An honest question to creators

[fukmada]

Hello guys, I've been looking at the numbers in $ earned by platform in 2017 and mobile is becoming bigger and bigger over the past 3 years, now it has become the platform making thr most money, yet we don't see anyone making adult games on Android, seeing how the only player right now for adult game on Android is Nutaku, the field seems almost empty for creators to be able to be a major player and opening the field, I get that google play would probably refuse to hold the content but just as PC games do offering the game on Patreon instead would seem to be a good idea. I mean, let's be honest there are games creators out here that do way better job than what is offered on Nutaku yet Nutaku still manage to make quite a lot of cash, so how comes we don't see anyone work on android platform? Seeing as how big the Android market as become I'd expect creators to take advantage of that whole new market that is still fresh for the grab.

I mean, I'm no develloper, so maybe there's a reason for exemple Ren'py not being compatible with Android and creator not wanting to go outside their confort zone or just doesn't know how to create game on android, but there must be some creator out there who knows how to devellop on android right?

As I stated previously, it appears to me as a huge market that is being missed by a lot of people.

 

[DarkCube]

Hello, fukmada

That's a really good question and there're several things to consider: the game engine, the presence of a good programmer/coder in the game development team, the marketplace for that game.

Modern engines, like TyranoBuilder, RPGmaker, VNM and others tend to provide support and instructions on how to export games to Android out of the box. However, it's still a rather clunky process and many devs don't want to bother going through it over and over again for every game update, if we're talking about Patreon games, for example. Some devs prefer to hire more artists and writers while making a game and add programmers closer to the final release of the game or if the project itself becomes too complicated and requires additional management. Only popular games with a rather good budget and support from the community can afford good programmers, which can export stuff to Android and not ruin the whole game in the process.

And finally, the number of marketplaces for adult games is rather limited: you can't sell hardcore content on Steam and Google Play at the moment, and that's where most of the potential buyers are. Nutaku has its own production teams, it also buys content from indie devs and it has enough programmers to adapt content for mobile platforms. Patreon still remains a good place to distribute adult games, but its latest policy changes regarding adult content are bothering.

Just my five cents regarding that matter.

 

[Fasder]

Hi!

I've always been a PC person, I've seen the boom with the smartphone platform but I was very reluctant to jump on that train. And sometimes I still feel like it wasn't the best decision I've made.
First of the app market is a money machine, they will grab at anything they can, I've seen apps that want access to my contacts without actually having anything to do to my contacts. And why is that you may ask? Well there is always something to sell whether it's your positional data, habits or anything in between.
So the intrusion and distrust I personally feel toward most of the industry is part of why I'm reluctant. And like you said you will not get a game of this type on google play. So that means you need to get the APK and install it on your own which is a very bad idea for a bunch of reasons. Mainly you can't verify where the APK came from and who made any changes to it without some knowledge of how this works(which I admittedly do not).
In essence you miss out on the screening process provided by google and thus you might put people's data in jeopardy if not directly then indirectly from encouraging a certain behavior I.E. installing unknown APK's.

Then there are the more practical aspects of making the game. My game is for PC and since I use Ren'Py I can build a distribution for Android. While I'm not really making a visual novel this distribution will use different art assets and generally behave in a different manner(as far as I can tell). Which means I may need to make the same changes twice. I would also need to test things twice and so forth.
We also have the issue of the "experience", playing the game on a 5" phone screen may take away a lot of details in the art or make it close to impossible to make them out.

Even if I had the time and will to make a distribution for android I probably wouldn't. The PC platform is simply just superior in almost every way and it's the platform I know and can work in.
So for me it's not about going outside the comfort zone really, it's that I don't know enough about android to work in it nor do I have the drive to learn about it either. Although I can see the appeal form the consumer standpoint.

 

[Egglock]

Nutaku still manage to make quite a lot of cash, so how comes we don't see anyone work on android platform?

