iPhone devs release major games updates

Three high-profile iPhone games have received major updates in recent days, with new levels, characters and content.

Illusion Labs has released v1.1 of Sway, with ten new levels and three new characters, while ngmoco's Rolando has received five new "secret" levels in its v1.1 update.

Meanwhile, Chillingo's iDracula v1.1 gets two new maps, four new monsters, plus new game modes, power-ups and weapons.

This is pretty comprehensive stuff that goes beyond pure bugfixes and gameplay tweaks. But it's quickly becoming something that iPhone gamers almost expect - when they buy a game, new content will be forthcoming in future updates.

The issue for developers, though, is that they can't make any extra money from these updates, which under the rules of the App Store have to be free.

Does it make financial sense to continue producing content for games without getting a return on that investment?

One argument is that such updates build player loyalty, meaning they'll be more likely to buy future games by the same developer or publisher.

Meanwhile, we wonder if some smart developers will build the need for new content updates into the original development process: i.e. create 30 levels for a game, but only release 20 in v1.0, then a couple of batches of five later on.

However, Apple is widely expected to introduce some kind of micro-payments feature in the future, allowing developers to charge for in-game content.

Constant improvement and new features is a staple in the social games world, and is becoming common on iPhone too. Micro-payments could spur the latter's evolution, and ensure more publishers follow what the likes of Illusion Labs, ngmoco and Chillingo are up to.