# Game Studio Tycoon 3 vs TV Wars

The clearest difference is price: TV Wars at Free against Game Studio Tycoon 3's $4.99. TV Wars also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.8) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 8 days). Game Studio Tycoon 3's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13) and ads (none vs shown). On review sentiment, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

TV Wars is free to download; Game Studio Tycoon 3 costs $4.99 up front. TV Wars sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Game Studio Tycoon 3 asks for nothing beyond the download.

TV Wars holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TV Wars has 715 ratings behind it against 90, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 53% of Game Studio Tycoon 3's written reviews are positive against 50% of TV Wars's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Game Studio Tycoon 3 ships an update every 8 days, TV Wars every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Game Studio Tycoon 3 | TV Wars |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [3.8 (90 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/game-studio-tycoon-3/id1074068315/reviews) | **[4.7 (715 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tv-wars-primetime-simulator/id6449303802/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 90 | **715** |
| Positive reviews | **52.8% of reviews** | 50.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days | **Every 2 days** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Size | 165 MB | 221 MB |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Ashley Sherwin](https://appshunter.io/developer/547510175) | [Music Wars LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/979437259) |

## What reviewers say

### Game Studio Tycoon 3

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/game-studio-tycoon-3/id1074068315)

Simulate a complete game development studio, from hiring staff and creating games to designing hardware and managing finances. Compete against AI studios and grow your business across decades of gaming history.

**Highlights:** Build and manage a game studio, Develop games for various platforms, Create custom gaming hardware, Manage employees and teams, Engage with a complex fan system, Compete against AI studios

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 The best game ever!!
- 👍 Pretty fun and addicting game would recommend
- 👍 Great Game
- 👍 It's super fun
- 👍 Fun

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Keeps crashing
- 🐛 Crashes continuously
- 🐛 Impossible To Win!
- 🐛 Doesn't fit my screen correctly. Crashes all the time. An ugly looking copy of Game Dev Tycoon. Save your money.
- 🐛 The game isn't even optimized to fit an iPhone, yet you're trying to 'sell' it instead of making it a free app? Worst 3 dollars or so I've ever spent in my life. It's to bad I can't rate 0 stars.

**Reported bugs**

- Ratings Problem
- Impossible To Win!
- Doesn't fit iPhone notch
- Разрешение экрана
- Слiders don't work for engine

**Requested features**

- Add a newsreel I feel like it'd be an interesting concept to the game
- Sandbox mode
- More genres and topics
- Ability to move staff to a new office
- Simplified Chinese


### TV Wars

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tv-wars-primetime-simulator/id6449303802)

Manage your own television network, creating custom shows and competing against rivals for top ratings. Make strategic programming decisions, renew or cancel shows, and capitalize on trends to build your TV empire.

**Highlights:** Create custom TV shows, Compete against 80+ networks, Strategic programming decisions, Renew or cancel shows, Story arc strategy, Capitalize on season trends

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (13)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cash 5M | $2.99 | one-time |
| Cash 10M | $4.99 | one-time |
| Cash 25M | $7.99 | one-time |
| A.I. Tokens - 250 | $9.99 | one-time |
| Cash 50M | $11.99 | one-time |
| Demo Pass | $14.99 | one-time |
| Story Arc Pass | $14.99 | one-time |
| Cash 100M | $18.99 | one-time |
| Launch Bundle | $19.99 | one-time |
| A.I. Tokens - 1000 | $19.99 | one-time |
| Cash 250M | $24.99 | one-time |
| Cash 500M | $34.99 | one-time |
| Cash 1B | $59.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast and responsive
- 🎨 Creative show creation
- 🤖 Interesting AI-generated content

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent bugs and glitches
- 🕰️ Repetitive gameplay loop
- 💰 Excessive ads and monetization
- 🔍 Lack of diversity in generated characters

**Reported bugs**

- Episodes disappearing or not airing correctly
- Game freezing when progressing to the next week
- Issues with saving and loading progress
- Problems with show scheduling and management

**Requested features**

- Ability to create custom characters
- Crossover and cliffhanger features
- More control over show scheduling and programming
- Autosave functionality
- Background music and sound effects


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Game Studio Tycoon 3 free?

Game Studio Tycoon 3 costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is TV Wars free?

TV Wars is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Game Studio Tycoon 3 or TV Wars?

TV Wars is rated higher. Game Studio Tycoon 3 averages 3.8 out of 5 from 90 ratings, while TV Wars averages 4.7 from 715 ratings.

### Do Game Studio Tycoon 3 or TV Wars have ads?

TV Wars shows ads; Game Studio Tycoon 3 does not.

### Which is updated more often, Game Studio Tycoon 3 or TV Wars?

Game Studio Tycoon 3 ships an update every 8 days, and TV Wars every 2 days. Most recently, Game Studio Tycoon 3 was updated on November 2, 2026 and TV Wars on October 30, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*