iGames Summit addresses growth of iPhone gaming

20.03.2009
When the iPhone was first announced, few people would have anticipated the waves the device would make in the gaming community. Now, only a few days before San Francisco's Game Developers Conference, a separate addressed the growing popularity of the iPhone gaming platform.

At the University of California San Francisco's Mission Bay Conference Center an assembled crowd of journalists and game developers took part in a keynote panel discussion consisting of veteran iPhone game developers Steve Demeter (CEO, Demiforce LLC), Andrew Lacy (COO, Tapulous), Keith Lee (CEO and Co-Founder, Booyah) and (CEO and Founder, ngmoco). Each person on the panel comes with a unique pedigree and perspective on the mobile device's future. From big developers with a wealth of titles and employees to independent developers with small staffs that have garnered viral success -- the panel was notably diverse in its spectrum of backgrounds.

How do we make money?

The first major discussion topic was regarding the monetization of iPhone games. Neil Young sees a real push to commoditization and pushing your game's price down to US$1. The App Store's Top 25 list is part of the reason why. The App Store ranks the Top 25 by unit sales, rather than retail sales. Games that cost more and the developers that make them are often left out of the exclusive list.

This presents some problems for developers of higher-end games and Andrew Lacy admits that it would be difficult for Tapulous to justify making a $1 game. In contrast, Keith Lee would like to see Booyah make free game and instead charge for in-game transactions. This latter idea has gained a lot of traction with developers and many see it as the wave of the future. Gamers will get hooked on the initial gameplay and then those who would like a fuller experience can purchase items and new features.

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