Android dominates the global market. During the first quarter of 2013, 75 percent of all mobile devices shipped across the world ran on Google's mobile OS. But despite those staggering figures, Android is still struggling to cultivate a leading presence in the ever-growing field of mobile games. Granted, there are plenty of great titles available on the platform, but lingering concerns over fragmented hardware, piracy, and reportedly low in-app profits keep some developers at bay.
Based on the sheer amount of Android devices out in the wild, it seems logical Google's mobile OS should also account for the lion's share of downloaded apps. And as a whole, Android does beat out Apple's iOS and other operating systems by a considerable pace. But looking a little deeper, there's a problem: Android users are spending less money on those apps. According to a recent report by research firm Canalys, Android users only accounted for 20 percent of all app revenue in the first quarter of 2013. Apple's iOS, on the other hand, was responsible for 74 percent.
Of course, those figures take into account more apps than just games. But the message is still abundantly clear to developers: iOS users appear to spend more money on apps. And in turn, the go-to moneymaker for many mobile game developers — the infamous in-app purchase — may seem a bit more attainable on Apple's platform.
Unfortunately, those sales numbers mean a disproportionate number of great mobile games are developed first and foremost for iOS devices. Game studios will many times release a title first on Apple's App Store, with a port finding its way to Google Play much later — if at all.
Steve Allison is the senior vice-president of publishing at Telltale Games, the studio behind last year's smash hit, The Walking Dead. A mobile version was released on iOS, but Walking Dead was never made available for Android. And Telltale's latest mobile game, Poker Night 2, is currently only available on Apple devices.
"[Apple] has a proven marketplace to directly sell to every connected user at the end of an iOS device, which means better predictability as a lead platform," Allison told IGN. "Android has made great strides with Google Play growing into the go-to marketplace for Android gamers, but it’s still an ecosystem of many stores and a little harder to know what to expect on a game-by-game basis."
The "ecosystem of many stores" grows into a much larger issue when developers take a look at the hardware running Android. A wide field of varying device specifications has long remained an achilles heel for PC game developers, as it's difficult to always know how the end-user has configured their rig. And in a similar sense, developing for Android offers a potentially frustrating challenge.
Image Source: OpenSignal
According to recent testing from OpenSignal, there could be as many as 4,000 different models of mobile devices running Android in the world. And within that staggeringly diverse hardware lineup, only a portion are capable of running higher-end games.
"The only thing that has kept Telltale from supporting the platform up to now is a critical mass of Android devices able to play our games in the market," adds Allison. "Most Android devices, those with the highest install base, are just not built to handle 3D gaming very efficiently."
Rami Ismail heads up business and development for Vambleer, creator of successful mobile titles like Ridiculous Fishing and Super Crate Box. While the studio is currently looking at ways to bring games to Android, none of the company's releases have found a home on the platform as of yet. Vlambeer doesn't see the vast array of Android devices as an ultimate hindrance, but it's clearly still a problem.
"Well, it obviously makes things more complex. It's not really an issue, more of a pain," Ismail told IGN. "We actually don't really focus on any platform, we just start working and see what happens. Luftrausers is going to be on PC, Mac, Linux, PS3, and Playstation Vita. Ridiculous Fishing was iOS; Super Crate Box is PC, Mac, and iOS; Radical Fishing is Flash--we just see whatever works."
Beyond concerns of non-compatible hardware and low revenue, game piracy still remains an elephant in the room for potential Android developers. A lot of the evidence is fairly anecdotal, but figures provided by developers like Butterscotch Shenanigans (via Slash Gear) paint a disturbing picture. The studio claims 95 percent of the Android version of its game Towelfight 2 are pirated. Comparatively, only 5 percent of iOS players lifted the game.
While those numbers are only the experience of one developer, the message echoes the complaints of many within the mobile game development community in recent years. And more importantly, claims of Android game piracy outpacing iOS 14-to-1 hold some water when compared to the strange lack of revenue delivered to developers from the Android platform.
While the facts and overall attitude within the development community seem a bit doom and gloom, there is potentially a very bright future for Android gaming. More and more big-name mobile games are finding release cross-platform to both iOS and Android. And continually, Google is searching for ways to streamline its Play store. Most notably, during Google I/O, the company announced Google Play Games which is set to offer a more unified experience via multiplayer and leaderboards.
And at the same time, Google is offering developers a way to combat piracy. New features within the Play games services allow creators to actually shut down apps acquired illegally.
"The games team shares developer concerns about piracy in Android games," said Android's Steve Martin in May. "Not every game should have to be free-to-play. We’d much rather you guys had a choice in the matter."
Clearly, the issue of fragmented hardware will remain a challenge, but according to Telltale, the studio is confidant upcoming Android devices will address the issue of running high-end 3D titles. "This year a number of Android devices are coming out that solve this problem and enable us to consider that support," said Allison. "We expect to have some games come out for these devices in the near future."
Matt Clark is a freelance writer covering the world of videogames, tech, and popular culture. Follow him on Twitter @ClarkMatt and MyIGN at Matt_Clark.
Source : ign[dot]com
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