August 12, 2010 by Andre
Apple’s iPhone has created a surge of games development within the UK, a new report suggests. Tiga, the trade association, have discovered that British developers are all keen to capitalise on the popularity of the iPhone and its associated applications, so are seeking to create more virally-popular downloads for the device.
The mobile games market has been described by some industry experts as a ‘gold rush’. However, reports also suggest that tax issues are forcing a number of UK developers to move abroad to benefit from more lucrative pay deals.
Chris Byatte, from publishers Chillingo commented: “This is a golden era for games development. The carriers have been taken out of the equation by Apple, who make it really simple for people to get their titles into its App Store. Now, a bedroom programmer can get a number-one hit, competing against the likes to Electronic Arts. It’s very exciting.”
A spokesperson from Screen Digest cautioned against undue optimism about the recent popularity of games for the iPhone: “These good times will not last forever. At the moment, there is something of a gold rush and – over time – many of these firms are going to be weeded out. The opening of these channels and the development of direct channels to the consumer is making these markets considerably cheaper.”
“But, as the consumer expectation of games experience goes up and games become more refined, development costs will rise and it’s a safe bet that many of the games currently on the market won’t be financially successful. Adverts are a bonus for the games industry, but are very much a secondary business model. It’s nicely incremental and we expect it to grow, but it is not that significant at present.”
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