The motivation behind developer Streaming Colour's decision to survey fellow studios on iOS revenue was a determination to right the wrongs of misleading press coverage on the subject.
In founder Owen Goss' words, the only articles on App Store revenue either take the "developer makes millions on iOS games" angle, or they run with a "game makes $0 on App Store" headline.
"I felt it was important that we get a more realistic look at what the market we're developing for looks like," concluded Goss.
Somewhat ironic, then, that the main conclusion drawn from Streaming Colour's anonymous survey of 252 developers is the vast majority have made a paltry sum on the platform to date.
Method in the middle
Using the median figure, Goss claims half of all studios have made a total of $3,000 from their titles. That's not an annual figure, but rather a total to date.
He explains, "If you looked at that as an average, it would be easy to say 'the average game developer has made about $165,000'. However, the median tells a very different story.
"The median splits the developers in half. This means that 50 percent of developers have made less than $3,000 lifetime revenue on the App Store, while 50 percent have made more."
Using the 75th percentile, Goss adds, suggests only a quarter of developers have made a lifetime total revenue of $30,000.
"Conversely, we can see that 25 percent of developers have made less than $200," concludes Goss.
A full rundown of the results can be found on Streaming Colour's 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.
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