3 ms·

That's true for retail but that hasn't been a thing for most developers since the 90's. And traditional retail includes things like physical shelf space in a r

by blihp 8y ago

scarface74 8y ago
That's true for retail but that hasn't been a thing for most developers since the 90's. And traditional retail includes things like physical shelf space in a real store with real boxes etc. Since the late 90's/early 00's developers have been selling and distributing (PC/Mac) software online where the typical processing fees are usually reported as no more than ~10-15%. Most console games are still sold retail because people want the ability to trade them in. In the early 2000's high speed internet wasn't ubiquitous and most software was still being sold in retail. The app store narrative has been 'look at how much better developers have it than the old days of retail' when the reality is most of the smaller developers could never realistically sell through the traditional retail channel anyways. (there was a lot more to it than the larger cut involved) The other reality is that mobile devices are locked down in ways that PCs historically have not been (i.e. difficult to impossible for most end users to install software outside of the app store) and the only realistic option they had was to go through the platform owner. (i.e. Apple/Google/Amazon/Microsoft) So the app stores have been a net positive for small developers? How many people are (or should be) paranoid about downloading software from a random site and then putting their credit card information on the same random site? How many that are willing would even go through the trouble of entering their credit card number as opposed to just authorizing the payment through Apple/Google? Console manufacturers have also demanded a cut of software sold on their platform since the mid 80s. You couldn't sell a game on a console without having signed code on the cartridge/disk and I believe most of the console makers forced you to use them for manufacturering..

by blihp 8y ago

scarface74 8y ago

That's true for retail but that hasn't been a thing for most developers since the 90's. And traditional retail includes things like physical shelf space in a real store with real boxes etc. Since the late 90's/early 00's developers have been selling and distributing (PC/Mac) software online where the typical processing fees are usually reported as no more than ~10-15%. Most console games are still sold retail because people want the ability to trade them in. In the early 2000's high speed internet wasn't ubiquitous and most software was still being sold in retail. The app store narrative has been 'look at how much better developers have it than the old days of retail' when the reality is most of the smaller developers could never realistically sell through the traditional retail channel anyways. (there was a lot more to it than the larger cut involved) The other reality is that mobile devices are locked down in ways that PCs historically have not been (i.e. difficult to impossible for most end users to install software outside of the app store) and the only realistic option they had was to go through the platform owner. (i.e. Apple/Google/Amazon/Microsoft) So the app stores have been a net positive for small developers? How many people are (or should be) paranoid about downloading software from a random site and then putting their credit card information on the same random site? How many that are willing would even go through the trouble of entering their credit card number as opposed to just authorizing the payment through Apple/Google? Console manufacturers have also demanded a cut of software sold on their platform since the mid 80s. You couldn't sell a game on a console without having signed code on the cartridge/disk and I believe most of the console makers forced you to use them for manufacturering..