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Indie developer Jeff Vogel will no longer make games for iOS, criticising Apple for its apathy with regards to the problems the firm causes for developers.
Vogel recently released a brand new role-playing game Avernum 2 for iOS but pulled it just a few days later, now claiming he will no longer develop for the platform.
In an interview with VentureBeat, the developer explained that the release of a new iOS firmware update just days before his game’s launch caused “a wide variety of massive breakages”. The only way to prevent this with future updates would be to get a whole new game engine, with Vogel adding that “the likely sales didn’t justify the effort and hassle”.
“Programming for Apple devices has, for the 20 years I’ve been doing it, been a continuous hassle,” he said. “Apple constantly makes the old code obsolete, forcing programmers to relearn and revise everything constantly. Sometimes, these changes lead to better devices and software. Other times, it’s just obnoxiousness with no gain for developers or users.
“It’s something your learn to live with, until you give up.
However, the flood of new releases on the App Store – 500 new titles per day in 2014, according to Vogel – means the iPhone creator is unlikely to do anything about it.
“Apple doesn’t care,” Vogel said. “I suspect that Apple would be ecstatic if 90 per cent of game developers disappear overnight.”
The developer added that he’ll “probably develop for the Mac for a long time to come”, since code doesn’t become obsolete as quickly on this platform, but is unlikely to switch to Android for mobile games.
“Android is really hard to develop for,” he said. “There’s a million different devices and something will go wrong on many of them.
“I’m only one guy. I’m pretty smart, I can hold a lot in my brain. However, I can only maintain mastery of a certain number of things. I would love to release games for Android and Linux but I just don’t have the brain space.”
Have any other iOS developers had similar issues? Let us know by emailing jbatchelor@nbmedia.com.
Image Credit: VentureBeat.
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