Chapter 2
iOS versus Facebook versus the Web: What’s the Right Platform?
In This Chapter
- Reviewing what works and what doesn’t on iOS
- Reviewing what works and what doesn’t on Facebook
- Reviewing what works and what doesn’t in web games
As you saw in the last chapter, the three platforms that are the focus of this book have a massive user base. But they’re all far more cluttered with losers than winners, and there are opportunity costs to investing your game-development resources in one over the others. Apple’s submission process for apps can be time-consuming and arduous, for example, not to mention that Apple and Facebook take a 30 percent commission on revenue, placing a substantial barrier on profit. The broader web, although offering more options and markets for publishing games, lacks the concentrated and direct monetization options that iOS and Facebook boast. (In other words, App Store users already have their credit cards registered in the system, while many Facebook gamers already have a bank of virtual currency, both of which make them more likely to spend on your game.) At the same time, some game
genres generally work better on one platform than others, and all else being equal, offer a better opportunity for success. This chapter briefly sketches out the game genres and features that tend to perform well on each platform—and the kinds that usually don’t.
