It Pays To Follow Trends: iPhone Dev Makes $37,000 In One Day

In the world of game development, everyone wants to make it to the top or at least sell their game and feel a mild bit of success. Developers jump into this industry to express their passion for games and not always to make a million dollars. However, one developer is on the road to a million bucks.

ishootEthan Nicholas, developer of a tank artillery game called iShoot, told Wired.com he quit his job the day his app rose to No. 1 in the App Store, earning him $37,000 in a single day. (wired.com)

Now here is a career choice made for you! He goes on to say that he’d be a millionaire right now if it wasn’t for taxes. We’d also remind him to check out Apple’s cut of the profits too, that might be slowing him down. However, if it wasn’t foir the little iPhone he’d still be working his day job. He’s expecting to hit a million by the end of the year, not too shabby for an iphone shooter game, eh?

He created a ‘lite’ version of the game, much like other developers have, but iShoot Lite shot itself to #1 on the apps charts and his little marketing message “buy the full game for $3.00” was the key he needed. Once people got a taste of the free application they went back for more and now he’s going to be thanking himself for the marketing position he put himself in.

It’s been a few years since a single developer has been able to find gold so quickly, but he did work hard to get to this point. Hustling at night with his one-year old and a dream, he is a self-taught iphone developer who spent hours on the computer desiging the title. Granted, thousands of developers have tried the same move for PC gaming and other such mediums, Ethan Nicholas has proven there is great potential in the iphone along with a few other developers who have found success in the hand-held sector of casual gaming.

Congrats, hope you make it to a million and beyond!

0 thoughts on “It Pays To Follow Trends: iPhone Dev Makes $37,000 In One Day”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Exclusive Artist Deals In Rhythm Games Not Good?Exclusive Artist Deals In Rhythm Games Not Good?

Rhythm games are the new FPS for a lot of gamers, a broader audience of gamers, and the market is thriving and demanding new titles. Harmonix and Activision are at the front of the battle with Konami following a bit behind but still contending (we think) very soon.

Each company plans to up each other with cooler instruments, tighter controls and new in-game options and multi-player fancies. It’s a business and each competitor tries to gain a lead by whatever means needed to win… or do they?

Harmonix stops short when it comes to purchasing exclusive rights to music artists, for now at least. Harmonix’s Eric Brosious went on blogger record saying, “We prefer not to sign exclusive deals with artists because while it seems like the competitive “business” thing to do, in the long run, it’s really not good for anyone. We think we should be working to get more music out to more people.” (kotaku)

As Marky Mark once said, we need “Music for the people” not for in-game exclusives making us choose between Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles. We’ve seen what EA has done to the football franchise by taking control of the NFL roster, money talks and the best game doesn’t always win.

If Activision decides to buy up a ton of great exclusive content and you’re a rock band gamer, you’ll lose out in a ton of great content. For some gamers, that might mean losing out in some artists you’ve never heard before which also means the artist loses out in new fans. We’ve seen younger gamers fall in love with the sounds of Boston and The Police, bands famous way before the birth of many of the Rock Band fan base.

You can tell Harmonix is a development group with roots in music while Activision is a development group with their roots in business. While exclusive access brings you an advantage, in terms of broadening the culture of music, it does very little. Harmonix may be in the right but will that matter in the end when business deals hit the table?

p.s. sorry about the Marky Mark reference, but it had to be done. Bringing out a bit of my own childhood there…

Jack Thompson Says Take-Two Chairmen Must Repent His SinsJack Thompson Says Take-Two Chairmen Must Repent His Sins

The washed up Jack Thompson, also known as the thorn in the side of Take-Two has gone off the deep end. Originally, Thompson would do everything in his power to bring the negative press (and lawsuits) to Take-Two for Grant Theft Auto, Man Hunt and any other game he didn’t like.

Hot Coffee!Rather than allowing parents to utilize the ESRB rating, Thompson found it in his Christian heart to pursue game companies like his own personal holy war. Luckily he’s lost all his power because people finally realized he’s a lukewarm loon with a one track mind. But wait, there’s more!

“Mr. Zelnick’s problems at Take-Two are miniscule [sic] compared to the eternity of punishment that is coming his way unless he repents and accepts Christ as I did 32 years ago this month.” (1up)

When the law doesn’t work out for him, he takes it into Gods hands. He fires right over at the chairmen, “there is no blessing for Strauss Zelnick, who is not a Christian, when he gets what he deserves…”

The game industry was doing well before Jack and it will thrive without him in the way as well. One man cannot change the world, especially when that one man tends to act like a raving lunatic. Parents must guide their children down the right paths, show them life’s possibilities and understand what content is rated for what age. We’ve figured out how to handle movie ratings, we’re sure adults will figure out the ESRB rating as well.

We give too little credit to parents when it comes to making decisions for their children. If they cannot make the right decision on allowing a six year old to play Halo or Resistance, then can we actually trust them to keep a child out of R rated movies or finish their dinner before getting a snack?

Episode 403: Jam and the HooligansEpisode 403: Jam and the Hooligans

The episode is a day late, sorry about that, folks. In this episode, we wish Paul was with us to discuss what he thought of the release of Jem and the Holograms in theaters. The banter is strong, but not overstuffed like last week.

Lots of news this week, however:

  • Konami insists Hideo Kojima still works at company
  • 343 Industries not ruling out PC port of Halo 5
  • Rebellion rescues Kickstarter backers from GRIN’s bankruptcy
  • Classic car combat RPG Autoduel may be making a comeback with inXile
  • Pete Hines: Entire game not on Fallout 4 PC disc
  • Vivendi seeking more shares of Ubisoft, board seats

The Question on the Week: Do you prefer first person or isometric RPGs?