenis, Subdivision Infinity, Rungun Jumpgun, Burly Men at Sea, Sky Gamblers, Framed 2, Radiation City, RayCrisis, Morphite

seanismorris · October 7, 2017 8:33PM

Apple TV BETA (version xyz) Let me know when Apple decides to get serious and compete with Xbox and PlayStation...

macplusplus · October 7, 2017 8:47PM

seanismorris said:

Apple TV BETA (version xyz) Let me know when Apple decides to get serious and compete with Xbox and PlayStation...

Why would Apple do that? Apple is not into vertical markets. AppleTV is a mainstream consumer product targeted primarily to media consumption. Game consoles are mature and established products. Buy a game console, and if you already have one then enjoy it. Your console producer can only sell one console per home, Apple can sell an AppleTV per every room per home. Why would it replace it with a product it would sell only one per home?

cali · October 7, 2017 8:59PM

macplusplus said:

seanismorris said:

Apple TV BETA (version xyz) Let me know when Apple decides to get serious and compete with Xbox and PlayStation...

Why would Apple do that? Apple is not into vertical markets. AppleTV is a mainstream consumer product targeted primarily to media consumption. Game consoles are mature and established products. Buy a game console, and if you already have one then enjoy it. Your console producer can only sell one console per home, Apple can sell an AppleTV per every room per home. Why would it replace it with a product it would sell only one per home?

What’s gonna be your excuse a few years from now when Apple TV runs A12X?

macplusplus · October 7, 2017 9:10PM

cali said:

macplusplus said:

seanismorris said:

Apple TV BETA (version xyz) Let me know when Apple decides to get serious and compete with Xbox and PlayStation...

Why would Apple do that? Apple is not into vertical markets. AppleTV is a mainstream consumer product targeted primarily to media consumption. Game consoles are mature and established products. Buy a game console, and if you already have one then enjoy it. Your console producer can only sell one console per home, Apple can sell an AppleTV per every room per home. Why would it replace it with a product it would sell only one per home?

What’s gonna be your excuse a few years from now when Apple TV runs A12X?

So what? Apple will still sell multiple A12X equipped AppleTVs to a home whilst console producers will only sell one console per home.

spliff monkey · October 7, 2017 9:19PM

To me the “problem” of quality games for ATV is more on the developers from a certain point of view. There are a ton of games for iPhone/ iPad that do not have Apple Tv equivalents. Weird yes, but this is the first ATV with this much horse power. 1080p games should fly on the new ATV. Looking forward to giving it a shot. Mine should be waiting for me when I get home.

BTW with all of the mentions of old games for ATV I’m not sure why “oddworld” was left out. I haven’t played it much, but it looks like a great port and a great game overall. The rails are finally being removed and really, that’s the important hurdle for ATV games imo. We need expanse. For games like RR3 a 4k update would be kinda awesome if possible though.

macplusplus · October 7, 2017 9:26PM

cali said:

That list is downright depressing.

%100 of those games were available last gen for the A8 professor. Nothing new.
This means %0 of games are gonna show odd the power of this new device.

Any games supporting native 4k HDR? Is the upcoming Sky at least supporting it? They never said it would or wouldn’t.

Apple really should have made deals with developers to release native 4k HDR versions of their games.

Sorry guys we’re not gonna see 4k upgrades on games anytime soon.....

This is developers’ call to support 4K HDR on AppleTV or not. 4K HDR is there, Metal-2 is there. Apple’s developer support is there. What other deals are we expecting from Apple? If those developers have built their business models on sponsorships from GPU/console producers then that may not work with Apple. Apple is so big a company that there are a lot of things it can sponsor and those game developers can only be a tiny fraction of those waiting in line.

cali · October 7, 2017 10:08PM

macplusplus said:

cali said:

macplusplus said:

seanismorris said:

Apple TV BETA (version xyz) Let me know when Apple decides to get serious and compete with Xbox and PlayStation...

