Indie iPhone Games Not Profitable?

[Virtuoso]

The success of the App store is one lauded by both large and small developers alike, but the Escapist takes a closer look at the profitability that these ventures really offer (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90154-Indie-iPhone-Games-Not-So-Profitable).

Dapple, developed by one-man studio Streaming Colour, at first appears to be your standard color-matching game a la Bejeweled. However, Dapple's twist on the genre - using paint to mix colors - resulted in the game being rather well-received by critics. It was simple, it was a fresh twist on an old classic, and it was cheap at only $4.99 on the iPhone App Store. Sounds like the recipe for success, right?

Not quite. In a post on his blog, Dapple creator Owen Goss discussed the raw numbers: He had developed the game on a budget of $32,000 dollars, including general business expenses, paying contractors, and also, y'know, paying himself a small salary so that he could live for the six months he was developing the game. At $5 a download - with Apple taking 30% of that - he was earning $3.50 every time someone bought the game. With exchange rates, Goss would have to sell 9,150 copies of Dapple in the U.S. before he broke even. At last count, despite favorable reviews across the board, Goss' return on investment was $535.19. Ouch.

It's no secret that indie game development is rough. For every World of Goo or Audiosurf, you have a game like Dapple that slips under the radar. Let's look at this, though - critically acclaimed or not, Dapple is at heart a match-3 game.

I don't know how well this example generalizes to most iPhone games.

[BlueBomber]

iFart.

Nuff' said.

[drakkarim]

32k for a one man operation and all he could come up with is a copy of bejeweled? and he's crying that people are tired of buying the same game over and over again and not supporting him or something?

in the roughly quoted words/voice of Nicholson "well laddyfricking da!" cry me a river for thinking you're first in line at the iphone gold rush and can't manage expenses.

go get your fracking starbucks frackacinno and stand in the unemployment line, or come up with something original for a change.

[Justin_Bailey]

The math works out to 153 copies sold. That doesn't sound right.

Someone's cooking the books somewhere.

[Sootydog]

This is the problem with too many games all being thrown out the back of the van at once. Apple constantly crows about the sheer number of games available on its app store, comparing it favourably with the DS. But if every day there are 50 more games to choose from, why would anyone even bother?
With a DS you have a more predictable release schedule, you know when games are coming up, you get to read previews, reviews, you have a pretty good idea that when you walk into a store to spend however much the game costs, that you'll get hours of enjoyment out of it.
The app store is more like walking into a $2 shop and picking up a lucky dip wrapped in newspaper that might be cool, who knows?

[Rirath]

The math works out to 153 copies sold. That doesn't sound right.

I really wouldn't be surprised. There's a lot of stuff on the app store, and nobody thinks these games are anywhere near as special as the developer himself and the critics who get them for free.

I can't feel sorry for this guy, honestly. He spends $32K on a small game, pays himself a salary, and is surprised when he doesn't make the money back. All these devs paying themselves before they even turn a profit couldn't be a more classic example of counting your chickens before they hatch.

[funtownarcade]

Since when is 4.99 cheap for an iphone game!?

[Metal Jesus]

There are way too many low quality iPhone games cluttering up the App Store... It's hard to find those rare gems actually worth your money.

[K0LM]

Since when is 4.99 cheap for an iphone game!?

Exactly! I have an iphone and I rarely buy apps that are more then 99 Cents. It has to be something special for me to spend more then that and this game sounds like it was not that special.

[biosc1]

Exactly! I have an iphone and I rarely buy apps that are more then 99 Cents. It has to be something special for me to spend more then that and this game sounds like it was not that special.

Exactly it. He's too much of a developer and not enough of a marketer. Drop the price to $0.99 for at least a few weeks "on sale". This may get people to pick it up who balked at $4.99. The more people that pick it up, the more word of mouth, etc...then raise the price to $2.99 when you actually sold some copies or keep it at $0.99. I bet he could sell way more copies at a $1 a piece than at $5.

At worst, he'll break even, but produce good word of mouth that he can monetize with his next development.

[biosc1]

Edit:

Well, lo and behold, just looked it up. It's on sale for $2.99 right now. No demo though, but at least it's the correct thinking.

[bobmitch]

A simple, but polished, bejeweled clone can be knocked up in about two months of spare time - at around maybe 2hrs per day. This includes gfx, audio, testing, as well as coding.
6 months is just *nuts* for a full time developer.
For every 'bedroom coder makes thousand$' story about the app store, there are thousands of 'bedroom coder sweats for weeks over game/app nobody cares about'.
It's a way of making money from a hobby - a perk. Making a business model using this distribution method is not for amateurs.

[Rirath]

It's a way of making money from a hobby - a perk. Making a business model using this distribution method is not for amateurs.

Exactly. I wish more people understood this.

[Redline]

Just curious: How many people on this thread have actually programmed a game, let alone release one on the App store? Just curious, please give links and examples of your work.

[BloodPack]

For anyone needing a site to help find the "Gems" of the app store, check out www.slidetoplay.com its got reviews of a ton of iphone games, its a simple review system that suits iphone games well, new reviews almost everyday.