Shedding Android Game Development Myths

Game development on Android has been slow until now, mostly with games being ported from the iOS platform or the development space being shared between the two platforms. Very rarely has a game been developed exclusively for Android and has made it big at the same time.
Android game developers have seen extremely low revenue, but they might just be doing things wrong. A number of people claim that the Android platform is far more profitable than iOS. The reasons for Android’s popularity are numerous including cheap handsets, more handset options to choose from, flexibility with devices after sale (easy rooting and the AOSP) and a fast-paced development team.

While Android has seen an overshoot of power-users because of its flexibilities and the Google effect, Apple survives on the Steve Jobs factor, a lot of fanboyism and their coherent product designs. This brings Android to the masses while the iPhone and other iOS devices appeals to a limited group of people who can afford it without giving a second thought. Measuring from this perspective (crudely), Android users are more likely to make fragmented small payments, but iPhone and iPad users can pay one time and en-mass. This is the factor to keep in mind while developing apps, even games. Games on Android can top their clones (parents) on iOS and here is a true story from Spacetime studios, the makers of Pocket Legends.

Until now, Android games have seen only a trickle of the revenue stream, where developers depend totally on app purchase. Most of these developers are from the iOS platform or develop in parallel for it too, thus the perspective. However, what these develops fail to understand is that this is not the App store! Things are done differently around here in the Android Market. Android is far less profitable considering purchase of apps for installation, but when comparing in-app purchase of items, Android wins by a huge margin.

Spacetime Studios claims that Android has twice the number of users for its game Pocket Legends than on iOS for any given day. There are nearly 2.5x to 3x downloads of their popular MMORPG game on Android, as compared to iOS and Android users are far more active using Pocket Legends. This makes Android a better choice for making money out of apps using in-app items. Developers can leverage these facts and earn considerably more from Android app development. Success stories like Pocket Legends and Angry Birds are the ones to watch for inspirations if you are an Android game developer.