The market may be huge, but big companies are eating up most the share, Howard Go, game developer and co-founder of MochiBits said at the 2013 DevCon Summit, Saturday.
Still, the software development industry has been very optimistic about how the market looks.
“There's probably more investment money out there than there are investable software companies. There's more money that can be deployed because ang kulang talaga dito is we don't have enough software startups for them to invest in,” said Joey Gurango, President of the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) last October.
"It's a huge, huge market, so there's no worries. There's just too many people involved," Go said, narrating a story about why he decided to help out fellow independent game developers years ago.
“Indies can and should help each other,” he added. “A lot of indie developers succeeded by promoting each other."
But now, the need for support among independent developers might be of most value yet. "Nowadays, the slice of pie is smaller, significantly smaller than before," he said.
Since big companies like Apple and Google decided to make apps or games that they advertise aggressively, the independent developers are left with a lower chance to succeed.
Big companies get the lion's share
The market may be huge, but the big companies still get the lion's share. Independent analyst firm Canalys estimated that only 25 developers accounted for 50% of app revenue in the US in Apple's App Store and Google Play during the first 20 days of November 2012.
In 20 days, they made 60 million dollars collectively. These companies include Zynga, Electronic Arts, Disney, Kabam, Rovio, Glu, Gameloft and Storm8’s TeamLava.
Even with these imbalanced odds, games still remain one of the best options to develop.
Games still dominate the overall app charts. The number one fashion app, for instance, might be behind the top 500th game, Go said. A good utility app might be in the top charts, but usually, they don't last very long on the top. Very few have succeeded in that respect like Camera Plus and Whatsapp. Hence, games still make better money.
But in terms of the apps that have failed the most, games are also there, Go stated.
A study by tracking service Adeven showed that two-thirds of the total number of apps in Apple's App Store are “zombie apps” or apps that are barely even downloaded, a report on BBC said. That is 579,001 out of 888,856 apps.
What can indies do?
Among the choices of the independent developer are 1) getting yourself employed, 2) selling your own skills, 3) make your own apps, or 4) do all three.
Those who want to do their own apps, veteran developers agree, have it easier nowadays. Many developers are ready to lend a helping hand. PSIA, for instance, has a program called SPRING.PH (Software PRoducts Incubation Group) where chosen aspiring developers are trained and their apps, incubated.
Websites like Codetoki are helping developers practice and improve their craft as well.
A list of game development tutorials will appear through a simple Google search. Groups like Google Developers Group (GDG), Globe Labs, and Smart Devnet support developers in the country by providing a gamut of avenues for skill improvement such as hackathons and tutorials.
Marketing matters very much
Howard Go said that the reason why apps made by big companies make so much money is that
they spend so much in marketing. In the same way, independent developers should also market their product to get similar, if only as close to, the same results.
"Marketing matters more now because the big developers are there. 'Candy Crush' makes one million dollars a day. But they spend US$250,000 a day just on advertising. They have TV ads, ads for mobile devices, ads for the Internet. Because of that, their downloads are very high,” Go explained. “Because of that, other developers are spending a lot of money to enter the top 10 or the top 25.”
But marketing does not guarantee long-term success. Something else matters more in the end (especially if you want to make money): retention. What does your app have that will make the customers use it again and again?
Go said, "If your photo app is something that you download and only use once and never again, then you've failed. If your game app is something you play for two days and never return to, then you've failed. If you want to have a chance to go viral, if you want to have a chance to make money, then it has to be something that you want to play again."
Make games you'll love
Go cited “Candy Crush,” a game he "hate(s) a lot but respect(s)." It is because it is "really [filled] with jewels and candy flying around and irritating cartoon characters," not much original or new content in there. But it became so successful because it influenced the behavior of the consumers.
Lastly, according to Go, research never hurts. Developers have to know what apps are working, and what can be done to improve them.
"In the end, very few apps are truly original" Go summed up.
Among the lessons from DevCon includes how developers should not just copy but also improve apps, and that all developers, independent or from big companies, should understand what makes a game a success or a failure.
"Understand the games you love, and the games you respect," he said. — KDM, GMA News
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