Apple drops obligatory Siri Remote support for tvOS games

Games built for Apple’s tvOS platform no longer have to include support for the Siri Remote by default.

When Apple first unveiled the operating system for its Apple TV machines, its development guidelines clearly stated that games “must support the Apple TV remote” and “may not require the use of a controller”.

The docs have now been altered slightly to pave the way for developers to include – or not – compatibility with the Remote and other third-party peripherals as they wish.

"When designing a tvOS game, you may require the use of an MFi game controller, but where possible you should also support the Siri Remote," a new controller programming guide reads.

As Gama points out, making both the Siri Remote and MFi controllers optional supposedly means that developers can now design games that can only be played with a third-party device.