Mobile platforms losing their lustre while eShop holds promise – Image & Form
While once they seemed like the holy grail for game developers, mobile platforms like Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android have become such a popular destination for games that it’s incredibly hard to make a single title stand out.
At least one development team has decided to give the 3DS a chance, hoping that it’s less crowded eShop will allow games to get noticed.
You may recognise the name Image & Form, as their latest game SteamWorld Dig has had quite a lot of buzz around it recently. While they have released a game on the DSi eShop in the past, they moved to the iOS platform for later titles.
In an interview with Gamer’s Thumb, Image & Form CEO Brjann Sigurgeirsson summed up the issue by saying “there’s an enormous installed user base for iOS and Android. But there are also a lot more games coming out on mobile the whole time.”
“Last fall, there were some 235,000 active publishers on the US App Store alone and around 300 app submissions per day. In a week, that means more than 2000 new apps and games.
“That’s just insane numbers, and it’s very tough to find your way to consumers.
“Very many of them don’t use their mobiles to play games, and prices have fallen through the floor. Literally, because most games coming out are free to play.
“Therefore, we decided to stand back for a moment and see how the other platforms were doing. And the 3DS became an obvious contender: there are more than 30 million units sold, sales of both units and games are increasing, it’s a gamer-centered platform, and the ocean is definitely blue. Plus the fact that SteamWorld Dig fits the unit like a glove. “
You can find our review of SteamWorld Dig here, and judging by our impressions, we hope that Image & Form stick around on the 3DS for a long time.
Do you think this could be the start of a new trend? Let us know in the comments!
This is the general consensus I’m seeing from a lot of people. iOS/Android gaming is starting to feel stale due to a few reasons main reasons. The limitations of touch screen gaming has finally hit the end of it’s innovation for the most part, too many low grade and cheap games ruining the viability of high grade software to be produced and the fact that user base of these mobile devices are focusing on a target audience that isn’t interested in much more than quick/light time filler games and nothing more.
Indies complain that it is difficult to get a space on the main consoles but the limitations of the market places ,in terms of ease of acceptance, is leading to a much more selective and higher quality variety of software for the user base. If an indie has the time to learn a new somewhat alien software environment and deal with all the publishing and technical requirements to get on the store then you can be sure that they are determined and willing to put out a decent product. The lower entry level of the iOS/Android stores seems to be driving down quality as a whole and ultimately driving away quality developers.
I hope other developers are starting to see that the light and are trying to focus on more dedicated platforms than trying the dash for cash and for the most part failure.