What Platform Should We Be Developing For

Half way 2014, App store is so full of crap the chances of getting scene are as likely as winning the lottery, Android umm, not sure.

Ouya looks promising, but is anyone making a money.

Just wondered what peoples thoughts were.

As far as I heard, a lot of people here seems to think that actually the app store is a good way to make money, I do not know about recognition though.

The playstore seems more filled with two versions for each app, one free but advertised, and the other paid but not advertised. Some people seems to also get some good results.

The PC and Mac route is also a good way, that can be really rewarding if done well, but of course pc games expectations are much higher than phone games expectations.

As for the web platform, the chrome web store is not a good way to make money, I do not know about the firefox marketplace. But it seems people don t think a .html can nor should be bought (mostly due to clichés, but that is not the point), it is however possible to sell html5 games to publishers for a good price depending on the licensing, but of course recognition wise, it is not that great.

I think ArcadEd was doing a mobile monetising course, maybe he could be of help.

Aww. I just started a game actually planned to pitch for android google playstore. I thought it can be a good way to make money. Game designing is not my profession, it is my passion but I am planning to adapt this seriously pretty soon. As I am not very strong in programming, I expect my output would be decent with good graphics.

Anyways........ Is there anybody earning from app or play store. How much. Share some confidence.

I dont want to pay for app and play store fees right now/for my first "real" project so I decided to publish it for PC/MAC/Linux first.

The advantages are:

• No fees for selling it in your store (or others like Humble)
• PC has much more Power than mobiles and you you can use more effects/objects and/or don't need to manage every byte and pixel to get it as small as possible (but its good to do this on PC as well!)

So for beginners its a bit easier and cheaper to get a working game out on desktops, right?

(as long as your game does not require touch or rotating your device as main gameplay element)

The Apple appstore is the best chance to make some $. But you must have a good product first

Have not got to the point where I'm selling anything, but I intend to try to put my stuff on Google Play and maybe Apple store. I think that as with anything you are trying to sell, marketing/advertising is going to have more to do with your success than which distribution service you put it on. I intend to go to the places (forums and such) that my target audience hangs out in and tactfully show it off to try to get a little buzz going on it. Couple that with reasonable prices and being sure to be responsive to customers and potential customers and I would expect it may get some traction. Last and probably best, make sure the product is awesome! Word gets around, good and bad.

pixeldotgames

I asked the same question in late 2009 ....

My actual experience was very different from when everyone told me.

Instead of just one app, I developed 10 (6 iPad, 4 iPhone) and four years later, they are still in iTunes and still selling although, now the sales are very small but steady (I track sales and a ton of other data with Prismo).

So far, I had close to 60000 downloads (all 10 apps combined) and I expect that the new series of Little Composers educational apps will do much better because back then, I just got started.

If you are serious about what you do, establish a name. A brand (so to speak) and develop under that name.

If (another "if") you can afford it, copyright each app and trademark your brand! Copyrights are cheap (I have six and each was $50 Canadian). Trademarks are a different story (I have one pending and am about to file two more). You can get one for a little under $1000 (depending on how many classes you file for and assuming you are in the USA).

Speaking of the good old USA.

82% of all my sales came and are still coming from the US followed by the EU, Great Britain and Australia. The rest is all over the globe.

iTunes can be a good way to supplement your income but don't expect to hit it big with your first app.

Those days, are over.

I think that hitting ALL the app stores and catering to all platforms should make it worth your time.