4 ms·

Am I reading that right? 100k lifetime value seems to be near the top end of what you can expect from one app. A reasonable salary at a normal job for a senior-

by Woost 15y ago

Am I reading that right? 100k lifetime value seems to be near the top end of what you can expect from one app. A reasonable salary at a normal job for a senior-level developer is near or a little better than that. If you want to succeed better than you could by working for someone it seems like you either need to be completely serious about releasing new games every 3-6 months(and release hits constantly), or, maybe, not write games (do business apps fare better?) Has anyone tried the minecraft approach on the app store?

Impossible 15y ago
This assumes you only care about money and don't care about creative control and the satisfaction of running your own business. For a lot of indie developers making equal to or slightly less than they would as a salaried developer is doing well, even if you don't have a massive hit that makes $1M+.
- ido 15y ago
  I'm making half of what I did when working as a "hired gun". I consider this wildly successful - I get to work on my games (which I would have done for free anyway) and earn enough to pay the bills.
- Woost 15y ago
  I admit that's the way I phrased it, but I meant to say "Why iOS when you have other avenues if you want to work on your own thing?" In other words, iOS seems to be a very bad choice for someone who wants to make money, when you could do a, say, SAAS web app, or a traditional app. Sure, you probably won't START making the same money as a traditional job with those, but the cap is much higher.
cageface 15y ago
That's what I'm saying. If you make half of what you'd make in salary at a full-time job you're doing much, much better than most indie iOS devs. Hacking on apps may be fun but it's not a smart way to make money. Most people are barely recouping their investment in hardware and the iOS developer fee. It's like one of those mail-in schemes in the back of old comic books.

by Woost 15y ago

Impossible 15y ago

This assumes you only care about money and don't care about creative control and the satisfaction of running your own business. For a lot of indie developers making equal to or slightly less than they would as a salaried developer is doing well, even if you don't have a massive hit that makes $1M+.

ido 15y ago
I'm making half of what I did when working as a "hired gun". I consider this wildly successful - I get to work on my games (which I would have done for free anyway) and earn enough to pay the bills.
Woost 15y ago
I admit that's the way I phrased it, but I meant to say "Why iOS when you have other avenues if you want to work on your own thing?" In other words, iOS seems to be a very bad choice for someone who wants to make money, when you could do a, say, SAAS web app, or a traditional app. Sure, you probably won't START making the same money as a traditional job with those, but the cap is much higher.

cageface 15y ago

That's what I'm saying. If you make half of what you'd make in salary at a full-time job you're doing much, much better than most indie iOS devs. Hacking on apps may be fun but it's not a smart way to make money. Most people are barely recouping their investment in hardware and the iOS developer fee. It's like one of those mail-in schemes in the back of old comic books.