Announcing RAD Soldiers, WarChest's First Game Developed By Splash Damage

(tokamak) #41

If the entire audience would be the chocolate egg and the hardcore would be the surprise then Brink’s audience would indeed be what’s in between.

(-SSF-Sage) #42

Starting to want to buy an Iphone, even tho my Nokia smartphone is 4 months old… :smiley:

(Singh400) #43

Make an Android port and we’ll be all over it. My HTC Desire is ready and waiting…

(light_sh4v0r) #44

Cool. I was saying a few months ago how well Frozen Synapse would work on mobile devices. Someone heard me :tongue:

I don’t do iReligion though.

(flymore) #45

RAD Soldiers also has a plethora of weapons and items in store, like pistols, machine guns and grenades, which can be gained or upgraded in the game,for more information regarding it, please check here
http://www.dotmmo.com/rad-soldiers-9173.html

(Metal-Geo) #46

As much as I’d love to see an Android version popping up (hell, I traded my iPhone 4 for a Galaxy Nexus), I can fully understand developers being a bit turned off by the whole “support for a buttload of Android devices”.

I’m definitely game for a PC version though! Preferably in-browser! wink wink, nudge nudge.

(tokamak) #47

If it catches on, can we see a 3DS version?

(.Chris.) #48

An eShop release would be interesting indeed.

(tokamak) #49

All my mates with smartphones are really excited for this. All Android users though.

(trigg3r) #50

Looking great!!
Hope you guys are planning on releasing an android version on the future. :slight_smile:

(Jerbuta) #51

Awesome. :slight_smile:

(Mustang) #52

Was looking forward to this and happy to support SD with my wallet, but I’ll not be purchasing Apple products any time soon. Please let me know when this is released on Android and I’ll be jumping on it.

(Cep) #53

Its not actually that difficult to develop for Android you just have to get used to scaling.

says the Android developer writing this on his Samsung tab

(Ayjona) #54

[QUOTE=Cep;401566][QUOTE=Metal-Geo;398615]As much as I’d love to see an Android version popping up (hell, I traded my iPhone 4 for a Galaxy Nexus), I can fully understand developers being a bit turned off by the whole “support for a buttload of Android devices”.

I’m definitely game for a PC version though! Preferably in-browser! wink wink, nudge nudge.[/QUOTE]

Its not actually that difficult to develop for Android you just have to get used to scaling.

says the Android developer writing this on his Samsung tab[/QUOTE]

Yes, the primary reason many games are released only for iOS, or at least primarily for iOS, with the Android version often developed as an afterthought, is not the difficulty of device scaling and support (though Chair did mention that as one of the reasons for not porting the Infinity Blade franchise), but the fact that games on Android turn a very, very low profit for their developers, either from initial sales, or (as might be the case with RAD Soldiers) from IAP and freemium sales.

There is a large number of examples, but the case of Battleheart might be one of the most telling: Mika of mikamobile reported late last year that less than 5% of all his profits (not only total, but from monthly reports as well) come from Android sales, with the iOS version accounting for the other 95%. That is a monumental imbalance. As a result of similar sales figures, other devs have advised the mobile development community to only consider Android ports if they had little else to spend their time on, or a surplus of funds, as the profits might not even cover the cost of the port.

Devs with proper tracking tools installed in their games have also reported a staggering piracy rate for Android, as compared to iOS.

To me, this says nothing of any kind of advantages or disadvantages of either platform (piracing games for iOS is stupidly easy as well, it just does not seem to occur one fourth as often as on Android), but rather details the dissimilarities in focus of the user bases. Research has shown for years now that iOS users are considerably more willing to spend money on apps, and even more so on games, while Android users seem to find other (perhaps, in some cases, more productive :wink: ) uses for their phones.

So I understand if WarChest and Splash Damage choose not to even consider an Android port (or for browsers and Window phones), given the low likelyhood of a viable return on investment. But I really, really hope they do regardless, to offer the non-iOS world what might just turn out to be one of the best async experiences for any device, and enrichen the user base with just so many more opponents to engage in colorful, humoristic, and above all, rad battle :wink:

(SockDog) #55

If you’re referring to this then I think you’re being a little selective in your quoting and the picture you’re painting.

To the point he specifically says that it’s worthwhile:

Still, despite those disclaimers, Battleheart for Android has become a meaningful source of revenue, and has proven that the platform isn’t a waste of time. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that a polished, high quality product is more likely to be embraced on Android than on iOS because the quality bar on the android market is so pathetically low.

As for the sheer size of the iOS market, well I’ll point your to the unemployment line of all the developers who went running off to the super popular console market only to find that lacklustre products or sheer bad luck didn’t assure them of riches aplenty. Lesson to be learned? Well getting the right product out there and marketing it properly and continually.

Piracy? I’ll forgo the ten page rant and just say that without the ability to equate piracy to lost sales the argument is moot. Infinitely so when the app is free and driven by IAP.

