A lot of indie game developers have started to release their games on multiple platforms all at once, or shortly after one another. Part of the reason for this is because all of the markets for each platform, be it Android, iOS, PC, Browser-based, and even console, are much more accessible to smaller developers than they once used to be.
Tag: Game developers
Google has decided to expand the size limit for APK files on Google Play. The announcement came yesterday as Google announced that the APK file size limit has doubled, going from 50MB to 100MB instead. This is the second or third time Google has done this since the inception of the Google Play store.
Niantic becomes independent company, set to receive user info from Google which users need to approve
Niantic Labs, the group behind Ingress and Field Trip, are now becoming independent from Google, likely stemming from Google’s restructuring into a subsidiary of Alphabet. They have sent out emails to users indicating not only that Niantic is now it’s open company, but also that they are to receive a transfer of information.
Yesterday we reported on the fact that Ouya basically owes a decent amount of developers a fair amount of money from their Free The Games fund. Because of the deal that went through with Ouya being bought out by Razer, a lot of those developers who qualified for that million dollar fund would not be getting their money. Well that was the case but now things have changed thanks to Razer stepping up to the plate, offering developers a new deal.
Well if the Ouya saga hasn’t been interesting enough for you as of late, today’s news will certainly get your interested and quite possibly not in a good way. After Razer confirmed that the purchase of the Ouya company, mainly the software and the development team, news is now out that the company is backing out of their promised $1 million fund for indie developers.
The creator of Minecraft took to Twitter yesterday to address the free-to-play style of monetization and comments from another game develop, George Broussard, who made Duke Nukem 3D among other titles. The whole thing escalated quickly and actually started to get a little heated it seems.
When gamers are vetting their options for new games, the guiding factor common in the decision making process is how much value a game offers. In seeking an answer to the question of whether or not a game offers a great value, reviews are often a useful metric. User reviews in particular have increased in popularity over the years, so much so that no popular online platform is without a section devoted to consumer feedback for products and services. Consequently, this means that word of mouth diffuses expeditiously and can adversely affect public reception of a product very early on. Content producers are very aware of this fact and many have been caught engaging in all manner of unethical behavior, from deleting negative comments about their products, to banning users from games and services.
Google has announced that they will begin using the industry standard for age ratings on Android games on Google Play. This means Android games will now have a rating similar to the ESRB rating system which is currently used to rate games on PC and console.
The Big Indie Pitch is coming and will be at GDC 2015. Pitch your game, get judged, and possibly win prizes!
Steel Media regularly holds indie Pitch events throughout the year. These are events where developers can pitch a game they are currently developing, to a panel of judges. If you are in the top three then you win various prizes that are meant to help you out with your game’s launch. However, a few times a year there are also Big Indie Pitch events and these are much bigger versions of the regular indie pitches. This means the prizes are also bigger.
This is a conversation that must be had. It is time to talk about the harassment of women in gaming and our role as men in perpetuating this problem. It is time to address the ever present need for equitable treatment within the video game community. It is time for us here at Droid Gamers to join the discourse on GamerGate.