Square Enix's new original iPhone title, Chaos Rings, is a qualified hit; it's currently sitting right on top of the United States' top grossing apps list and at number 18 on the top paid apps list. The reviews are terrific as well, which means that Square Enix has pulled off a hit iPhone game at the surprising price of US$12.99.
Clearly, though, there is still a market for well-done, top level games (even at high price points).
At the same time, other big-name developers aren't so sure. Crytek (makers of Crysis for the PC) CEO Cevat Yerli claims that App Store pricing has been nothing but a burden for game developers, and he says that, even outside of Apple's ecosystem, game prices in general are being driven down by the App Store. "It's pushing out games at such a low price that it distorts the perception of what a game should be priced at," he said in a recent interview. "IPad and iPhone are both doing a real disservice to game prices by allowing games at such low price points – it is an issue the industry has to address."1
via tuaw.com
1Emphasis mine. Sounds and awful lot like he's advocating a gentleman's agreement between game publishers/developers to set a higher, "fairer" price on games in general. (a) Whatever happened to market forces dictating price? (b) Price fix much? (c) Let's ask Chungwa, LG, & Sharp how well they did doing that.
Posted via web from Firesaw
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