To Test out the iPhone waters, I've submitted a simple game, some of you will be familiar with it, to the iPhone App store to prove that XnaTouch applications can be deployed to the App Store. I'll post more details once the application is approved by Apple.
So as a few people have suggested on here, i have decided to offer an XNA to iPhone porting service, assuming the one I've submitted gets approved.
I will release a document outlining what you need to submit to me to speed up the porting of your game to the iPhone. We will of course sign contracts to avoid any disputes down the line and to protect each other. Once I receive code and resources, I will then build the game and supply screenshots and if possible video of it running on the simulator and also video of it running on at least an iPod. Assuming both parties are happy with that, the game will then be published by my company, which is an approved iPhone developer.
Games sold on the App Store are currently subject to 30/70 split between Apple and the publisher/developer. I was thinking that the same split would apply between my company and any indie XNA developers. As an example a game sold on the appstore for 0.99 would mean roughly 0.69 would go to my company. This 0.69 would then further split 30/70, which would mean, if my calculations are correct, that the XNA developer would get roughly 0.48 for every game sold.
NOTE : This service is currently only for 2D games that don't make use of any shaders, as they are not yet supported. 3D support and I think shaders support will be added closer to the release of Windows Mobile 7.
Please let me know your thoughts either via this thread of via PM.
To Test out the iPhone waters, I've submitted a simple game, some of you will be familiar with it, to the iPhone App store to prove that XnaTouch applications can be deployed to the App Store. I'll post more details once the application is approved by Apple.
So as a few people have suggested on here, i have decided to offer an XNA to iPhone porting service, assuming the one I've submitted gets approved.
I will release a document outlining what you need to submit to me to speed up the porting of your game to the iPhone. We will of course sign contracts to avoid any disputes down the line and to protect each other. Once I receive code and resources, I will then build the game and supply screenshots and if possible video of it running on the simulator and also video of it running on at least an iPod. Assuming both parties are happy with that, the game will then be published by my company, which is an approved iPhone developer.
Games sold on the App Store are currently subject to 30/70 split between Apple and the publisher/developer. I was thinking that the same split would apply between my company and any indie XNA developers. As an example a game sold on the appstore for 0.99 would mean roughly 0.69 would go to my company. This 0.69 would then further split 30/70, which would mean, if my calculations are correct, that the XNA developer would get roughly 0.48 for every game sold.
NOTE : This service is currently only for 2D games that don't make use of any shaders, as they are not yet supported. 3D support and I think shaders support will be added closer to the release of Windows Mobile 7.
Please let me know your thoughts either via this thread of via PM.
Thanks.
This seems pretty fair to me. Would your company take care of the cost of submitting it?
This seems pretty fair to me. Would your company take care of the cost of submitting it?
I guess thats the trick. You just provide your game source and it appears on the marketplace without any costs for you. At least thats how I understood it. The efforts their company do will be paid by the profit share.
I guess thats the trick. You just provide your game source and it appears on the marketplace without any costs for you. At least thats how I understood it. The efforts their company do will be paid by the profit share.
Dom, please correct me if I am wrong.
Yes you are correct Dirk. I have already submitted one game, so know the pains involved.
Things I may charge for are if someone wants to release a free game on the AppStore. As neither of us is likely to make money, they may be a one off fee for publishing this free game. I've not decided what that would be so am open to suggestions as to what that could be.
Another service which I may charge for, is an online highscore table. I wrote the basic code for the game currently going through the approval process, and it could easily be expanded allow other games to make use of the database etc. I would need to charge for this service to cover bandwidth costs. Again I've no idea what that cost should be, so open to suggestions.
NOTE : I will not publish just any game, as I also have the reputation of my company and the games I make to think of. So as part of the process, ideally if a *.ccgame can be supplied before hand, or a YouTube video so can I and my game dev partner can assess if it makes commercial sense to publish it.
Yeah, I think we got it
Sounds really interesting, especially because I am developing apps for WP7 atm and the screen resolution I use is the same there (480x320), so there is not even a change in the assets necessary...
This is a really good idea, But what cut of the money will the developer get?
As mentioned in my post above, the split is 30/70, after Apple has taken their share. So in a typical game that sells for $0.99 on the US App Store, after all deductions you, as the developer, would get roughly $0.48.
NOTE : I've just found out on the UK app store it is closer to 40/60 from Apple! So I've sent them an email to ask for clarification as to why the difference is so high.
Iphones have almost every app imaginable. Time to be creative.
I totally agree. Just because it has been done, does not mean it can't be done better or a new twist added to the mix to freshen things up.
Very few games/movies are totally new ideas, yet every year there is a game or movie that raises the bar in some way.
In the iPhone world a lot of existing apps have mimicked mouse interfaces, which work, but don't use the iPhone ( or Zune ) to its full potential. Using these devices to their fullest is what will get the games noticed.
Btw, another thing I forgot to add, is that once the apps are approved on the App Store, Apple will give us 20 ( or so ) free download codes, that can be given out to game/app reviewers and friends to help market the game/app.
Any words about the approvement of your app yet? When did you submit it? Any idea about the average duration of the approvement?
Hi Dirk,
My understanding is that approval typically takes roughly 7 days. I submitted my game last Sunday, so am expecting to hear back from Apple before the end of this week.
PS. Please check your Skype account, as I've sent you a message.
I just heard back from the App Review team and the game has been rejected due to possible copyright infringement due to me using a PSN logo in the game.
Firstly this is great news as it was not rejected due to using MonoTouch or XnaTouch, and secondly I suspected this would be flagged, but am still awaiting official approval from Sony/PlayStation.
If it takes too much longer for them to get back to me, I'll rip-out the PSN stuff and resubmit.
Well, this does not imply that they will not reject it after the copyright issue is solved...
But all in all good news I guess!
Thanks for the information Dom!
