I was just wondering what you guys think about the future of app market sales for indie devs. After reading some current discussions about it, what these two people said made me think that I may be too late to take advantage of the market.
“As phones get more powerful big firms are going to muscle in and shut out the small guys. Make hay while you can!”
“The mobile games market is a growth area, it’s already has been divided. I don’t believe that anyone other than the big players can take it from now on, therefore we’ll see less and less of the micro devs’ unusual games.”
It’s obvious that the game big company’s top the charts now, and as even more of them flood the market, will there be any chance left for us small timers to actually have some hope at making a good income?
I mean, a lot of us are probably 6 months to a year from releasing, what will it be like then? If we have a really great game, a decent marketing strategy, won’t the competition be so much greater and harder for us? It’s just kind of unfortunate some of us have a bit of a late start, or trying once again.
I’m curious to see if you guys think the opportunity throughout the next year will still be the same as it was and is now, if you did have an amazing game but no big name company to back you.
Hmm, thinking about it, I guess you’re right. I’m going to call it quits. You guys should all go home too. Can the last one to leave turn off the lights in the office? It was fun whilst it lasted but now it is time to go get a real job flipping burgers down at the local McD’s.
You know, you’re only as big as the ideas you have. I can tell you from personal experience, just because a large dev company has resources that you could only dream of, doesn’t mean only they will succeed.
After all, regardless of the technology or money or time that you invest in a project, if the idea/concept is crap, the game won’t sell. And that’s that.
The film industry proves this. Blair Witch Project Versus Dances With Wolves. (I rest my case).
But I don’t mind you all giving up, just gives me more space to advertise in
Yes, I believe there is still hope. Sure, the competition is very stiff now with more developers and companies joining the market but it really comes down to efficiency and originality.
What do I mean by that? While we may not have all the resources available to us that a large company might have, companies that invest in a large project that requires more than 10 people are taking a huge risk when developing for the mobile market where customers expect a decent game for a dollar these days.
Imagine when they have 10 experienced developers (artists, programmers, designers) on the payroll and they have to sell the game around priced anywhere from one to five dollars. Let’s say each person on the team only makes $25000 a year and it takes a year to produce it. That’s like 300,000 copies priced at one dollar you will need to sell before you break even (remember, apple takes 30%). While they could price it higher, they also risk selling less copies. It’s a risk that can ruin a company.
I remember awhile back when Epic announced that Infinity Blade sold a million copies, even at $7 bucks a pop, I still wondered if they broke even on that project.
While I do believe there is hope, most developers (including the big companies) will not do well as in any market. The spoils will go to the best.
I’m fighting because I have graphical muscle to compete with the big boys. If you don’t then you had better think carefully about the style of game you make. It’s never been more true than now that the indie has to think “stylised and low cost” and low development time.
So FPS/MMO/Ambitious titles - just no. You won’t even get close to the media requirements no matter how good you think you are. Because of time. If you do pick an ambitious genre, then do think of an easier graphics and sound option, or stick with 2-3 man teams (for an indie).
The appstore is about top quality now, quality will have a way to out and get seen, but that is something an indie has to approach with smarts. If you aren’t doing it for money but pleasure, by all means do what you’re doing.
But you need to raise the bar, what else can you do? Fight.
I learned long ago that all business is an eco system. If you adapt, you survive, if you don’t, you die.
The main tenet of my company, Infinite Monkey Factory, that I try to instill in new hires is “Evolve or die.” Our job today will not be our job tomorrow. Game developer did not exist three decades ago. Web development did not exist 15 years ago. iPhone developer did not exist five years ago.
Keep moving forward, keep looking for new opportunities, adapt when necessary, throw out what isn’t working or has become obsolete. No point in keeping a fifteen year old laptop around, no point in keeping a fifteen year old business plan around.
Find a niche, exploit it, move on when it becomes untenable.
I have done enough to not want to give up, it’s just that I realize I’m about a year off from a finished polished game worthy to compete, and just wanted to know if it’s still going to be a market that anyone can profit greatly from as certain (lucky? no such thing!) individuals have in the past. As of now we have to rethink the whole marketing strategy which will effect the game, for example-
I will probably have to release a free version, and only unlock a certain part of the game, then have a paid full version, or just a completely free game with an in game store selling virtual currency / items.
Or just simply a high volume of free downloads with adds only.
It’s just going to be so hard for an indie paid game to make it to the top charts to get the numbers we need in the future, or even now.
But I’m certainly not defeated, especially when you can easily gain inspiration by browsing the app store and looking at certain specific games which you know you can make easily, but yet earn a huge profit.
Something you have to realize is that the app store made game development a gold rush for a time, but things have evened out now. There are still successful indies that make PC games, and that market was saturated a long time ago. If you are hoping to make a million dollars, then game development is simply not for you. If you hope to break even doing what you love to do, then you have a good shot at that success, and your in the right place. In my opinion, there has never been a better time to be an indie game developer.
I sure hope so. I’m trying to break into the industry now, having just released my first game. We’ll see how that goes. I would love nothing more than to be able to make a decent living making video games, but I won’t lie. The fact that there are so many huge companies in the top charts really does scare me.
I generally don’t like using quotes but since it is relevant here, I have to say “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
Bigger companies have a huge financial overhead and having to compete with small indie teams or even one man teams is a scarier thought for them, whether some of the big guys know it or not.
The industry is changing. The fact that you’re developing on your own now through Unity is proof of that.
Your game will stand or fall based on your marketing efforts. There is nothing really special or unique about Popcap’s games. They are polished and technically well done, but anybody can achieve that. They sell strong because they are everywhere and everyone knows about them. Games, books, movies, TV shows, restaurants, potato chips, soft drinks, programmers, artists, musicians, are a success because they are marketed and because the person behind the endeavour persevered.
I believe due to the limited processing power/screen size of mobile devices, indie will always have a large presence.
Desktop gaming income is domintated by AAA, but that is because people want to sit in their comfy chairs in front of 27" screens and witness gaming in all their glory (which in most cases can only be developed by AAA budgets).
But mobile is definately more casual, and people often play games to kill time and are looking more for simple, fun adddictive ideas to keep them occupied than go all out. So in the mobile space, I think indie will always have a large space, sure the competition is getting fiercer, but at the end of the day success in this game segment will come down to great ideas that have been well executed.
Well, regardless, I never intended to stop developing games. I suppose I just need more experience to be able to provide a professional-grade experience with low development time/budget.
at least try.