Welcome to This Week in Mobile Development! August 14th-21st 2015. This week’s round-up brings you all the latest news and discussion from the world of mobile game and app development.
This week’s blog section has tips on game development, in-app purchases and more. Read on to find out about VR development, user retention and App Store launches. You can’t miss it!
Fallout Shelter, kid gamers and mobile purchasing rates dominate this week’s news section! Don’t forget to subscribe to get all the latest mobile development news sent straight to your inbox. Every Friday from Felgo!
Blogs
Google’s tips for VR development
Noah Falstein urges developers to start simple with Google Cardboard. Google’s chief game designer gave some tips at Casual Connect in San Francisco. The basis of these tips was to create a safe environment for users.
Overcoming the sensory deprivation of VR will be a big obstacle for developers. Falstein’s first tip was to read up on the ‘Stage Line’, a technique developers could borrow from the film industry.
Match-3 Monetisation: New booster selling trend in King games
This dissection of King’s Diamond Digger and Pet Rescue by Om Tandon gives some great monetization tips. He tells you how both games prime users for in-app purchases.
The techniques involved could possibly boost your earning potential and improve your game. Om’s only question is, can these techniques be applied outside of match-3 and puzzle games?
Why Do Strategy Game App Store Icons All Look the Same?
Should you be considering the amazing power of faces? According to the strategy game industry, the answer is yes. At least that’s what Scott Reyburn says in his latest piece.
He speaks with Stephen Kleckner, an artist and writer, about this growing trend. Kleckner shares his take on the reason behind the ‘RARRR!’ face and more.
How to Lose an App Store Editor’s Choice Feature: Have Your Servers Crash, as ‘Tactile Wars’ Did
Disaster struck this week for development studio Ankama. After a soft launch of their new game, Tactile Wars, they were this week’s Editor’s Choice on the App Store.
The French company were unprepared and the influx of traffic crashed their server. They were promptly removed from the Editor’s Choice page although you can still find the game with a manual search.
Here are the Reasons I Deleted your Mobile App
In Michael Crump’s latest opinion piece, he tells us why he’ll delete your app. Not the nicest thing to hear but this article has some great advice if you’re planning to launch sometime soon.
Don’t ask Michael to access his social media profile and don’t ask him for money too soon. There’s more as well but he explains it perfectly himself.
Indie game development risk management
If risk management is important to you as a developer, then you need to check out this article. Cliff from Positech tells you how to try and eliminate risk and incur success.
Cliff wants people to be more successful. Although the reason could be seen as selfish. What he really wants is lots of cool new games to play. And he needs cool new developers trying to make hit games for that to happen.
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News
Fallout Shelter topped 1 billion played sessions in its first month, but that’s not all
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Probably one of the biggest mobile game releases of the year, Fallout Shelter has racked up 1 billion playing sessions on iOS alone. The game was recently released on Android as well, which will probably help it hit 2 billion session soon enough.
Brian Crecente broke down all the gameplay stats so far. Over 100 million fires have been lit and about 80 million babies have been born in these 1 billion gameplay sessions!
Survey: 56% of U.S. Consumers Have Abandoned a Mobile Transaction
A recent survey of American adults aged 18-65 has revealed that 56% of participants have abandoned a mobile transaction at some point. This survey was conducted online by Jumio and is a follow-up to a 2013 case study.
Although this figure may seem high, it’s actually a decrease from 2013. The leading reason for cancelling a purchase? General uncertainty about the product.
Kids’ gaming makes up nearly 8% of mobile game spending worldwide
Kids are spending their pocket money, or at least their parent’s pocket money, on mobile games! Almost 8% of mobile game spending is done by children and the reason is fairly simple.
Premium priced apps comply more with global standards regarding marketing for children and their parents don’t want to spend the time making in-app purchases for them.
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This Week in Mobile Development!
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