Why would Apple do that? Apple is not into vertical markets. AppleTV is a mainstream consumer product targeted primarily to media consumption. Game consoles are mature and established products. Buy a game console, and if you already have one then enjoy it. Your console producer can only sell one console per home, Apple can sell an AppleTV per every room per home. Why would it replace it with a product it would sell only one per home?

What’s gonna be your excuse a few years from now when Apple TV runs A12X?

So what? Apple will still sell multiple A12X equipped AppleTVs to a home whilst console producers will only sell one console per home.

By then Apple will have the horsepower to compete with mainstream consoles. You really think Apple is gonna tell developers to tone down their games because the Apple TV isn’t a console?

its a console whether we admit it or not. It plays games.

macplusplus said:

cali said:

That list is downright depressing.

%100 of those games were available last gen for the A8 professor. Nothing new.
This means %0 of games are gonna show odd the power of this new device.

Any games supporting native 4k HDR? Is the upcoming Sky at least supporting it? They never said it would or wouldn’t.

Apple really should have made deals with developers to release native 4k HDR versions of their games.

Sorry guys we’re not gonna see 4k upgrades on games anytime soon.....

This is developers’ call to support 4K HDR on AppleTV or not. 4K HDR is there, Metal-2 is there. Apple’s developer support is there. What other deals are we expecting from Apple? If those developers have built their business models on sponsorships from GPU/console producers then that may not work with Apple. Apple is so big a company that there are a lot of things it can sponsor and those game developers can only be a tiny fraction of those waiting in line.

Of course but with 4k and HDR native, Apple should put the hammer down on developers and require 4k Native for Apple TV 4k. They don’t have to make a whole new game just adopt the standards.

spliff monkey said:

To me the “problem” of quality games for ATV is more on the developers from a certain point of view. There are a ton of games for iPhone/ iPad that do not have Apple Tv equivalents. Weird yes, but this is the first ATV with this much horse power. 1080p games should fly on the new ATV. Looking forward to giving it a shot. Mine should be waiting for me when I get home.

BTW with all of the mentions of old games for ATV I’m not sure why “oddworld” was left out. I haven’t played it much, but it looks like a great port and a great game overall. The rails are finally being removed and really, that’s the important hurdle for ATV games imo. We need expanse. For games like RR3 a 4k update would be kinda awesome if possible though.

It’s ridiculous how many games are missing on Apple TV.

forget RR3, that game was optimized for iPhone 5.
They should release Real Racing 4 with 4k HDR. That game would be on Xbox One Levels.

macplusplus · October 7, 2017 10:29PM

cali said:

macplusplus said:

cali said:

macplusplus said:

seanismorris said:

Apple TV BETA (version xyz) Let me know when Apple decides to get serious and compete with Xbox and PlayStation...

Why would Apple do that? Apple is not into vertical markets. AppleTV is a mainstream consumer product targeted primarily to media consumption. Game consoles are mature and established products. Buy a game console, and if you already have one then enjoy it. Your console producer can only sell one console per home, Apple can sell an AppleTV per every room per home. Why would it replace it with a product it would sell only one per home?

What’s gonna be your excuse a few years from now when Apple TV runs A12X?

So what? Apple will still sell multiple A12X equipped AppleTVs to a home whilst console producers will only sell one console per home.

By then Apple will have the horsepower to compete with mainstream consoles. You really think Apple is gonna tell developers to tone down their games because the Apple TV isn’t a console?

its a console whether we admit it or not. It plays games.

macplusplus said:

cali said:

That list is downright depressing.

%100 of those games were available last gen for the A8 professor. Nothing new.
This means %0 of games are gonna show odd the power of this new device.

Any games supporting native 4k HDR? Is the upcoming Sky at least supporting it? They never said it would or wouldn’t.

Apple really should have made deals with developers to release native 4k HDR versions of their games.

Sorry guys we’re not gonna see 4k upgrades on games anytime soon.....

This is developers’ call to support 4K HDR on AppleTV or not. 4K HDR is there, Metal-2 is there. Apple’s developer support is there. What other deals are we expecting from Apple? If those developers have built their business models on sponsorships from GPU/console producers then that may not work with Apple. Apple is so big a company that there are a lot of things it can sponsor and those game developers can only be a tiny fraction of those waiting in line.

