Game developer drops Android version

[thewayne]

He's a small operation, just him and his wife, and he says the problem is that the Android version of his game, Battleheart, accounts for 5% of their revenue but 20% of his support/development time.

Apparently his problem is common more among game developers than business app/utility developers. He's having to tweak shaders and installation programs to support the various graphics chips and such which aren't as much of an issue in other types of apps. This is something that I recognized a long time ago that would be an issue, and it epitomizes the difference in support between Windows and Mac operating systems. Windows lets anyone create hardware for their OS, Mac controls it tightly. Windows has an all but infinite array of hardware combinations they have to support, Mac much more finite.

Which is a better path to take? It really depends on your needs and which end of the board table you're on.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/12/03/10/mika.mobile.says.android.money.losing.platform/

http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/03/10/2226214/battleheart-developer-drops-android-as-unsustainable

Comments

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

There was something else that I meant to add to the post, but I couldn't find a cite. Google came out earlier this week saying that they were going to force all Android developers to switch their payment system to Google Wallet, away from PayPal and other third-party payment vendor systems. Regardless of what they say, they were probably jealous of the 30% slice that Apple takes from iOS developers and their in-app payments.

[silveradept]

On the OS diversity bit, well, eventually Microsoft got their act together and released things like DirectX, where you have a unified set of API calls that works regardless of the underlying hardware. Or there's OpenGL sorts of things - someone's got to have or is developing some sort of way of talking to Android that gets it right regardless of what's underneath. Having to spend thousands of dollars on various phones to see if your app always works is ridiculous.

On the uncited part about Google Wallet - well, unless they also said they were going to force everyone to offer their apps solely through the Android Market, then all the app prices go up by Google's cut and people start advertising the apps for cheaper from their own websites, since all you have to do is download it to your phone and install it then.