Last week Apple surprised the iPhone’s developer community with the annoucement that it was finally allowing free apps to offer in-app purchases. The move will likely lead to a fundamental shift in the way developers conduct businesss on the App Store (we’ve already begun to see some changes). I sat down with SGN CEO Shervin Pishevar to talk about the annoucement’s effect on SGN’s upcoming games, as well as its impact on the market in general.
Pishevar says that he was estactic when he heard the news — he almost immediately recorded a video sharing his elation that he sent to all of SGN’s 100+ employees worldwide. He explains that this is really the announcement that he’s been waiting for, but that he had no expectation that Apple might do it so soon. Now the company is working at a brisk pace to take advantage of the change: it will soon be releasing a new free version of its smash hit game F.A.S.T., which has done over $1.8 million in sales before Apple’s cut. The new version of F.A.S.T. will feature an extensive array of virtual goods, which users will be able to purchase once they’ve downloaded the core game, which will be free. I also suspect that many (if not all) of SGN’s games will be released for free from here on out.
After discussing the impact on SGN’s apps, the conversation turned toward how this will impact developers in general. The App Store is going to see some major changes, and some of those won’t necessarily be for the better. For one, it will become even harder for premium applications to get noticed — before now they only had to compete against other ‘paid’ apps for a chance to appear on the Top Apps list. Now many of them will be migrating to the much more crowded ‘free’ section, which means they’ll be facing off with the vast array of ‘fun’ apps that are so enticing for impulse downloads. There’s also the possibility that the store will become flooded with applications that you can download for free, but really offer nothing of value until you start paying for features, despite what users may have been led to believe (a so-called ‘bait and switch’).
Pishevar agrees that the new market may pose a challenge to new developers, who may have trouble getting noticed and establishing trust with users. But he says that the development houses that can establish a relationship with users will be able to rise to the top, even more so than before. That scenario would obviously put SGN, which has millions of installs across all of its games, in a good position.
But Pishevar emphasized that SGN isn’t going to be content to simply rest on its laurels and exploit its large audience by rehashing games that have already been successful (he notes that the the highly derivative nature of many games on Facebook was one of the reasons SGN decided to shift over to the iPhone). Instead, he says he wants to push the limits of the iPhone, and eventually other mobile platforms. And to prove that wasn’t just marketing talk, he gave me a sneak peek at some of the projects that SGN has in the works. I’m sworn to secrecy on those for now, but suffice to say, SGN has some seriously cool things in the pipeline right now that really will take mobile gaming to the next level.
“I’m sworn to secrecy on those for now, but suffice to say, SGN has some seriously cool things in the pipeline right now that really will take mobile gaming to the next level.”
Well, no, actually, it doesn’t suffice to just state something
yep. agree. let’s hear it Jason.
wtf is fast? i thought this article was going to be about fast search, not some shitty iphone game
is this what passes as a techcrunch article nowadays?
if i was the washington post i would start reconsidering having this “content”
I always felt it unfair for companies to lower app prices. What about the people who already bought the app? No refunds?
If they found it worth paying the first amount for it, then surely they should be happy with it.
You spent $x,000 on your first computer. Would you pay more than $100 for it today? You’re still happy with your purchase, no?
App Store is seriously flawed in multiple ways. Considering it was built by developers who worked on iTunes (a whole different animals) and who regard developers as “Artists” in the store and do not allow these developers to change their name once submitted, it is just plain ridiculous.
Mark my words, Apple will fail on the iPhone and is coasting primarily on long term cell phone contracts to buy themselves time to “fix” things with what is no less than a feature drip.
Folks say Apple iPhone is way ahead of its time – I’d agree only on the aesthetic sense (and that is proving to be enough by itself). Still, consumers get bored (I know I’m already bored). Apple knows this and is hoping that the assortment of applications will cause users to stick to the iPhone more than the iPhone itself. (This, plus the 2 year cell phone contract.) Problem is: if developers are disinterested in continuing to develop for the platform, the plan doesn’t work.
I don’t propose to know what Apple is thinking – but I’d place a fair bet that this is it (for the iPhone).
MacBooks rock though and should beat the living shit out of anything powered by Windows.
There’s an obvious addition that should happen to gauge monetary transactions in the App store: include the transactions made through in-app purchases. This could be a new category – Top in-app purchases – or it be folded into the new “Top Grossing” category.
“which has done over $1.8 million in sales before Apple’s cut.”
that’s just a bit over 1.2m net – not impressed
Yea and that’s for a big company with $15m in the bank. Any developers looking to make real money, stay far FAR away. Nothing to see here.
SGN has excellent games and this move by Apple will only make gaming better in that ecosystem. As an app developer I often watch SGN closely as they seem to really understand how to best monetize and keep engagement levels up.
The bemoaned “race to the bottom” in app prices has instantly converted to a race towards a better business model for game developers. Soon enough a free app will top the Top Grossing list.
“which has done over $1.8 million in sales before Apple’s cut.”
” that’s just a bit over 1.2m net –” i mean this impressed.
Although I’m very excited to see microtrans pop up on the iPhone, I’m worried about the pricing displayed in the screenshot. I was very happy that a good app would run me between $1-5 generally. With $2 per item being an acceptable fee, we’ll be paying more than a full-featured xbox 360 title after a few months