Spelunky dev says mobile game development is a ‘scary’ gamble

Developing and releasing games on mobile platforms can be quite the scary ordeal, says Spelunky developer Derek Yu. According to the famed indie designer, there's too much chance involved and success isn't always a guarantee even if the title in question is a worthwhile endeavor.

According to Yu, creating and porting games for phones and tablets is too much of a gamble. Many times, folks are looking for quick and easy fun on their mobile devices, so something that doesn't exactly meet that criteria may just slip under the radar and fail to get proper recognition.

"That's just a difficult place to be for a developer who wants to make essentially a non-mobile style game for a mobile platform," explained Yu. "It's just kind of intimidating. It's a very finicky business, too, in terms of what succeeds and what doesn't. For a lot of developers, putting games on iOS and mobile feels like a lottery, and that's a real unstable feeling that's hard for developers."

Where Yu does see room for plenty of success is the console market. With more indie titles appearing on home platforms, it's obvious that there's a place for these types of experiences right alongside big budget games. The industry has evolved so much that smaller titles aren't expected to just compete amongst each other and can actually hold their own against the triple-A titles.

"Healthy competition is great within the indie community, but it's also great between the big companies and the small independent studios," stated Yu. "Having them on the same tier is good for both sides."

[GamesIndustry International]

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