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Nicholas Lovell
Home   >   Sandbox   >   Apple reveals iPhone 3.0: lots for game developers to cheer

Apple reveals iPhone 3.0: lots for game developers to cheer

By on March 17, 2009

At a packed press conference today, Apple revealed its new OS, due out in the summer. Alongside some basic additions (cut and paste, search), there are a bunch of key features likely to be of substantial interest to game developers:

  • Microtransactions, allowing downloadable content within an App (I argued how necessary this was on PocketGamer.biz earlier in the month)
  • Auto-discovery, allowing multiplayer games on nearby iPhones via Bluetooth
  • Voice chat in games

There were some useful statistics too:

  • Over 800 million downloads
  • Over 25,000 apps
  • 98% of apps are approved within 7 days
  • 96% of apps were approved in February

And EA was there, announcing that the Sims 3 is coming to iPhone and iPod Touch, with in-app microtransactions offering additional content for $0.99. (Thanks to AppGamer for the lead).

Thanks to the FT’s Chris Nuttall and others for their contributions to the Twitterstream.

About Nicholas Lovell

Nicholas is the founder of Gamesbrief, a blog dedicated to the business of games. It aims to be informative, authoritative and above all helpful to developers grappling with business strategy. He is the author of a growing list of books about making money in the games industry and other digital media, including How to Publish a Game and Design Rules for Free-to-Play Games, and Penguin-published title The Curve: thecurveonline.com