Of course but with 4k and HDR native, Apple should put the hammer down on developers and require 4k Native for Apple TV 4k. They don’t have to make a whole new game just adopt the standards.

They have to write their games from scratch for Metal-2. They all depend on the obsolete OpenGL code because that is what GPU producers impose. They cannot succeed with only OpenGL on iOS/tvOS. Modern Combat 5 is a fairly good Metal game for iOS and it proves a successful port is possible with Metal. The new Apple GPU certainly supports rendering at 4K with Metal-2 and that makes the issue developers’ call, not Apple’s.

cali · October 7, 2017 10:34PM

macplusplus said:

cali said:

macplusplus said:

cali said:

macplusplus said:

seanismorris said:

Apple TV BETA (version xyz) Let me know when Apple decides to get serious and compete with Xbox and PlayStation...

Why would Apple do that? Apple is not into vertical markets. AppleTV is a mainstream consumer product targeted primarily to media consumption. Game consoles are mature and established products. Buy a game console, and if you already have one then enjoy it. Your console producer can only sell one console per home, Apple can sell an AppleTV per every room per home. Why would it replace it with a product it would sell only one per home?

What’s gonna be your excuse a few years from now when Apple TV runs A12X?

So what? Apple will still sell multiple A12X equipped AppleTVs to a home whilst console producers will only sell one console per home.

By then Apple will have the horsepower to compete with mainstream consoles. You really think Apple is gonna tell developers to tone down their games because the Apple TV isn’t a console?

its a console whether we admit it or not. It plays games.

macplusplus said:

cali said:

That list is downright depressing.

%100 of those games were available last gen for the A8 professor. Nothing new.
This means %0 of games are gonna show odd the power of this new device.

Any games supporting native 4k HDR? Is the upcoming Sky at least supporting it? They never said it would or wouldn’t.

Apple really should have made deals with developers to release native 4k HDR versions of their games.

Sorry guys we’re not gonna see 4k upgrades on games anytime soon.....

This is developers’ call to support 4K HDR on AppleTV or not. 4K HDR is there, Metal-2 is there. Apple’s developer support is there. What other deals are we expecting from Apple? If those developers have built their business models on sponsorships from GPU/console producers then that may not work with Apple. Apple is so big a company that there are a lot of things it can sponsor and those game developers can only be a tiny fraction of those waiting in line.

Of course but with 4k and HDR native, Apple should put the hammer down on developers and require 4k Native for Apple TV 4k. They don’t have to make a whole new game just adopt the standards.

They have to write their games from scratch for Metal-2. They all depend on the obsolete OpenGL code because that is what GPU producers impose. They cannot succeed with only OpenGL on iOS/tvOS. CS 5 is a fairly good Metal game for iOS and it proves a successful port is possible with Metal. The new Apple GPU certainly supports rendering at 4K with Metal-2 and that makes the issue developers’ call, not Apple’s.

Ah I see. My point still stands. Apple should require Metal 2/4k HDR for TV games Maybe even take a smaller cut for a year(%20) in return for their work. otherwise this is embarrassing.

just noticed Asphalt the number one game on the list because of graphics is from 2013!!!!

Soli · October 7, 2017 10:52PM

cali said:

macplusplus said:

cali said:

macplusplus said:

cali said:

macplusplus said:

seanismorris said:

Apple TV BETA (version xyz) Let me know when Apple decides to get serious and compete with Xbox and PlayStation...

Why would Apple do that? Apple is not into vertical markets. AppleTV is a mainstream consumer product targeted primarily to media consumption. Game consoles are mature and established products. Buy a game console, and if you already have one then enjoy it. Your console producer can only sell one console per home, Apple can sell an AppleTV per every room per home. Why would it replace it with a product it would sell only one per home?

What’s gonna be your excuse a few years from now when Apple TV runs A12X?

So what? Apple will still sell multiple A12X equipped AppleTVs to a home whilst console producers will only sell one console per home.

