In case you haven’t noticed, the economy is crap, which is hurting several game publishers, including giants like Electronic Arts. While every publisher is looking to get leaner and meaner, one of the platforms that has been successful for EA is Apple’s iPhone/iPod Touch. EA CEO John Riccitiello said:
The traditional packaged goods business has been a little challenged so far this year. The other end of the world, online games that you download, games you get by the way of iPhone for example, that totally digital business is up so strong that it’s off-setting the challenge we see at retail.
I want to point out the number one grossing application on iPhone now is Beatles: Rock Band.
The iPhone/iPod Touch game market, while extremely competitive, is one of the most potentially lucrative segments of the business. Development costs are low, the installed base is tremendous, and the price point is feasible for impulse purchases. It will be interesting to see if more big publishers turn to the iPhone while the economy is still in the toilet.
I should be getting my 32gb itouch tomorrow, so we will see how I start using all of this stuff pretty soon.
One part near the end of the article had a great point though, the production cost of apps is so much lower than console games, and the price points make some of these apps very profitable. The downside is with there now being over 100,000 apps, there are tons of apps that just shouldn't exist at all.
@bsukenyan Let me know what you think. I bought Civilization Revolution for $2.99 and have already gotten hundreds of hours of entertainment out of the game. It's brilliant for long flights.
I am loving SimCity still. Wolfenstein is a good time killer as well.