With the role and value of publishers on the App Store becoming a hot discussion point, with the emergence of developers-turning-publishers such as Tag Games, we fired some questions over to one of the most experienced iPhone publishers, Freeverse.

As well as its own projects, the US company has had success with thirdparty games - currently with Graveck's Skee-Ball climbing the US chart.

It has a longterm deal with UK developer Strange Flavour (Flick Fishing, Grunts), and in future will be publishing On The Rock's Thor too.

Veep Colin Lynch Smith gave us his views on the subject.

Pocket Gamer: How do you source the iPhone games you publish?

Colin Lynch Smith: We're very selective about what we publish since we're definitely not looking to publish dozens and dozens of titles.

We look for great gameplay, compelling art choices, and a good mesh with our own producers and creative teams. We're looking to build long-term relationships and partners, rather than just publishing single titles.

What skills does Freeverse add as a publisher?

We're developers ourselves, and our internal teams are really pushing the limits of the platform with projects like Warpgate, so we can often help on the development side with technology, art, and advice.

On the publishing end, we have dedicated marketing and PR folks and a certain economy of scale that allows us to afford to have people just focus on that end of the business.

I think all the things we've learned during past game launches, both the things that worked and the things that didn't, are also pretty valuable.

Still, after struggling for years, and eventually managing to establish retail distribution for our boxed Mac titles, we know what a huge blessing the App Store is for developers. If a developer decides to go it alone, we think that's great.

How does Freeverse balance its internal development work with its publishing role?

We've actually only had them help each other. Our teams can be inspired by what the outside teams are doing and vice versa. We make no distinction in the marketing between internally and externally developed games.

How does the business model work?

That really depends on the individual developer, the title, and our vision for it. We try to be flexible and take into account what the development team needs and wants.

And like I said, we're looking for long-term partners... so if we think a developer is talented enough for us to work with them, we are just as interested in their next game as the one they're pitching us. So at the end of the day, we both have to be happy with the deal.

Why do you think there's a longterm role for publishers on the App Store, as developers can self-publish?

In any marketplace, especially one with the level of competition we see on the App Store, developers will look for any competitive advantage they can find. A publisher with the expertise to give a game a better chance of success will always be attractive.

Some developers will feel that kind of insurance is money well spent, and some developers will roll the dice and go it alone. There's no wrong answer.

Thanks to Colin for his time.

You can keep in touch with Freeverse via its website and twitterfeed.