The key trend in the games industry over the past five years has been the way success has been polarised into game types that are either very expensive or very cheap to make.

The once bread-and-butter middle ground of average titles - both in terms of their budget and consumer reaction - has all but been wiped out.

What happens on console also comes to mobile and so it is that over the past month we've seen some prime examples of what might be referred to as the Call of Dutization of iOs.

Big 'eFfing Games

Kicking off with id's Rage, it's been underlined by Epic and Chair Entertainment's Infinity Blade and now the release of Firemint's Real Racing 2, a game that CEO Rob Murray reckons has cost around $2 million to develop, and is selling for $9.99.

A pocketful of small change in the world of consoles and PC, nevertheless it highlights an issue that will subtly influence what happens in 2011.

Indeed, Firemint already has form in this regard. The original Real Racing was generally reckoned to be the first $1 million iPhone game in terms of development cost (outside of the elevated cost structures of the likes of EA and Gameloft).

Its success as a premium release - it launched at $9.99 and is still selling at $4.99 18 months on - demonstrated it was worth investing considerable sums in iPhone development.

Like honey to the bee

In turn, this has attracted companies such as id and Epic who are prepared to innovate and spend big to create signature experiences on these fast evolving but already commercially significant platforms.

More console companies are certain to follow their lead. 

Of course, at the lower level, small indie teams will still scratch out a living making small 99c puzzle or arcade games, and there will be occasional breakout hits such as Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and Cut the Rope that make their creators rich.

But slightly more expensive and complex games such as those in the strategy, RPG or twin stick shooter genres will find it much harder to compete in a world of polished $9.99 brilliance, 99c bite-sized fun, and an increasingly addictive freemium sector.

As they say on the London underground, "Mind the gap".