iPad and iPhone games are generally very cheap or even free, but when Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked about the price points on games/apps eventually going up to $30 or $40, Zelnick agreed that it would be feasible. Zelnick indicated that it's tied to the value proposition and time of usage: "The reason the price point is currently lower for an iPhone app is it is used for five minutes, and not for a hundred hours."
Paul O’Connor, Brand Director for developer Appy Entertainment, told us in an e-mail, however, that Zelnick is wrong. "Price points aren't lower on iPhone because of five minute games -- our latest game, Trucks & Skulls NITRO, clocks in at six hours-plus for $0.99, and our metrics indicate players return to Trucks several times a week, with average sessions longer than five minutes," he said.
"Prices on iOS game are compressed to free or $1 because this platform is at the center of the most competitive entertainment software market in history. Surviving here requires a new kind of thinking that, frankly, most of the console industry has been unwilling (or unable) to achieve."
He also countered Zelnick's thinking that screen size is a big factor. "Display size is a consideration in game development, sure, but drawing a direct relationship between screen size and depth of play is like saying 'movies can only be robust and entertaining when viewed on an IMAX screen.' A larger screen can make an image more engaging but if your game isn't designed to take full advantage of this new, connected (and unique) touch-driven platform, then all a larger screen is going to do is amplify the shortcomings of your game," O'Connor noted.
