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Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he built his own replacement

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Re: Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he built his own replacement

#51

Post by BoorishBears »

makapuf wrote: post #48
Mirioron wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That just means you'll go out of business then and the users will end up using a Chinese/Russian/other country (knockoff) instead with the same ads snuck in there. It costs a lot less to develop software in certain other countries.

You can justify any business with that kind of argument.

Justification doesn't exist in a vacuum, what you're justifying matters just as much, and showing ads from Microsoft is pretty low on the scale of evil things apps do for monetization.

Re: Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he built his own replacement

#52

Post by ta999999171 »

crooked-v wrote: post #44
DarknessFalls wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Television has been paying for programming through ads for decades now. Do you think that's not a 'real' business model? A good business model is one that makes someone 7 figures a year for cloning solitaire. It might not be the most enjoyable gaming experience, but if purity of solitaire is what you want, then there are plenty of paid alternatives.

A massive difference here is that TV ads don't come with ubiquitous invasions of privacy every time you see them, nor do they have a small but constant risk of malware infecting your TV.

Not familiar with Smart TVs then, eh?

Re: Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he built his own replacement

#53

Post by tjoff »

desc wrote: post #29

"People don't consider my games worth what I spent to make them, so I'll sneak in adverts too so I don't have to charge them more and pop their little bubble, so they can continue thinking games are this cheap because the sticker price is still low." No, this is not acceptable, and holding it up as a Good Thing that it's being perpetuated is stupid. Microsoft have seen the writing on the wall (because it's been there…

While I agree it is infuriatingly ironic that Microsoft does this themselves with Windows 10.

Re: Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he built his own replacement

#54

Post by friendlybus »

desc wrote: post #29

"People don't consider my games worth what I spent to make them, so I'll sneak in adverts too so I don't have to charge them more and pop their little bubble, so they can continue thinking games are this cheap because the sticker price is still low." No, this is not acceptable, and holding it up as a Good Thing that it's being perpetuated is stupid. Microsoft have seen the writing on the wall (because it's been there…

What people don't consider his games worth money? He offers them for free with ads and a lot of people happily accept. Were the marketplace rules changed to exclude all free games he may charge for his and people may buy them. I don't see a value judgement for the worth of his games here.

The f2p market will continue to slow [1] and this guy bought himself some time in his market. Good for him. A dead end story for the rest of us.

[1] https://www.deconstructoroffun.com/blog/four-reasons-why-the...

Re: Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he built his own replacement

#55

Post by mikekchar »

wtracy wrote: post #14
swiley wrote: post #3

Building a business that relies on a platform you can’t function without is irresponsible. It’s not just bad for you because of how fragile it makes your business but it’s also bad for everyone else because it normalizes it and makes building stable businesses harder.

What's the alternative for native mobile apps today? Roll your own smartphone OS? And yes, I'm deeply frustrated with Apple and Google for so forceably locking everyone into their walled gardens.

On Android there is, at least, Fdroid. All of the apps I use are from there. It's not a perfect solution, but it's definitely better than nothing.

Re: Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he built his own replacement

#56

Post by krajzeg »

notafraudster wrote: post #16
overcast wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, computers, phones, internet, electricity? I agree to an extent, but there comes a time rolling your own is nonsensical.

Sure, but when you start building your business you'll probably do some kind of risk analysis and the risk that electricity is no longer available is catastrophic but unlikely, while the risk that Microsoft discontinues a struggling in-app ads system they built as part of their largely failed UWP initiative that they've been signalling backing away from for the last four or five years is both catastrophic and obvious…

A risk existing is not a reason to not start a business - nobody would start one if that was the case.

The risks taken by this solitaire company seem to have worked out. They got to earn solid revenue for several years and even with MS backing away from their ad platform, they are evidently not without other options.

Re: Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he built his own replacement

#57

Post by BlueTemplar »

wtracy wrote: post #23
BlueTemplar wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what are you going to do about it? I'm researching Google-free LineageOS and checking out Librem's smartphone...

If you think there's ever going to be enough people flashing their phones with custom ROMs to support an industry of consumer software developers, I think you're going to be very disappointed. Now, if we could get some major carriers and/or retailers backing Librem, that could be interesting. I'm not holding my breath, though.

Yeah, mostly the second. Though it doesn't stand much of a chance until something (more serious) is done about the GAFAM...

Re: Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he built his own replacement

#58

Post by DanBC »

crooked-v wrote: post #44
DarknessFalls wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Television has been paying for programming through ads for decades now. Do you think that's not a 'real' business model? A good business model is one that makes someone 7 figures a year for cloning solitaire. It might not be the most enjoyable gaming experience, but if purity of solitaire is what you want, then there are plenty of paid alternatives.

A massive difference here is that TV ads don't come with ubiquitous invasions of privacy every time you see them, nor do they have a small but constant risk of malware infecting your TV.

But as tv moves away from broadcast signals to VOD services that's going to change. See for an early example 4OD in the UK: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/04/28/behind-all-4s-new-pe...

> Channel 4 earlier this week unveiled a new video on demand advertising package allowing brands to directly address viewers - in practise this meant first adopters 20th Century Fox, Foster' and Ronseal, could grab the attention of by literally calling out their names in their creative.

Re: Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he built his own replacement

#59

Post by scarface74 »

kaetemi wrote: post #46
DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not us I’m worried about - I remember getting software for my PocketPC in *.cab form from PocketGear.com some 18-19 years ago (wow...) The problem is everyone else: the non-experts. People pay Apple and Google (indirectly) to curate and moderate their respective app-stores. Remember how about 10-7 years ago the web was covered in ads for various DVD/video/movie conversion software? A small number of companies se…

Now it's ads for thin cloud service wrappers around ffmpeg and ImageMagick.

Maybe, but the app can’t install malware outside of its sandbox, access my contacts, location, or any files. Unless it does something like play a silent audio track, I can disable it from running in the background, keep it from accessing cellular data, etc.

Re: Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he built his own replacement

#60

Post by dwild »

crooked-v wrote: post #44
DarknessFalls wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Television has been paying for programming through ads for decades now. Do you think that's not a 'real' business model? A good business model is one that makes someone 7 figures a year for cloning solitaire. It might not be the most enjoyable gaming experience, but if purity of solitaire is what you want, then there are plenty of paid alternatives.

A massive difference here is that TV ads don't come with ubiquitous invasions of privacy every time you see them, nor do they have a small but constant risk of malware infecting your TV.

> nor do they have a small but constant risk of malware infecting your TV.

The same goes for anything that you install / access on your devices, yet we aren't talking about removing theses capacities and I sure hope so that you won't argue that.

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