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Apple, Google Vying For Mobile Game Exclusivity
An anonymous reader writes "Here's an interesting look at the battle for mobile video game money between Google and Apple. 'Last August, for the launch of "Plants Vs. Zombies 2," a highly anticipated sequel to a popular zombie-survival strategy game, publisher Electronic Arts Inc. struck a deal with Apple, which promoted the game prominently in its App Store, according to people familiar with the matter. In exchange, one of these people said, EA agreed to give Apple about a two-month window of exclusivity for the title, which wasn't released on Google's Android software until October.'"
It wasn't that long ago that the general app-developer mode of operation was "release for iOS, Android maybe later sometime". If Apple are now paying companies to effectively delay the Android release of their app, perhaps this shows that the mood in the developer community (or Apple's perception thereof) is shifting - in a direction not favourable to the image of Apple's ecosystem as "the" app store.
It only works well when the hardware is perceived to be equal. I've never owned a Playstation, have bought Xbox from the start and own almost every game in the Halo franchise. It's far and away my favorite non-racing game, but at the same time, it's not enough to skew me towards the XBone over the PS4.
I still remember how Microsoft screwed the pooch on the XBone's launch, how clearly they deride the gamers who keep them in business, and I can also see how their hardware is nowhere near the caliber of that in the PS4. So for the first time, when I upgrade it will be to a Playstation and not an Xbox.
And that shows rather nicely that exclusivity doesn't work if your hardware or overall offering is considered inferior by your potential customers.
Most likely they wanted to release it a couple months early for iOS anyway, and found a way to convince Apple to give them free advertizing for something they were going to do anyway.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.