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Where have all the iOS games gone?

minotaurproject.co.uk

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Re: Where have all the iOS games gone?

#151

Post by NEDM64 »

eirikref wrote: post #59

As a user who frequently opened the AppStore just to browse, discover new apps, and who used to buy a lot, I've just stopped opening the AppStore over the last three-four years. Browsing and discovery has become too hard for me, and I feel like they're pushing games too hard. I used to buy a lot of games as well, but often I was just in the mood to look for some neat applications. If I could somehow filter out all ga…

The AppStore has a category listing.

Of course category search is not going to work for everybody with 2 million entries.

If you want to search the games for genre, price, etc. go to toucharcade.com

Re: Where have all the iOS games gone?

#152

Post by NEDM64 »

jblow wrote: post #92
diziet wrote: post #13

It's often hard for indie developers without marketing budgets, but in the same vein the whole gaming market on iOS is doing tremendously well. Here's a high level snapshot of iPhone earning by country, month by month: https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/993499/16283312/2... The industry grew a lot - surely driven by the most successful titles, but also for the longer tail of developers. More of the total reve…

The problem is that games designed to "stick over many months & years and monetize the player" are generally garbage, as far as the quality of the actual game goes. Of course these things are relative or subjective and what have you, but it's pretty rare for people who have a lot of experience playing games to seek out stuff on iOS because of the great quality of games there. If you build a system that incentivizes g…

> The problem is that games designed to "stick over many months & years and monetize the player" are generally garbage, as far as the quality of the actual game goes.

It's what the kids want to play.

I don't think the author's games are much better.

Re: Where have all the iOS games gone?

#153

Post by NEDM64 »

highCs wrote: post #20

Aside some interesting comments here I find very true, my theory is that you should treat your game has a startup product: customers will not come, you have to chase them. And get them talk to their friends about your game. Just launching a game and making some marketing wont work. You need: feedback loop + word of mouth + growth.

I just thought I would just need to make a game and pay $99 a year.

Do you mean that's not enough?

(sarcasm)

Re: Where have all the iOS games gone?

#154

Post by NEDM64 »

jpeg_hero wrote: post #78

Apple needs to move the "standard price" from 0.99 one time download -> 0.99 per year Delete app to unsubscribe Remove 0.99 one time pricing $5.00 minimum one time download price

So nobody would pay?

People that download games from the AppStore are kids that don't have a credit card, so subscriptions are not even an option.

Re: Where have all the iOS games gone?

#155

Post by buserror »

pmontra wrote: post #74
buserror wrote: post #17

Weird, I was a die hard mac developer (since 1984), and I immediately stopped when iOS came out with the app store. Like, stopped /dead/. The reason I could be a Mac Developer was the small pond; There wasn't a LOT of work, but there was enough for good people, and it paid well. On balance I /never/ developed anything for windows, because of the 'tree vs forest' problem : Even if you are REALLY fantastically good, th…

Out of curiosity, what did you do instead of developing for Apple platforms?

Well, I had a parallel career as low level unix/linux/embedded development, so I went full on on that, and I couldn't be happier really; that ALSO has picked up a lot, and since it's not 'sexy' and technically challenging it's still a bit self-walled gardened...

Re: Where have all the iOS games gone?

#157

Post by Lerc »

themartorana wrote: post #136
cageface wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm happy to pay $15 or even $60 for a game I really enjoy and play for more than a few hours. I'm not willing to pay to win though, which is what most of the top grossing mobile games require.

No, but the point of this thread was that there is room in the middle to make money, you don't have to be in the top 200. We use rewarded video and advertising and IAP in free-to-play games our users play, but we have no desire to be exploitative. The amount of room between basic free-to-play and psychological warfare on your players is enormous.

If you sorted your customers by the amount of revenue they generate? How much revenue comes from the individual at the bottom of the top 50% of revenue?

Re: Where have all the iOS games gone?

#158

Post by gcb0 »

fnayr wrote: post #14

I hear this myth perpetuated incessantly. (That there's no more middle ground in the app store, only the Clash of Clans and Candy Crushes and the rest with no downloads). People paint the picture that it's the top 0.1% and everyone else with an unsustainable business. The truth is there's plenty of us in the middle still. My two person iOS dev studio has pulled in 6 figures a year for the past 4 years. The problem is…

> top 100

> middle ground

pick one.

Re: Where have all the iOS games gone?

#159

Post by iofj »

CydeWeys wrote: post #140
iofj wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually if that's what you want I'd advise you to buy a windows 10 tablet. They run old (and gog.com) games and come with decent mouse emulation and actually last 4-5 hours on battery. Taking games like Spelunky on a 400 gram tablet with you for on the train/plane is nice. Even something like Civ 4 is playable.

If I were going to get an entire dedicated system for mobile gaming, I think a PS Vita or Nintendo 3DS XL would be a better choice -- they're both way cheaper, have dedicated controls for gaming, and have large libraries of purpose-built games. But I'm just not interested in more devices, especially ones I'd have to remember to charge and bring with me. I already have a smartphone, several desktops, two laptops, a Ki…

Some renew your office subscription and get you excel updates etc for another year, and cost like 20-30$ more than just the office subscription itself.

Re: Where have all the iOS games gone?

#160

Post by gcb0 »

cageface wrote: post #118
themartorana wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Milked" is seriously loaded. AAA console games cost $60 and up - do you know how hard it is to get a paying freemium user to even $10? Yes. There are people that spend thousands. They also spend thousands on $60 AAA games as well. The idea that players get "fleeced" is ridiculous. Spent $15 on Candy Crush, a game that you spent months playing? That really doesn't seem like a lot to me. Edit: I should acknowledge tha…

I'm happy to pay $15 or even $60 for a game I really enjoy and play for more than a few hours. I'm not willing to pay to win though, which is what most of the top grossing mobile games require.

I paid a ton of games. the one that got closer to being a game i can actually play for more than a week was FTL. but then playing on the phone/tablet is pure hell on higher difficulties (which is required to play it besides the very first week)

after years searching, i am back at an open source chess client. sadly they are trying to add their own in-house-chrome-cast instead of just improving multiplayer.

...think in the end i always pick the games that give me an excuse to code patches. sigh. I am a lost case.

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