AppleTV Gaming Hardware

First of all, this is a thought that I need to acknowledge is very biased, to my own personal preferences, experiences, and what I see in the world around me. I don't have access to the data that a company like Apple or Xbox or Epic Games would so I can't speak with any real intelligence or awareness on what makes sense for a corporation. Hopefully that's obvious, but just to put that as a big caveat in front,

In our household there's three or four video games that occupy the majority of the time we spend, those of us who do play video games spend, and in no particular order, it would be Fortnite, Minecraft, Marvel Rivals, and Roblox. And my personal preference of all of them is Fortnite.

There's some similarities in all these games, despite the very different play styles and type of games they are. They're all free to play. You can buy in-game cosmetics is the way that they make money. Skins or shoes or backpacks et cetera. But the gameplay itself is the same for every single player in the world, regardless of their wealth or ability to buy things in the game. The other commonality is that they are all a single player, local experience basically. So if you want to play with your sibling or someone in the same room as you, you have to have more than one console or computer it's not like playing a game of NHL 25 where you can sit with up to four or five people in a room and all have a controller and play on one console.

Can Apple Make Hardware That's Affordable?

Which brings me to the point of all of this I feel like there's a big hole in the market where someone could build a hardware gaming device that's priced below what a Switch 2, Xbox, or PlayStation costs, and have support for games like Roblox, Fortnite, Marvel Rivals, and other freemium games like that. Not necessarily top tier games that have amazing cutting edge graphics, but games that are just about on the edge. And to me, Apple is uniquely positioned to do something like this.

They have the App store on iOS where games are often released day one or shortly thereafter just because of the size of the market on iPhone. And those same games work on an iPad, and can theoretically work just as well on a Mac computer. And more importantly on their Apple TV hardware devices.

I think Apple should release an Apple TV hardware gaming device of some sort. Call it something like AppleTV Gaming or AppleTV+ Max+ Edition(+). It would be priced above the regular Apple TV hardware, which is already expensive compared to other streaming devices, but below the price of a Switch. Powerful enough to run the Fortnite, Marvel Rivals, No Man's Sky, Roblox, et cetera. games. In Canadian pricing, a Switch is around $400. Switch 2 will be around $600. And so if Apple wanted to price something at 300 Canadian, which is a hundred dollars more than their current Apple TV hardware, it feels like they've got the chips GPUs and software ready to go.

Apple's already built extensive support for Xbox or PlayStation controllers, so they don't have to worry about trying to reinvent that part of the market.

But for a family with two or three kids who all want to play these types of games, Apple could build the go-to device where it'll work as an Apple TV streaming hardware for watching shows on Netflix and Apple TV+, but also work just as well for playing top tier games.

I have to wonder if their years long lawsuit fight with Epic Games has distracted them from getting what would've been one of the number one games on their platform back on iPhone iPad, Mac and Apple TV hardware even. And while the lawsuit stuff is still ongoing, it feels like there's maybe a cooling of the intensity to where they could work out some sort of arrangement. But I'm not holding my breath. Apple has a very long memory for companies and individuals who go against what they think is in their best interests, especially if they do it in a very public lawsuit sort of way.

To many gamers, Apple has burned them too many times with promises of support for gaming and the've long since moved on. But it feels like there's a giant market of parents with kids who want to just be able to join in with their friends in games like Fortnite who don't need a full Xbox, Playstation, or especially a gaming PC that Apple could sell to at a price that is more affordable while still helping establish a Apple branded home base in front of the TV.