The open nature of Android means stories pointing out a high piracy rates on Google's OS compared with that of iOS are commonplace.
Just what rates of up to 90 percent as recently reported by Galaxy on Fire 2 developer Fishlabs - can do to a developer's bottom line, however, is less explored.
In response, a new infographic released by data and research specialist Yankee Group suggests the cost may run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Piracy punch
According to a survey of 75 developers carried out by the firm earlier in September, only 14 percent of Android studios aren't impacted by piracy on the platform.
In contrast, more than half claim to lose some value less than $10,000 a year thanks to pirated copies of their games.
A further 25 percent lose between $10,000 and $100,000 a year, while a small portion 7 percent report their losses are in excess of that figure.
"Almost half say that pirating an Android app is 'very easy'," states Yankee Group in its summary of its report, Android Piracy: How Republished Apps Steal Revenue and Increase Costs.
"About a third of developers say piracy has cost them in excess of $10,000 in revenue.
"Additionally, 32 percent say it increases their support costs, while another quarter say they see increased server costs due to heavy loads imposed by pirated copies."
Of course, it's not clear how well structured this data is, with 75 companies being a small dataset to base such figures on.
The full report can be downloaded from the Yankee Group website.
Data & Research
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
Top Stories
News
Jun 9th, 2024
PocketGamer.biz Podcast Week in Mobile Games E15 - Star Wars: Hunters finally launches, the West's MOBA problem, and Xbox handheld rumours
News
Jun 7th, 2024
Week in Views - The hunt for the new Star Wars game, Xbox goes handheld, and cats versus monsters…
News
Jun 7th, 2024
Week in Views - The hunt for the new Star Wars game, Xbox goes handheld, and cats versus monsters…
News
Jun 7th, 2024
Metacore's Teppo Soininen: “Anybody who has put a game into soft launch knows there’s still plenty of space for f*ck ups.”
Events
Tribeca Games Festival 2024 | North America | Jun 5th |
Steam Next Fest: June 2024 Edition | Jun 10th | |
GamesForum Hamburg 2024 | Europe | Jun 11th |
WN Conference Istanbul 2024 | Jun 11th | |
ESI London 2024 | Europe | Jun 13th |
DevGAMM Vilnius 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |
Game Con Canada (GCC) 2024 | North America | Jun 14th |
Indie Dev Play 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |