For as long as we can remember companies like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have been using game exclusivity to sell their consoles. While it isn’t unheard of for Android and Apple to leverage things like say… digital store space (ie. a nice visible spot in their app store) for temporary exclusivity; we’re wondering if this is going to be a top tier priority going forward, and what that means for mobile gamers. Let’s put it into perspective – In 2014 we’ll have around 2 billion mobile devices (cell phones, tablets, etc..) that’s over a quarter of the earths population. By far the most lucrative and most downloaded apps are games. It’s no surprise mobile companies are taking note of the dominant shift in mobile gaming and begging to hash out deals with publishers for exclusives titles.
In two instances last year Apple was rumored to make deals in private with companies to delay Android releases like the EA Plants vs. Zombies 2 delay, and the infamous delay in the GTA V iFruit app. These are just rumors but when Android holds majority market share (70% phones worldwide run Android OS while only 20% iOS, and 10% other) while these apps were free to play it leaves us scratching our heads as to why they wouldn’t want to cater to the majority unless there was another incentive.
More than anything it sounds like Apple is scrambling to gain back market share but if Android doesn’t take note it could work. There are some definite pros and cons to this new incentive. If either of the companies start buying up publishers (much like they do in console wars) we could see indie app developers getting big time funding and cool games to come from it. On the other hand big chucks of mobile gamers will be left out per exclusive, not everyone has the means to have an iOS and Android device.
Either way you should keep your eyes and ears out for new and exclusive apps. Would something like games sway you past hardware when selecting a device? We would love to hear your thoughts below!
Source: www.computerweekly.com/ www.gartner.com http://guardianlv.com/ http:www.techland.time.com https://www.broadband.co.za www.http://techland.time.com/ www.http://cdn1.appleinsider.com/