By then Apple will have the horsepower to compete with mainstream consoles. You really think Apple is gonna tell developers to tone down their games because the Apple TV isn’t a console?

its a console whether we admit it or not. It plays games.

macplusplus said:

cali said:

That list is downright depressing.

%100 of those games were available last gen for the A8 professor. Nothing new.
This means %0 of games are gonna show odd the power of this new device.

Any games supporting native 4k HDR? Is the upcoming Sky at least supporting it? They never said it would or wouldn’t.

Apple really should have made deals with developers to release native 4k HDR versions of their games.

Sorry guys we’re not gonna see 4k upgrades on games anytime soon.....

This is developers’ call to support 4K HDR on AppleTV or not. 4K HDR is there, Metal-2 is there. Apple’s developer support is there. What other deals are we expecting from Apple? If those developers have built their business models on sponsorships from GPU/console producers then that may not work with Apple. Apple is so big a company that there are a lot of things it can sponsor and those game developers can only be a tiny fraction of those waiting in line.

Of course but with 4k and HDR native, Apple should put the hammer down on developers and require 4k Native for Apple TV 4k. They don’t have to make a whole new game just adopt the standards.

They have to write their games from scratch for Metal-2. They all depend on the obsolete OpenGL code because that is what GPU producers impose. They cannot succeed with only OpenGL on iOS/tvOS. CS 5 is a fairly good Metal game for iOS and it proves a successful port is possible with Metal. The new Apple GPU certainly supports rendering at 4K with Metal-2 and that makes the issue developers’ call, not Apple’s.

Ah I see. My point still stands. Apple should require Metal 2/4k HDR for TV games Maybe even take a smaller cut for a year(%20) in return for their work. otherwise this is embarrassing.

just noticed Asphalt the number one game on the list because of graphics is from 2013!!!!

I'm really not understanding your contention with with Apple TV 4K. I'm looking at the "serious" game consoles that you oddly think the Apple TV should be directly competing with, and of all the options on the market today it looks like only the PS4 Pro and Xbox One S even support HDR. The Xbox One S looks to only upconvert games in HW to 4K for a 4K set but doesn't actually support 4K games themselves, while the PS4 Pro can't even play 4K Blu-ray discs, which seems odd since it supports Blu-ray and 4K.

But all that has nothing to do with your point that as soon as the HW launched all the games should be updated, so to that I wonder what games were actually supporting 4K+HDR for those console models when they launched? I can't seem to find any and yet you've been very adamant that Apple should follow in their footsteps.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

brertech · October 8, 2017 12:05AM

Why only reviewing free games?
That’s not helping the situation.

cali · October 8, 2017 12:29AM

Soli said:

cali said:

macplusplus said:

cali said:

macplusplus said:

cali said:

macplusplus said:

seanismorris said:

Apple TV BETA (version xyz) Let me know when Apple decides to get serious and compete with Xbox and PlayStation...

Why would Apple do that? Apple is not into vertical markets. AppleTV is a mainstream consumer product targeted primarily to media consumption. Game consoles are mature and established products. Buy a game console, and if you already have one then enjoy it. Your console producer can only sell one console per home, Apple can sell an AppleTV per every room per home. Why would it replace it with a product it would sell only one per home?

What’s gonna be your excuse a few years from now when Apple TV runs A12X?

So what? Apple will still sell multiple A12X equipped AppleTVs to a home whilst console producers will only sell one console per home.

By then Apple will have the horsepower to compete with mainstream consoles. You really think Apple is gonna tell developers to tone down their games because the Apple TV isn’t a console?

its a console whether we admit it or not. It plays games.

macplusplus said:

cali said:

That list is downright depressing.

%100 of those games were available last gen for the A8 professor. Nothing new.
This means %0 of games are gonna show odd the power of this new device.

Any games supporting native 4k HDR? Is the upcoming Sky at least supporting it? They never said it would or wouldn’t.

Apple really should have made deals with developers to release native 4k HDR versions of their games.

Sorry guys we’re not gonna see 4k upgrades on games anytime soon.....