I understand SD wanting to focus on a single platform for initial release, it makes sense and makes sense to pick the platform with a solid hardware base and largest market. I wouldn’t understand the Android port not following soon after unless the game tanked so bad that they declare it a loss. For this type of game, getting it on as many platforms to build as big a audience as possible has to be the objective. I’ll leave SD to decide if IAP is really the best way to see the ROI.

(Ayjona) #56

No. But I’m glad to see mika’s Android revenue stream has grown, and that he now considers the Android port worthwhile. It bodes well for Android’s continued appeal for developers. Thanks fer the link.

But yes, I guessed someone would go to lengths to discredit my post :slight_smile: Ah, the twisted mazes a rampant lust for polemic might lead the argumentative forumite into :wink:

Luckily, I believe you. But unfortunately, neither mine nor your perspective matter (and you’d probably find them more closely related than you might think, me being an Android proponent, in particular of seeing high-quality game releases for the platform), as long as devs exhibit an understandable reluctancy to develop for Android.

And this is ALL my post discusses. Not truth, not underlying reasons, not the strengths of Android or iOS, and not the true effects of piracy, but some simple but often cited reasons why devs are reluctant to develop for Android, and how the established fact that most games for Android turn less profit than on iOS (which I doubt anyone would even try to refute as a general principle) and reports of higher piracy numbers (reports, not extremely thoroughly conducted research on what actual effect this piracy has on sales) makes this reluctancy understandable, even if it might be based on partially or wholly erroneous reasons.

Your ten page piracy rant (which might very well reflect reality to perfection, for all I know) might perhaps do some good if you managed to convince large parts of the mobile development community/ies of the irrefutability of your claims, since a great number of game developers are reluctant to develop for platforms with greater piracy rates. It is sometimes considered one of the driving forces of platform shifts throughout gaming history, and is one of the oft-cited primary reasons console development quickly garnered an appeal early in the history of games for personal devices. And while piracy of IAP is, luckily, less established than whole-app copying, it does, unfortunately occur. And is therefore another deterrent to development on a particularly piracy-reputed platform, regardless of the actual economic effects of those acts of piracy.

(You might also find the idea that piracy does not equal lost sales hard to defend, regardless of its popularity as defense of platforms particularly affected. It is quite well established and recurring in debates regarding piracy, but also often considered to be a route response, with a very tenuous theoretical framework. The curious thing about internet and forum polemics is that when a point of view serves a popular purpose, and promises to demolish a previously accepted but unpopular principle, it is often embraced without any empirical, logical or practical verification. And unlike the piracy of music, games piracy has seen very little empirical research. Here’s an example of an opposing viewpoint:

The notion that piracy does not equate to lost sales is just as erroneous. “Piracy might result in an eventual purchase of a game, but in the meantime it means a financial loss for the developer,” Purewal said. “Sadly developers are not gamer banks, willing to effectively loan gamers money until we decide we like them enough to pay them.”

From this article.)

(As for getting the right product and marketing it properly being the lesson to be learned, I really wish market, customer and situational analysis was that simple. But the choice of market IS part of the marketing, and of creating the right product. This is a very basic tenet of market research and product targeting, important enough that most of us in this field of work learn it either during our first few months of studies, or very, very quickly while on the job).

As you might see from reading my post (or possibly reading it again), I make no value judgements regarding the two different platforms, and I don’t comment on the effect of reports of wide-spread Android piracy, beyond the significant fact that it acts as another barrier for Android development, be it practical, emotional, psychological or completely bonkers. I also make no claims regarding the size of the iOS market, beyond that iOS users are considered, in both research and developer practice, to be far more willing to spend money on applications and games. This point I do believe, but again, it doesn’t really matter if developers believe it. It becomes another barrier to and deterrent from Android development.

The only irrefutable truth (as long as we don’t stray into pluralist or subjectivism theory) is that there are developers who voice concerns over venturing into Android development, and that the lack of profitability and piracy rates have been mentioned as significant reasons. Defending the Android platform or refuting such reasons do little good, unless you can actually spread your sentiments to the actual developers. In which case it might do a massive amount of good, and I’ll back you up every step of the way :wink:

But most importantly, I end my post saying that while I can understand IF Splash Damage and WarChest are reluctant for these common reasons (which I hope they are not), I still hope they port the game with great passion, and enrichen Android gaming as a result :slight_smile:

(Stroggafier) #57

The Free-to-play model takes another turn, and looks like for the better.
Nice to read about SD’s plans and thoughts on FireTeam, despite the slightly over-hyped approach…and a great trailer!

I also liked the sideways slap at A@#$*on:
“If you ever want to tell the difference between a developer who is making a game to money-grab, versus a developer who is doing something for their fans, look for whether content updates include content for their existing fanbase, rather than simply to acquire new users,” he (Wedgwood) notes.
hehehe :o

Good luck, SD!