Mobile-first publisher Sandsoft found that the vast majority of mobile developers are working on new titles despite the ongoing wave of layoffs in a new survey.
In partnership with Atomik Research, the Publisher Perception Report interviewed 454 mobile game developers in the U.S., Spain and France with at least five years of industry experience. Of these developers, 70% work at studios with more than 50 employees and 81% are developing new titles. About 60% of the devs working on new games are testing prototypes, a third are market testing and the rest have soft launched their projects.
While developers are optimistic about these upcoming projects, they are also acutely aware of the challenging market. About half of surveyed mobile developers are anticipating more gaming layoffs, while two-thirds are worried about their own job security. Additionally, 44% of the devs pointed to over-hiring or mismanagement as the root cause of the wave of layoffs in games.
In this uncertain environment, mobile developers are scrutinizing the value-add publishers provide. Perhaps it’s unsurprising that devs had mixed opinions on publishers and overwhelmingly positive views on unionization. A third of mobile developers said publishers provided a valuable service, while 27% said publishers take more than they give. In contrast, 60% had a positive view of unions compared to only 3% with negative views.
“In a market where launching new games is exceedingly tough, if publishers are to provide value to game developers, they have to be a force for good. We wanted to better understand the needs, hopes, and concerns of mobile game developers across the industry, so we asked them directly. We’re sharing the findings because we want to see success for the entire mobile games industry, which means helping developers and other publishers better understand how they can work together going forward, said David Fernández Remesal, CEO of Sandsoft.
“If you take one thing from our Publisher Perception Report, it should be that positivity and optimism endure among developers despite obvious challenges. In the quest to make fun and engaging experiences, nothing can be more important than that,” he said.
Why mobile game devs work with publishers
Sandsoft’s report found that mobile devs worked with publishers for a variety of reasons.
When considering a publishing deal, two-fifths of mobile devs said the deal terms were the most critical factor. Beyond this, they also considered a publisher’s capabilities (35%), reputation (32%), and access to capital (31%). Additionally, 88% of developers said it was quite or very important for a publisher to have a diverse team.
On the other hand, mobile developers said the biggest reason to pursue self-publishing is agreeing on deal terms (20%). Other key factors included losing creative control (18%), finding a partner in the first place (16%) and giving up a share of revenue (16%).
Once a deal is agreed upon, developers also provided insights into the services they valued from publishers. One in four of these developers said marketing support was the most valuable service, followed by strategic advice (20%) and access to capital (19%).
Devs almost universally said localization and culturalization is important. While this service isn’t why devs selected a specific publisher, 50% of devs said they were more likely to pursue regional publishing deal than a single global publishing deal.
Moreover, this regional approach isn’t confined to emerging markets. 84% said they have considered a publishing deal to reach gamers in tier one western markets.
Sandsoft’s full Publisher Perception Report is available now. The study includes additional insights from mobile developers on regional markets, top genres, and emerging technology.
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