The relative openness of the App Store is attracting a host of independent developers, many of whom are working on innovative titles (and, yes, many of whom are making fart apps instead).
One is UK startup Assyria Game Studios, which is a group of UK-based students plotting their next move after graduating. We talked to co-founder Adam Green about their first iPhone and iPod touch game, Speed Racer, as well as his views on graduate courses and the mobile industry.
Tell us about Speed Racer - the screenshots look Wipeout-esque...
Well this is the first game we have developed which we plan to publish, we will hopefully be releasing it around March this year. The Assyria Game Studio team is made up of myself and three other second year students. The game has been in development for around two months so far, in and around university deadlines.
The game is obviously heavily inspired by the Wipeout series;
I have been a long time fan of the Wipeout games and I thought the iPhone's input would suit the style of gameplay very well.
Also until recently there were no Wipeout style games available for the iPhone which was great from a business standpoint; while some have been released since Im still confident we can compete.
In terms of the creative aspect behind the game; one of the really appealing factors of starting our own studio, was that we could make the games that we as a team wanted, where as if we worked for another company this would not likely
happen.
Due to the team's love of Wipeout style gameplay it therefore seemed like an obvious choice for our first game.
How have you found iPhone to develop for, so far?
Well being very new to development we have only currently tried developing for iPhone, PC and Mac. However so far iPhone is turning out to be a really great platform both from a development and business standpoint.
Apple have made the SDK (software development kit) freely available, and provide plenty of tutorials to get you up to speed with developing for it.
In terms of design, I really like the input options available on the iPhone, and iPod touch. Both the incorporation of the accelerometer and multi-touch opens up a range of new possibilities for developers and allows new innovative ideas to flourish; examples of this can already be seen with games such as JellyCar and Im sure well see far more in the future (and hopefully some made by us).
From a business perspective it is great how easy it is to get your game to market once complete. As a developer you simply pay Apple 99$ to become a registered Apple developer. You can then submit your game as soon as its complete, and as long as it works Apple will put it on the App Store within 5 to 7 days.
The percentage of profits you get as a developer is also quite appealing. As a developer for iPhone you get 70 per cent of the sales, with Apple taking 30 per cent.
In contrast a typical developer working on say a PS3 title will only get between 20 per cent and 40 per cent, usually with the development costs being recovered by the publisher before a developer receives anything.
Has iPhone been a big factor in the course you're doing? Are a lot of students seeing the platform as a way into the games industry?
No, the iPhone has not been a factor of the course at all, in fact on my course we dont even develop a game as part of our course until our final year.
In addition to working on the game I also organise networking events for the games industry in the form of an IGDA chapter (International Game Developers Association).
Having spoken with several friends in the industry, everyone seems to agree that the quality of graduates from games courses is rarely up to the required industry standard which has lead to a skills shortage in the industry - even though there are over 200 students graduating on games courses each year.
I think this lack of development of games as part of university courses is largely to blame. While many of the specific skills are covered (such as 3D Modelling, Texturing etc), vital soft skills such as working in a team, good communication skills etc are not covered as much as I think they should be.
In regards to students getting into the industry, Im not sure iPhone development is a viable option, as I have so far invested over £2,000 of my own savings in order to purchase the required technology to develop the game.
However, as a start-up studio I do see it as a very appealing way of starting up largely due to the fact that it has a great route to market, and comparatively to other platforms developing for the iPhone is quite cheap.
I think the best way of getting into the industry as a student would really be to go along to networking events and talking with developers, have a few drinks with them and very quickly you can make some friends who can either help you get a job working in their company, or at the very least give you some good practical advice on how to get in.
What are your plans for Assyria? It seems you won't just be focusing on mobile...
I am actually starting up Assyria Game Studios during my university placement year, and will therefore be returning after placement year to complete my course (although I hope to continue running the business over my final year in a diminished form, before returning to it upon completion of my course).
I do have ambitions to eventually develop for consoles; however, due to the costs associated with console development, and the fact that none of the team has experience in this, I decided mobile was the best option to begin with.
I also think mobile is a market which is going to grow substantially in coming years; with Nintendo getting the older generations interested in games, more people with disposable income will want to have access to games wherever they go and are likely to turn to a device they already own to get them.
Initially we began developing a childrens game for PC and Mac. This project was mainly to give the team some experience of development of a game and to develop their soft skills as mentioned previously, we will most likely make this game available on portal websites at some point.
Looking into the future I hope we can develop several more iPhone titles after this one, eventually moving onto developing WiiWare titles as I think this is also a great platform to develop for.
