Is mobile app development worth it?
Apparently the median lifetime revenue for an iOS game is 3k. Not a lot of money, but if you consider that 90% of them are just "anime tits + sprite graphics + microtransactions == profits"... Seems easy to crank out one of those every couple of weeks once you've got the basic formula down. Plus, there's always the possibility of coming up with something that's actually good.
Maybe I'm being too optimistic here, but this doesn't sound like such a bad deal compared to a job in IT... your thoughts?
Maybe I'm being too optimistic here, but this doesn't sound like such a bad deal compared to a job in IT... your thoughts?
If you're doing it for yourself as a one-man (or small) company in the hopes of churning out the next Flappy Bird or Instagram, you're taking the gamble and the statistics suggest it won't work out for you.
If you work for some company that pays you a regular salary to program, then it's a programming job like any other that just happens to be targeting that specific segment.
If you work for some company that pays you a regular salary to program, then it's a programming job like any other that just happens to be targeting that specific segment.
Yeah, a one-man show is what I was thinking of. I'd be satisfied with making a decent amount and not having to get up at 7..
Should've clarified. By "job in IT" I didn't mean the nature of the work so much as all the crap involved in any salary-based job - waste 100k and 4 years time on college, waste several hours a week driving to work, but worst of all, get paid some arbitrary amount based vaguely on how many pages your resume has.
Rant concluded.
Should've clarified. By "job in IT" I didn't mean the nature of the work so much as all the crap involved in any salary-based job - waste 100k and 4 years time on college, waste several hours a week driving to work, but worst of all, get paid some arbitrary amount based vaguely on how many pages your resume has.
Rant concluded.
http://app-promo.com/wake-up-call-infographic/
If you want to make a living developing- don't do what everyone else is doing. It's the same for starting a business, if there are 13 doughnut shops in your town, maybe you should consider starting a business that isn't a doughnut shop.. (the microtransaction bit is stale, I haven't spent money on a microtransaction in 4 years, have you?)
Find a niche, look for unfulfilled needs, do something to create a product (not to make money).
There are many many unfilled niches- you're more likely to make a living if you specialize, and focus on something that people require, but don't have. Games are great, and if you want to make games do something spectacular because you want to make a great game, once you have the game completed invest your money in marketing because you have a product that you can sell. A lot of developers trying to break into the mobile market do things backwards- you should make a good product, then attract customers.
If you want to quit your day job to do mobile development, but you aren't able to develop alongside your current work schedule, you will have a very hard time completing an app while not working. You'll be worried about your dwindling funds, you'll be worried about potentially failing, you'll have concerns about your bills, programming is an artistic process- and the more pressure you put on yourself the more your performance will suffer. If you want to start a business, do it, get it working, then quit.
If you want to make a living developing- don't do what everyone else is doing. It's the same for starting a business, if there are 13 doughnut shops in your town, maybe you should consider starting a business that isn't a doughnut shop.. (the microtransaction bit is stale, I haven't spent money on a microtransaction in 4 years, have you?)
Find a niche, look for unfulfilled needs, do something to create a product (not to make money).
There are many many unfilled niches- you're more likely to make a living if you specialize, and focus on something that people require, but don't have. Games are great, and if you want to make games do something spectacular because you want to make a great game, once you have the game completed invest your money in marketing because you have a product that you can sell. A lot of developers trying to break into the mobile market do things backwards- you should make a good product, then attract customers.
If you want to quit your day job to do mobile development, but you aren't able to develop alongside your current work schedule, you will have a very hard time completing an app while not working. You'll be worried about your dwindling funds, you'll be worried about potentially failing, you'll have concerns about your bills, programming is an artistic process- and the more pressure you put on yourself the more your performance will suffer. If you want to start a business, do it, get it working, then quit.
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Looks pretty harsh... and this was 4 years ago? I don't even wanna know how much worse the current situation is.
Neither have I, but then again, who wants programmers as their target demographic? Their standards are too high ^^
Thanks for the advice - I guess I'll have to do some market research. Do you know how large of a marketing budget would be required?
Neither have I, but then again, who wants programmers as their target demographic? Their standards are too high ^^
Thanks for the advice - I guess I'll have to do some market research. Do you know how large of a marketing budget would be required?
| and not having to get up at 7.. |
A very large amount of programming jobs have flexible schedules. Tends to be "come in, get your work done, make it to meetings".
| (the microtransaction bit is stale, I haven't spent money on a microtransaction in 4 years, have you?) |
The most money that comes from microtransactions are from a very small number of people actually using the application. Most of them are probably kids, there was an article not long ago where a kid spent $1000+ on microtransactions in a game.
Anyways most of the money a free game makes is not from microtransactions, it's from selling off your personal information. You link your facebook to your program and such, they get stats on when you play the game how long etc etc. A developer came out and said what the company he was working for started doing when they picked up a bunch of users. Can't seem to find it. But yah, people think they are getting something for free but they are unknowingly paying for it with information about themselves they are giving away for free.
But yah it's a lot of risk to do what you want to do. At least get experience at a company or something that works in the mobile market first. Then decide from there what you want to do.
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