iPhone game developer claims iPhone games will be €17 and up
iPhone games will be about $25 each, according to Spanish mobile studio LemonQuest, which is currently working on a game for the platform. Here's CEO Ignacio Cavero, talking to Pocket Gamer:
"We're going to see a new generation of games," he tells PocketGamer.biz. "Instead of being sold for €5 in Europe, they'll be closer to €10 or €12. Take a look at what Apple is preparing for iPhone. Their games will be sold in iTunes for €17-18."
Pocket Gamer says that "Apple has remained tight-lopped about its pricing policy," but apparently neglected to look it up: Apple says that developers will set their own prices with a 30 percent skim.
What's this man up to? Trying to manipulate expectations, so that €15 looks cheap?
LemonQuest talks iPhone, ARM and industry consolidation [Pocket Gamer]
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Just because one publisher decides to sell iPhone games at €15, doesn't mean anyone else will follow suit.
Keep in mind that any publisher* can pick the price point of their applications. Apple takes a 30% cut of what ever price you decide to sell your iPhone app. The only exception is if the publisher sets the price to $0. Apple allows $0 and will not ask for extra money (besides the $99 start-up fee).
I'm going to be very interested to see how commercial game titles will fair when there will be free iPhone games. Any word on SCUMMVM on iPhone as an App Store product?
* Publisher can also be developer of the app. It's who ever paid the $99 publisher fee.
The way I read it, Ignacio Cavero's only talking about the price in Europe: 17€ might equal $25 for foreign exchange purposes, but it probably equates to a US sale price of $19.95.
As for attempted manipulation, I think it's more likely an honest best-guess figure, and it sounds about right to me. For PalmOS and Windows Mobile games, $19.95 is a typical price point for quality games, and I'm guessing the iPhone market will be pretty similar.
super-monkeyball is going to priced at $9.99 says sega