[potatolicious]

I'm a bit more pessimistic - I'm not sure if fixing the App Store will fix the mobile gaming industry. IMO the well is thoroughly and completely poisoned at this point.

People are learning to reject IAP-everywhere monetization models, but they've also retained the notion that nothing should cost more than $1.

Even if we eliminate the discoverability problems, the shitty copycats, all that noise, will the economics of mobile game dev still even work out without stooping to EA's Dungeon Keeper-esque shenanigans?

[TillE]

There's a small but growing number of "premium priced" iPad games like Baldur's Gate or XCOM which have apparently been successful enough.

I don't think mobile phone games will ever be a serious thing. The small screen combined with no hardware controls is too limiting. But a tablet can excel in certain areas, particularly anything turn-based.

For example, I'm convinced that a full version of Football Manager for tablets would be massive at $15-20. They've actually done most of the necessary UI work for a touch interface with the "Classic" mode, but apparently mobile CPUs are still a limiting factor.

[x0x0]

But Baldur's Gate or xcom aren't ipad games. They're a port, presumably with a complete codebase + assets already made. That must be substantially less expensive than building. So realizing accretive revenue from a port, sure. As a game target, I dunno.

[potatolicious]

This still leaves the market in a state where the only "premium" games that are viable are ones that have already recouped investments on other platforms.

It doesn't suggest that mobile gaming will ever be able to afford substantial budgets.