More details from a survey of UK developers have been published by trade body TIGA. They state that 64% of developers self-publish, with 52% of them doing so on the iPhone. Of those that don't self-publish, 70% say that they intend to do so. Another interesting statistic is the way digital media is split among developers; only 1% of publisher-owned studios go with digital instead of retail, whereas 52% of independent studios go digital. 72% of self-publishers go digital.
This goes to show that digital distribution is on the rise, and will continue to rise, especially as more companies try to break in without having to take on the big boys. Particularly telling, at least to me, is the small amount of developers - just 16% - that publish on Xbox Live. Microsoft has in the past put heavy restrictions on what they will publish, including arbitrary limits as to the amount of games that independent publishers can have on their service as the behest of bigger publishers. Even games such as Limbo were published by Microsoft. Publishers and developers are like water; they go the path of least resistance, and those paths are where the good, up and coming developers will be found, especially with how out of touch bigger publishers seem to be.
This goes to show that digital distribution is on the rise, and will continue to rise, especially as more companies try to break in without having to take on the big boys. Particularly telling, at least to me, is the small amount of developers - just 16% - that publish on Xbox Live. Microsoft has in the past put heavy restrictions on what they will publish, including arbitrary limits as to the amount of games that independent publishers can have on their service as the behest of bigger publishers. Even games such as Limbo were published by Microsoft. Publishers and developers are like water; they go the path of least resistance, and those paths are where the good, up and coming developers will be found, especially with how out of touch bigger publishers seem to be.
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