My analysis of the top grossing apps of 2011 yesterday covered the UK market. Today, I’ll look at the US App Store Top Grossing apps, based on the 2011 Rewind feature. Games dominate the appstore in the US,...

The ethics of free-to-play are going to be a big issue in 2012. I’ve already written some of my thoughts on the blog, but I also gave a talk at Develop Liverpool on the topic. It’s also a...

I was asked to give a talk at Game Connection by Chris Kingsley of Rebellion (well, actually, he asked me to submit a proposal to the advisory board). His main beef: “not enough people put actual numbers...

This post was originally published as part of a regular series on gamasutra. It is reproduced here with permission. Retention is the key measure of success for a free-to-play game. This fact should send a frisson of fear...

Most media people think in terms of normal distributions. If the price of a game “averages” £15 over its lifetime, total revenue = number of units sold x average price. The entire industry therefore fixates on number...

Traditional media businesses are all about volume. Every customer pays the same amount, so the only variable that matters is how many customers you have. In the online world, every customer is different. They can pay anything...

"Free-to-play" games have caused intense reactions in the gaming community, with strong views on whether it is an ethically sound way to design games or whether it is slot machines in disguise. When we designed Forever Drive,...