Posted this in the IAP thread, but I feel it's worthy of its own thread. http://www.polygon.com/2014/5/9/5699058/free-to-play-mobile-candy-crush-the-room It's a fascinating in-depth read, really interesting to see the developer perspective on all this. I'm sure many of us here share similar opinions and feel the same frustration as gamers
Anyone read this? Something I found really interesting is this: Yeah 10 billion sounds less impressive when only a handful of games gross most of that and the rest of the market is only a small fraction. What other medium or game platform is so stagnant?
Hmmm, interesting stuff to think about. I feel like I've seen more really cool, premium price, experiential games in the last month or three. Stuff like Monument Valley and Kiwanuka. As much as I do enjoy games that keep on giving, I tend to end up deleting those in hatred at some point (with the glorious exception of Jetpack Joyride). But games like The Room, Sword & Sworcery, Monument Valley, Oceanhorn, etc. leave me with really good memories long after I've deleted them. But, I consider myself a gamer. I'm not actually sure what the mass of people want (assuming that matters; I think the article was saying it doesn't). Most of my friends balk at spending any money on games ever. They think I'm an idiot for spending as much money as I do on the App Store. I don't know. Other random thoughts. 1) I have no problem with games being less massive/shorter on mobile than on console. I mean, I'm paying $3 to $10 for a premium game here, not $30 to $60. 2) Are there enough gamers using mobile to break even on AAA projects? Seems like some devs get luckier than others. 3) I don't hate f2p or the Candy Crush monetization model necessarily. It's a decent matching game. If people want to spend, I don't really think it's abusive. But that gets into a Capitalism argument in general. Regulations, credit cards, mortgages, are people smart enough to realize they are spending money, blah blah blah. 4) Being a mobile game dev seems like a tricky life.
1) Absolutely correct, iOS entitlement needs a serious check. 2) There aren't enough gamers on the planet to support the wasted bloat of AAA development. 3) People have the responsibility to regulate themselves, any argument against is a waste. 4) Being a dev is a tricky life.
Adults should be capable of regulating themselves but if that were true there wouldn't be Achololics Anonymous, gambling addiction support groups and other addictions in life that require help to get under control. When you consider that many devs of freemium games employ psychologist to help tweak games to be as addictive as possible then I don't see how anyone could argue that responsibility fully falls on the consumer. It's easy to fall down the rabbithe of addiction and not even see it happen. But even with all that, not everyone buying iOS games is an adult. Kids are more succeptable to addiction and that is a big reason why pretty much all of the top freemium games are easily played by kids. Personally I think the current state of iOS gaming is a harmful mess. In many ways I wish IAP freemium games would become illegal as well as it being illegal to sell virtual in-game currency and other similar stuff.