This is developers’ call to support 4K HDR on AppleTV or not. 4K HDR is there, Metal-2 is there. Apple’s developer support is there. What other deals are we expecting from Apple? If those developers have built their business models on sponsorships from GPU/console producers then that may not work with Apple. Apple is so big a company that there are a lot of things it can sponsor and those game developers can only be a tiny fraction of those waiting in line.

Of course but with 4k and HDR native, Apple should put the hammer down on developers and require 4k Native for Apple TV 4k. They don’t have to make a whole new game just adopt the standards.

They have to write their games from scratch for Metal-2. They all depend on the obsolete OpenGL code because that is what GPU producers impose. They cannot succeed with only OpenGL on iOS/tvOS. CS 5 is a fairly good Metal game for iOS and it proves a successful port is possible with Metal. The new Apple GPU certainly supports rendering at 4K with Metal-2 and that makes the issue developers’ call, not Apple’s.

Ah I see. My point still stands. Apple should require Metal 2/4k HDR for TV games Maybe even take a smaller cut for a year(%20) in return for their work. otherwise this is embarrassing.

just noticed Asphalt the number one game on the list because of graphics is from 2013!!!!

I'm really not understanding your contention with with Apple TV 4K. I'm looking at the "serious" game consoles that you oddly think the Apple TV should be directly competing with, and of all the options on the market today it looks like only the PS4 Pro and Xbox One S even support HDR. The Xbox One S looks to only upconvert games in HW to 4K for a 4K set but doesn't actually support 4K games themselves, while the PS4 Pro can't even play 4K Blu-ray discs, which seems odd since it supports Blu-ray and 4K.

But all that has nothing to do with your point that as soon as the HW launched all the games should be updated, so to that I wonder what games were actually supporting 4K+HDR for those console models when they launched? I can't seem to find any and yet you've been very adamant that Apple should follow in their footsteps.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I didn’t say Apple should follow anyone’s footsteps.

It’s just sad that the best visual game according to owners and this article is a game from 2013.

Of course things take time but at this pace we may only have ONE game in 2017 that takes advantage of the Apple TV 4Ks abilities(even then there’s no confirmation it’s 4k HDR). Like an earlier poster said, what’s the point in the horsepower if it won’t be used?

oh and P.S. if Apple and developers went all in on 4k HDR utilizing the A10x to its fullest potential I would drop my desire for a new PS4 Pro and Xbox One X in an instant.

Soli · October 8, 2017 12:48AM

cali said:
Like an earlier poster said, what’s the point in the horsepower if it won’t be used?

1) 4K+HDR is already being used on the Apple TV 4K right now.

2) Specifically regarding gaming, it sounds like you and this "earlier poster" are conflating "won't be used," a contraction of will not with not being used right now, less than a month after launch. This 5th Apple TV is going to be around for a long time and if all you care about is gaming then stick with the 4th gen or go with a console designed around gaming.

Personally, I love how much better everything looks on my Apple TV 4K over my 4th gen Apple TV.

cali · October 8, 2017 7:29AM

Soli said:

cali said:
Like an earlier poster said, what’s the point in the horsepower if it won’t be used?

1) 4K+HDR is already being used on the Apple TV 4K right now.

2) Specifically regarding gaming, it sounds like you and this "earlier poster" are conflating "won't be used," a contraction of will not with not being used right now, less than a month after launch. This 5th Apple TV is going to be around for a long time and if all you care about is gaming then stick with the 4th gen or go with a console designed around gaming.

Personally, I love how much better everything looks on my Apple TV 4K over my 4th gen Apple TV.

I edited out a bit that I should have left in.
Originally I said why buy all this horse power when a crap $99 Amazon box can do 4k and HDR?

why so many excuses for Apple?
Of course more games are coming but Imagine if PS4 launched and a month later all you could play were ps3 games? Sony would have been charred by flaming fans.

Wii U got roasted to hell for offering around 20 games during launch month. Apple TV 4k will get one current gen game in 2017; Sky. ONE GAME.

Watch: The best tvOS games for Apple TV 4K

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