Heated Debate: Should independent games have a separate section on the App Store?

The topic of indie separation has been open to heated debate at the Pocket Gamer mansion this week.

Do indie developers get a fair call in the App Store, or are promotions and sales skewed towards the bigger releases and publishers?

Would it be beneficial for smaller developers if independent games had their own separate section on the App Store, or would it mark indie releases out as 'not as good as the real games'?

PG indie gaming enthusiasts Mike Rose and Keith Andrew discuss the pros and cons of introducing a divide.

Mike Rose: At the moment, the Top 50 Paid applications shows that 25/50 apps are from big publishers or existing IP that have been ported to the iPhone. The top grossing is far more skewed, with 38 of the top 50 from major publishers.

So could that be an argument for splitting indies apart from the crowd? I mean, at least if indies did have their own section, more might actually get noticed.

Keith Andrew: I doubt that. There are some dance music stores that do something similar - white label 'amateur' tracks in a separate store.

It only needs for one download to be crap for people to decide mentally never to use it again. Everyone feels safer sticking to what they know and trust.

Mike: The thing is, for most of the commercial top sellers, being in the top 25 lists is only part of their success.

They're mainly selling well because people have heard about them before, maybe due to advertising or titles on other games consoles.

The indie titles, however, will rely on the top 25 more. I'd hazard a guess that an indie game can sell well or die horribly depending on whether it breaks the top 25.

Keith: But by putting indie titles into their own top 25, I think you would lessen the impact of making it into that rundown. Mike: Yet on the flipside, more indies would be in the spotlight. So basically what we're saying is, the spotlight would dim, but more indies would be under it. Keith: I think splitting indies from major publishers would be another step to destroying the original feel of the App Store.

It's a path that leads to the App Store being exactly the same as any other marketplace.

Mike: The problem is, that's from the perspective of a buyer. I don't think a lot of devs care that much about preserving 'the original feel of the App Store'.

They want to sell games - that's what they're there to do.

Keith: Independent developers might feel they're not getting as big a slice of the cake as they would from a separate store. But they would soon change their mind when they discovered that sales, in the long-term, actually dropped, and it became harder for their apps to hold high sales.

There would be enthusiasts like you and me who would use an indie store, but the average consumer - who makes up the bulk of iPhone sales - wouldn't take that risk.

iPhone's userbase, a little like Wii, is dominated by folk who haven't played many games before.

Mike: It's worth noting that the average consumer doesn't read reviews and check iPhone sites - they go in the App Store, see a game with an interesting premise in the top 25, and download it. Keith: Indeed, but that's because I'm not sure many really understand the difference between a small outfit and EA.

I think if you make that distinction for them, they'll automatically assume, as most people do, that bigger equals better, and those apps in an independent store would pick up fans aplenty from those of us who like indie titles, but they'd lose the big bulk that delivers most of the downloads.

Mike: But then you have to wonder to yourself - if the average consumer is picking up games based on whether they're in a top25 or not, would they also venture into a top25 indies section and check those out too? Keith: Some would, but as I say, I think most non-knowledgable iPhone consumers would think indie = crap.

Take movies, for example. Independent cinema definitely has an audience, but those films make far less than big Hollywood blockbusters - they have a select audience.

If you were to plant an independent cinema next to an Odeon, Joe Bloggs is never going to venture into it because he's always going to assume that it won't be for him.

If you mixed the two up into one cinema and didn't label the indie films as such, he may well judge them all on merit and almost accidentally watch an indie film every now and again.

Mike: Yeah, I can see how in that respect, splitting them up could work to a disadvantage. Keith: I think many 'average consumers' would be especially surprised if they knew how few people worked on some of the biggest indie games. I really don't think they spend too much time thinking about such things.

The end result is, they treat all titles on the App Store equally - or, at least, as equally as humanly possible.

Mike: All true. I think, however, that the value of an app will definitely mean something to a consumer. If Skate It appears for £5, I think the average iPhone user will think to themselves "that game must be better than a 99p app".

So then, if a 99p app appears next to a £5 app in the universal top 10, will the consumer be more inclined to grab the 99p or the £5 game?

Keith: You have a point, but at least it's there in amongst the big boys. If you take all those 99p games out and plonk them in a different store, you're relying on people who know that low-priced, indie games can be good to pop over and download a few. Mike: Very true. What do we say to indie developers, then, that believe Apple should makes room for more of the undiscovered indie gems of the App Store? Isn't giving smaller developers that feeling of empowerment beneficial in expanding the App Store? Keith: I can understand why smaller outfits would think having a separate section for indie releases was a good thing. It would make them bigger fish in a smaller pond. But I don't think they realise how many average consumers simply stumble on their games as a result of the current set-up.

If you plonk them in a different store, they would rely on enthusiasts downloading them in great number, and they would lose the bulk who aren't willing to risk paying for what they would perceive to be 'amateur' indie titles, however untrue that might be.

We also threw the question up on the Pocket Gamer Facebook and Twitter pages, where there were a few interesting opinions.

Martyn Brown of Team17 (Worms): "Apple independently select what will go up there, that visibility cannot be leveraged or bought by publishers as far as I'm aware.

"I'd have thought that Apple would welcome known and valued IP and promote it accordingly, encouraging more professional, high budget titles.

"I think the fact that Indies can easily develop and publish for AppStore is a credit to Apple, but because larger publishers market and advertise their apps, that's not really applicable for an argument, it's just the way of the world."

Chris James of Pocket Gamer: "It's true that Apple does work more closely with some partners than others and tends to promote their new releases (EA and Gameloft most notable examples).

"Moreover there are most definitely different tiers of influence in terms of getting your app/company noticed by Apple with an inner tier able to co-ordinate marketing, middle tiers having a contact person, outlying level being contacted and the remainder in the wilderness.

"This isn't to pillory Apple, necessarily. With over 200k apps and a lot of one-man bands there's no way they could have a relationship with everyone, but to imagine that the playing field is completely even just isn't realistic.

"That said I don't know if the even playing field is entirely desirable, the Android Marketplace is truly open for instance and look at that, it's not the friendliest place to shop. We consumers like brands and flock to them, that's why they work."

Thaddaeus Frogley: "Putting indie games in a separate section wouldn't necessarily be of any help to developers anyway, who's to say the 'mass market' gamers would even look in the indie section? It could well be counter productive.

"That said, there is room for a third party (such as Pocket Gamer) to publish their own regular list(s) of new/interesting/top selling titles from indie developers, a 'Pocket Gamer Indie Chart', if you like, that gives much needed exposure to original titles from small developers who perhaps can't afford much in the way of marketing."