How does releasing games through Apple, Valve, Nintendo and Sony’s digital storefront

http://media.edge-online.com/wp-cont...op-610x343.jpgSwedish indie Image & Form has released games through the App Store, DSiWare, eShop and Steam in the last few years. It makes its PSN debut next month with the release of Steamworld Dig on PS4 and Vita.

Next month, Swedish indie Image & Form will release Steamworld Dig on PS4 and Vita, making PSN the latest in a long line of platforms to host its work. The studio has found success through the App Store, DSiWare, eShop and Steam releases too in the past few years, having started out in web development before moving into edutainment software and then onto making its own titles. Its experience of releasing games across all these digital storefronts varies wildly, each presenting its own benefits, challenges and level of interaction with the platform holder.Image & Form scored its first mobile hit with Anthill, after several attempts – the first few releases “weren’t that great,” says studio CEO Brjann Sigurgeirsson. The developer’s experience with Apple – or rather, the lack of it – suggests that the App Store’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. “So many games are coming out every day and the largely DIY submission procedures are so effective that it’s impossible for Apple to keep up personal relations,” says Sigurgeirsson. “A year and a half after having released a Game of the Week I met my first Apple representative in person, and many developers probably couldn’t tell you who ‘their’ person is. The ‘right’ Apple e-mail addresses used to be hard currency, real bargaining chips.”In throwing its doors open and welcoming all comers, Apple has made it easy for developers to release a game, certainly, but perhaps it’s too easy right now. Sigurgeirsson would like to see Apple raise the entry level to the App Store – “make it a tiny bit harder to become a licensed developer, so that the average quality of the games goes up,” he says.

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