Yes there is certainly money to be made, but not necessary worth the time and effort. Especially when dev teams are small. There is a lot of moving parts when making a game. 3D assets (models, props, misc items), sounds, textures, coding. It's not as easy as slapping on some code, render an image, add some text and call it a day. Dev's have to be mindful of how many poly is on each asset, the texture size, and while being limited to a set amount of poly and texture size they have to deliver an enjoyable and playable game. If they're doing multi-platform, that's doing twice the work.

I get that google play would probably refuse to hold the content but just as PC games do offering the game on Patreon instead would seem to be a good idea

Yes and no, reason being is, most users probably wouldn't want to go through the hassle of manually installing it. Seeing how most games are on a (monthly/weekly) update that wouldn't hold up too well. Now if one is to be ambitious and go about and have their own distributing service for their game that updates on the fly when patches come out, now you have a game worth investing into. But then again, this requires a whole different level of coding knowledge.

As far as my personal view on the matter, I wouldn't bother developing on mobile, as there's too much limitation on what and how I can build my game. Maybe in the near future when mobile can run high end PC hardware I'll consider developing on mobile.

 

[DSSAlex]

I mean, I'm no develloper, so maybe there's a reason for exemple Ren'py not being compatible with Android and creator not wanting to go outside their confort zone or just doesn't know how to create game on android, but there must be some creator out there who knows how to devellop on android right?

You need to download some dev tools but Ren'py can compile android games pretty much out of the box. IIRC there's a few features missing from the android version w/r/t video and transparencies. Mostly you're good to go, though.

I did get a bumb when I released an android version of my game. I was picking up a bunch of patrons that week. I wonder precisely how deep the market is for these.

(I also wish iOS wasn't as locked down as it is, but if wishes were horses we'd have Vermin Supreme's pony based economy by now)

 

[Palanto]

Well our game is a ren'py visual novel and we also have an android version. So I can't speak for the other creators but we do that already so I can't answer your question as to "why" others don't... probably too lazy, but we only release the android for 5$+ patrons (and here in the board of course.... psst ) because I'm compressing the images for it and I've to make slight changes in the code to get it to work right.... So yeah, with a "LITTLE" effort everyone could do it (at least with ren'py )

 

[DarthSeduction]

As far as I know the money in the mobile market isn't front end. It's not from app purchases. In fact, the apps that make the most money are usually free. Where they make their actual money is in microtransactions. The adult industry isn't really the place for that, unless you want really tacky options like outfit swaps and the like to replace actual content. Or worse, a VN where you have to pay a certain amount to get the anal ending or some bullshit like that. Then of course, as another person mentioned, a large chunk of the money in apps is in data collection. This is true in both the sense of selling your data to tailor ads to you externally and in using your data internally to track your habits and likelihood of making a purchase. Many games are deciding when a sale occurs, on what, and at what price depending on the users. It allows them to tailor their market directly to you while making money regardless. Because whatever block of code they're selling you cost them pennies on the dollar.

In short, you're not seeing the adult industry take the cell phone market by storm simply because there's no AAA industry. Its a bunch of indie devs with no power or resources making content more out of passion. Sure, they'd love to do it full time and make a career of it, but most of them know it will never be much more than a side gig.

 

[89tasker]

The reason you don't see a lot of porn games made for a phone is because you need one hand to hold it, and the other to swipe.

 

[Zippity]

The issues that come into play with the Mobile market as compared to the PC/Laptop market, is that how they operate... The mobile apps that make the most money, use micro-transactions... It's easier and faster to make a bunch of money when you make a million players pay a few dollars here and there, then if you charge a much higher one time fee to thousands of players... With this genre of games, there really isn't much in the way of micro-transactions... They are either free for the public to play, or there is a one time charge...

You also have the hassle when making it into an app of worrying about compatibility (as mobile operating systems get updated on a constant basis), file size (most mobile devices have a limited amount of on-board memory space), local laws/regulations (more government agencies are involved with mobile devices then with PC/Laptops), and distribution (most app distributors have their own sets of rules/regulations and fee's to consider)... Unless you have the money and experience to handle the intricacies of mobile app stuff, it's gonna be a tough road...