Games dominate paid downloads in Apple TV App Store's first weekend

By Neil Hughes

Last Friday's debut of the fourth-generation Apple TV also brought with it tvOS and a dedicated App Store, with games proving to be the most popular paid apps at launch, new data reveals.

Unlike on the iOS App Store, Apple didn't include a list of the top paid, free, and grossing apps for tvOS. But Slide to Play found that Apple has made some data available, though it was characterized as somewhat "unreliable."

Still, the data provides perhaps the best look into what's selling thus far on the Apple TV, and unsurprisingly it's motion-control-based "Beat Sports" -- which was showcased heavily at Apple's September event -- that tops the paid charts. In all, nine of the top ten paid apps are games, with only video streamer "SimpleX" cracking the top apps.

Things are slightly different in the "Free" category, where streaming apps like "HBO Now," "Nat Geo TV" and "Fox Now" are in the top five. But the top two free apps -- "Rayman Adventures" and "Crossy Road" -- are still games, and "Asphalt 8: Airborne" also cracks the top 10.

Many of the top free apps were built-in options on the previous-generation Apple TV, even though there are many new options -- 1,025 as of Sunday evening. The lists were first spotted by MacRumors.

Some options on the Apple TV App Store are universal downloads, meaning users can pay once and get the same title for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. Other developers have opted to make new TV-only versions of their existing iOS apps, allowing them to charge again for users who want the convenience of playing across devices.

Because of the closeness between iOS and tvOS, apps can offer cross-platform syncing via iCloud. This means gamers can start a title at home on their Apple TV, then continue playing where they left off on an iPhone or iPad on the go.

Beyond "Beat Sports," the other most popular paid games for Apple TV are: