IOS development Disappointment (where have the good games gone?)

The reality with this market is that it's been pulled down towards $0.99 purchases. So, mostly bite sized snacks instead of full meals. "Premium" titles exist, but aren't the main focus.

I'm not complaining, personally. I'm overloaded with a backlog of titles to play.

 

I'm almost offended by this post in so many ways. I've been a gamer for (gulp) 30 years or so, and from my perspective I'd say right now is one of the most exciting, brightest times in history to be engaged with this hobby. Particularly on this platform.

Anyone who says otherwise is A. expecting much more in the way of multi-million-dollar produced efforts the likes of PS3 and Xbox 360, or B. completely gaming with blinders on and not paying any attention at all to who is developing what in the mobile scene.

I apologize if I sound a little harsh, but some people are really spoiled - I don't get it! This might be due to the extreme oversaturation of product on the market, along with the general increase in ADD of society (and gamers specifically). Everything is so disposable, we pick things up and fiddle with them for 3 minutes before putting it aside to move onto the next thing. How in the heck would one expect to get a whiff of substance in such a way..

If you're really jaded, maybe you should spend less time scanning headlines and more time digging through what's already there instead of waiting for someone to hold your hand and "show you what's good," you might be pleasantly surprised with what you find

 

Well-said headcaseGames.

 

Hi there. I'm an indie iOS developer and I have to say that you need to be realistic about your expectations. As Ghouls'R'us said, the average price-point for iOS games is around $0.99 and thats only going to get you so much content and polish. The more time you sink into a project, the less likely you are going to see a return unless it manages to stick fairly high in the charts. If you want premium content, then pay premium prices. It seems pretty arrogant to expect PS3 quality from an iOS game that costs a few dollars or less.

That said, developers are willing and able to provide the kinds of experiences you're talking about, but the app store ecosystem simply doesn't support that kind of business model. Almost all of the top grossing apps are freemium games with very little actual content or gameplay, and almost all the top paid games are quick casual pick up and play games, like Angry Birds or Cut the Rope.

 

Disagree, the trend will continue to be 99c/"freemium" as the casual style will continue to dominate on mobile devices. You'll see a few higher production value games, but so many devs have been burned killing themselves (time and money with no return) that you will have to wait to see what the bigger studios are willing to do. EA and Gameloft clearly want to "own" the space in that regard, and in some ways I feel like it is only a matter of time until they will.

In a way it's really up to them how things will play out, and what kind of support the bigger/"traditional" studios will still give to the dedicated handhelds (3DS & Vita). If they can continue to make money over there (on higher-production titles carrying higher pricetags), then I think we will still see a lot of smaller, indie (and indie-style) productions ruling mobile for quite some time. If profits on those handhelds dry up, then there'll probably be a bigger push over here.. and I suspect software prices *may* increase significantly as well. It's just too early to be able to predict..

 

i highly doubt that.. higher prices and more depth? i think free to play will play an alot bigger role than nowerdays especialy on casual platform that tought people to expect the world for 99 cents and that the next free sales is just around the next bend..

that means more shallow stuff designed to sneakily fish out the dollars out of your pocket..

people still don't realise that alot of devices does not automatically mean big revenues for everyone..

some of the big console blockbusters sales put together (a few single titles!) earn more money than the hole appstore with everything it has to offer..

in the end you are expecting core games on a casual platform.. a niche in a niche..

and i don't want to even get startet on the developer situation.. i doubt there more than a handfull of devs who are even possible to bringt an "deep" game to the platform.

 

It's fairly foolish for a small dev to attempt to create a real "deep" game, AAA, call it what you want. People may not realize, but it simply requires a ton of time and money to develop even what is a middle-of-the-road "decent quality" 3DS or PSP game. When you are considering higher quality/depth than that, it becomes much more so. Ultimately, marketing becomes very important (and that could cost as much, if not more, than paying for the actual development itself!) Most small developers simply can't afford the risks to compete in that realm, no one wants to take out a mortgage on their house to make a cool FPS game which no one might buy anyway :/

It's not fair to compare to games like Infinity Blade either, as that was developed by a large company (I believe it started life as an Xbox Kinect title and cost over a million dollars to make)

I return to my original point, there is plenty going on in this scene if you know where to look and what to expect. Bite-sized, arcade-action, casual experiences may populate the land, but that doesn't mean they still can't look great and provide plenty of play value. If that doesn't suit you as a gamer, at least there are plenty of other options (but you will have to pay more than pennies for it).

EDIT: I'll point to this as another reason why many devs don't want to bring "bigger production" games to a mobile device (high-production value game, publisher charges $8, 80% of players using cracked software, so pathetic)

 

Yes, only one can be right. Unfortunately for you, that person is not you.

I originally thought this thread was going to focus on the games coming out over the last month, with which I would agree. August was pretty terrible for releases up until the last Thursday. But to say that no good games are coming out? Take Forever Drive, Junk Jack, Bike Baron, three of many great upcoming titles. They might not be your cup of tea, but they indoubtedly show that this indie business is far from finished.

 

I gotta agree with most of the posters here:
The focus will not be on AAA titles with amazing graphics for iOS platforms. It's simply not what the big chung of the target audience wants from this medium (or pay for). It's about social games and games that you can play fast, with fast rewards, fun and little time commitment. Of course there will be the odd niche of people who enjoy

I think the problem here lies not with the game that came out or will come out but with the fact that iOS doesn't seem the right medium to play games on for you No offense intended but different platforms have different target audiences and expectations for the main groups.

 

I think there is a 3rd way.

iOS and mobile gaming will keep being a place for indie games.
Free to play will be more and more present, prices in average will not rise.

However, I'm convinced there will be more and more AAA games on iOS, should they be freemium or premium with a high price (5 to 9$). I can tell you all the EAs and Ubisoft and Activision have seen infinity blade and are all excited about doing the same kind of thing. Or Smurf's village even more.

The thing is, for sure, you can't come here and say "hey indie dev, you're earning 200$ for 6 months of work, but I don't care, just hire a team of 10 graphist and make a big AAA you lazy bi*tch" .

There are big AAA on iOS, but not 10 a week like other games. Because it takes longer to make. A game on console takes 4 years. A big AAA on ios takes one year....

And still, on iOS, you can play a title like tiny wings which is a jewel and is totally indie.

 

It is a casual jewel, not a gamer jewel (ar at least no my game style), it looks nice but is braindead in the inside.

 

I think there is room for both. The platform has such a wide user base that it can accommodate both casual and hardcore games. Developers will cater to both when the demand is there. Right now casual games rule the market, but when more AAA titles hit the virtual shelf and show that they can be profitable, other developers will follow.

There is room to grow and change, game development is at an exciting time right now. Indie developers can finally find success again without having to find publishers or large amounts of funding. Small games on iOS, XBox live and PSN have been some of my favorite over the last few years. I think we will see developers making games that rival the handheld's and even consoles over the years. Maybe not on all fronts, but for gameplay and innovation, this is the place to be.

 

when i read high price and a # below 10$ you see whats wrong with the market and why it does not attract the big boys..

epic is in the game to push their engine.. the money made with infinity blade is tiny compared what thoose casual "brandead" games make..
and that with one of the most popular developers behind it , powering it..

it came earned some money and then dissapeared in the sea of casual competition..

its obvious that the big boys did not jump on the iOS bandwagon as fast as they could especialy because the market situation..

and if one beleives in analytics the prices come down even more due to free to play games rather than increase..

infinity blade 2 will be out 12.1.11 and you will see the same thing, fast rise in rank and fast fall in rank.. maybe if some "higher" (lol at this term used for a few dollars) tier games stay in the charts for long, this might change something but the platform has no real blockbuster title.. a title that would actualy turn people into buying the hardware to play this one game..

the major consoles have thoose and they are the flagships who sail in the front and are the iconic games of the platform.. something the still young mobile platform lacks.. (for core users of course).. we have angry birds

 

More and more of the larger established studios are jumping aboard the mobile train. The growth in smart phones makes it a certainty. Look at Disney with its "Where's my water?" game. Polished and professional. These guys looked at Angry Birds & Cut the Rope and saw that they could easily pull off the character and polish.

Also, it's becoming clear that freemium can earn significantly more than the $1/seat asking price of old. This means that larger studios can take bigger risks and increase their budgets for mobile titles.

So I think times are only going to get tougher for indies, and we will start seeing more AAA development on mobile. Doubly hard because they can throw huge sales with their extensive games catalogs and squeeze the small guys out.

 

Honestly it is very hard to say "mobile will go all AAA" vs "All the big studios will steer clear of the mobile scene." Every 6 months it sways a bit back and forth. THQ came out with guns blazing (anyone who remembers, decades ago, handheld games were their bread and butter) into the new mobile scene and they've since backed-off bigtime. EA is often making major plays (buy Chillingo, buy Firemint, buy..uhhrr... Popcap) and releasing plenty of product on mobile, but not so much that it is absolutely dominating the charts year-round. They seem to have dedicated 2D development divisions pop-up and close down fairly regularly (I exaggerate, but you know). Activision is sitting tight with their arms folded, keeping busy with several other matters.

As the larger gaming industry is quite top-heavy and "trying to figure itself out" as usual, especially in this beat-to-hell economy, I don't think it's a safe bet that any of them are going to make mega-strides to completely dominate this scene for some time, in spite of what I might have said last year (or the year prior to that). It just doesn't make fiscal sense for them, and really they can just let all the smaller devs fight it out amongst themselves and build up into "little big companies' and then just fork over a buttload of cash to get all their knowledgebase/manpower when the time is right. In case anyone's paying attention, the larger mobile scene is still a lopsided mess right now (iOS, Android, WP7, whatever else possibly worth naming). It's all big business and making lots of money, but this splinter of the industry is still so young - and mutating - that these bigger companies will have a hard time sensibly putting down anchor in it (with real dedicated support beyond what you're already seeing) for some time yet.

It will definitely change, but for now, this is what it is (and that is no bad thing, for anyone. Well, most anyone)

 

as if the game was developed by some mysterious disney team that jumped onto iOS with their debut game.. the description even says its from the devs of jelly car.. so when did a publishing deal become a heavyweight entry into creating triple A games?

the sme with EA, they have no knowledge of the market so they just buy their way in.. they don't make up an internal team and enter the market they just spend money and voila there in.. if that means the big ones entering with triple a titles then i have a different view of what an triple a title is.. and that definatly not an casual game..

the biggest stopper for the big boys out there and mobil platform is still the lousy money they can earn in comparsion to what their extensive triple aaa portfolios earns them..
so the easiest way is to buy themself into the market.. but not carying about it.. you think ea will start to produce tripple aaa titles instead of slapping their big brands onto mediocre versions for mobile?
why should they if they can earn alot more money on consoles.

i highly doubt you will ever see an gears of war, skyrim or rage like experience developer for mobile platforms in a very long time if ever..

there is a reason why "core" games do not work on the wii for example, sell lousy even if the quality is there.. it does not help a product if there is no audience..

producting high quality tripleaa titles takes alot of time.. 2-3 years is pretty common and that usualy happens on platforms who are more steady in their hardware cycles than the mobile phone market which changes at an alot faster pace..

actualy faster than any other platform.. even the fast cycles of the pc slowed down dramatically since multi platform developement focuses more onto the slower hardware of consoles , so you don't need the biggest baddest rig anymore to play the next big game on pc..

so what do you expect from the big ones that they start to develope console quality games that push the boundaries on a platform that changes at least every year in a big way? investing huge amounts of money into an unsure future? i doubt that.. smaller titles and short developement cycles is the only way to make sense on a platform that moves so fast.. else you end up with a product thats outdated by the time it gets released.. and that means it won't be able to compete.. because depth is not the focus of the big audience and thoose are needed to sustain big sales that will cover the cost and make enough revenue to satisfy thoose numbers pushers up there..

if i recall right infinity blade generated around 20mil revenue so faar..
which sounds like alot to individuals here on the board but the numbers is pretty uninteresting if they can generate a multitiude more revenue with lousy map packs for hip shooters..

there is a reason why you don't see a rush of new triple aaa titles developed for mobile phones

and of course the general quality of the titles are being raised every day and competition gets harder.. but surely not because gta 5 will be released exclusivly on iOS and sucks dry the hole monetary power of the customers like read dead redemption did last christmas with their competition.

cheers

 

I could be wrong, but Disney acquired the Jelly Cars property outright and brought the dev under its wings. A natural fit considering their merchandising success with the Cars movie. Also, you have to admit that the art style is a huge leap forward for the Jelly Cars developer, perhaps with a touch of Disney animation in there.

Because mobile is starting to encroach on consoles' territory. Each yearly iteration of the iPhone brings it that much closer to matching or eclipsing the console's power. And you can't argue with the numbers: way more smart phones are being purchased than consoles around the world. And while early on, EA and others merely slapped their label on shoddy ports, the trend is towards AAA. Look at Dead Space. If they can't keep up with that level of quality, then other devs will happily eat their lunch.

There are three clear ways forward: 1) Sell lots of casual $.99 games. 2) People seem ready to pay more for AAA quality--witness Infinity Blade, also Square Enix titles. Not exactly a true AAA budget, but at the moment, they're the studios with the deep pockets. 3) Then there's freemium which is apparently a goldmine. Numbers 2 and 3 can support larger studios with big budgets. And when the market is large enough, even number 1 starts to look juicy for a bigger studio. And since the mobile market is catching up to consoles in terms of performance (see iPad2), it reduces risk to port that game to mobile at the same time as the console/PC builds. Sure they may outsource it, but it won't be long before you start seeing mobile and tablets versions released alongside their PC and console counterparts.

You may yet eat those words. Mad Finger showed that graphically, it can be in the ballpark (for a mobile device). If anything, the barrier to entry keeps dropping. The big engines are practically free (at least to develop): Unreal, Unity. You need to look as good as Shadowgun or Infinity Blade today if you are even thinking about a first- or third-person shooter and want to get press.

The Wii's audience was not the hardcore gamer, and its last generation hardware sealed its fate.

Right, and the benefit to mobile is digital distribution which means you don't have to have 100% of the game in before launch. You have to plan for a long update cycle, but you can release episodic content to spread out the development costs.

This is true for cross platform, but for PC-centric games and MMOs, the trend is towards requiring bigger rigs for all the lush graphics.

Sure, if you use the old ways of console development, it's very risky. But those studios have to adapt to the mobile market. That means creating a AAA experience but with never-ending bite-sized content. And they're also reducing their risk by buying up established mobile studios.

But consider that they spent far less than that to develop it, and you have an amazing rate of return. Also the growth of the mobile market means those types of results will skew upward for a successful title.

Not yet, but it will happen sooner than later I predict.

As they say, "It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future." But it's fun to throw out conjectures.