Not Good News For ( Droid Gaming )

[SEGA]

Joystiq.com and The Washington Post
Gameloft pulling back on Android development

by Richard Mitchell

The unsinkable publisher Gameloft recently revealed that it is planning "significantly cut" its development on Google's Android platform. Said Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort, "We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform," adding that "many others" in the industry have scaled back Android development as well. The reason, according to Rochefort, is the organization -- or rather lack lack of organization -- of its application store, the Android Market. Rochefort stated that the Android Market "is not as neatly done" as Apple's App Store. Rochefort noted that Google hasn't really gotten many Android users to buy products, saying, "On Android nobody is making significant revenue."

To put things in perspective, Rochefort said that Gameloft has sold 400 times as many games on the iPhone as on the Android platform. Of course, it's worth noting that Apple's iPhone has a significantly larger market share than Android. According to a recent Gartner report released in August, the iPhone accounted for nearly 14 percent of the smartphone market, while Android phones accounted for less than 2 percent. With more and more carriers offering Android phones -- notably the recent release of the Droid on Verizon -- the Android market is likely to expand in the coming months. It will be interesting to see how the mobile market changes -- and whether Gameloft and others change their tune -- a year from now.

[Via Washington Post]

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I think it only a matter of time before we start seeing more games coming out. People are already porting apps over, with in a few weeks I see games making it port side.

[iiimegamaniii]

I wouldn't be too concerned--once the market is there / close to the iPhone, more publishers will re-evaluate their position and re-align appropriately. I worked in the games industry for many years, and this is typical business behavior. You'd be surprised how quickly they can change or ramp-up on different platforms.

- Mega

[Backnblack]

didn't really buy my Droid to play games, but it should turn around when the numbers are more in line....

[iiimegamaniii]

When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

LOL That's awesome.

- Mega (Lifetime NRA Member)

[MadisonMarine]

but it will never get close to the volume of sales the iphone has seen..especially if Verizon gets that product..

[nate94gt]

The games for android blow

There was a great crossword puzzle app that i used multiple times daily on my iphone, called crosswords. It was terrific. There are no good crossword puzzle apps for the droid
so i play sudoku daily instead. its a good sudoku app, but its no crossword puzzle