How developers will tackle iPad game pricing and universal apps

Pocket Gamer sister site PocketGamer.biz sat down with a handful of iPhone and soon-to-be iPad developers to chat about the forthcoming iPad app pricing war, and how they'll be dealing with the choice between universal apps and separate iPad editions.

As Pocket Gamer's own Tracy Erickson pointed out in his "5 unanswered questions about iPad" feature, iPad app prices are already all over the map. While some are racing to the bottom right out of the gate with a 59p launch price, others are setting their prices a little higher with $5 and $10 games.

"We'll do our best to give iPad a healthier marketplace than the 99c-$2.99 pit the iPhone App Store is in right now," states Jani Kahrama of Secret Exit, which is releasing Zen Bound 2 exclusively for iPad.

Zen Bound 2, and Trenches from Thunder Game Works, will both cost significantly more than their iPhone versions. "There has been significant work done to justify the increase," Kahrama says of Zen Bound 2's price, which will be over $4.99.

Wayne Whatford, CEO of Revolutionary Concepts, which is releasing Frogman for iPad, is worried that the iPad price scene will mirror the iPhone soon enough. "It all hinges on the developers," says Whatford. "It only takes one to start the race to the bottom. Sadly I think the prices will end up the same as on iPhone."

Its a sentiment shared by Howard Tomlinson, CEO at Astraware. "I can see a drive-to-lowest push happening early on, before the market begins to get sensible again," he says.

Another issue on developers' minds is the choice between a universal app (where the same game will run on iPhone and iPad, but show different graphics depending on the device), or creating separate apps for iPhone and iPad users.

"It will be hard to do a universal release without either having a price that's too low for iPad or too high for iPhone," says Adam Meyer, creative director at Studios, which is releasing Super Shock Football HD for iPad. Meyer doesn't want people having to pay more for content they can't even access.

James Brown of Ancient Workshop is going one step further, though. The iPhone version of Ancient Frog will become a universal app, while a separate version that's significantly reworked and packed with new features will be made specifically for the iPad and sold at a higher cost.

The iPad will launch in the UK in late April. Latest rumours point to April 24th.