That's the key issue. They claim they did work with Apple closely to make sure they were not crossing any line. It seems strange to me Apple wakes up so late in the process with these issues, with the third party having already invested much time and money in the development of the app. Still the reason for the removal is not clear yet.
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Apple Removes Subscription-Based iPad Gaming App from App Store
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I'm not liking the idea of subscription based games.
Developers designing 'cloud based games' will worry about file sizes & loading times, leading to minimising the game, lowering the overall quality. NOT good, I want the quality of games to increase. I don't mind if the models / textures / sound effects etc take up a bit of space on my iOS device if the game is fantastically presented.
Continuously bouncing data to Big Fish's servers will kill battery life of your device surely...
Why make another app store sold through the Apple app store?
What's wrong with the now automatic over the air app updates with iOS5, and a one-tap buying system with the app store fully integrated with your device?
This is a worrying concept for mobile gaming anyway, I sure won't be developing games for this kind of system.
Anyway thats my rant over. 😀
Developers designing 'cloud based games' will worry about file sizes & loading times, leading to minimising the game, lowering the overall quality. NOT good, I want the quality of games to increase. I don't mind if the models / textures / sound effects etc take up a bit of space on my iOS device if the game is fantastically presented.
Continuously bouncing data to Big Fish's servers will kill battery life of your device surely...
Why make another app store sold through the Apple app store?
What's wrong with the now automatic over the air app updates with iOS5, and a one-tap buying system with the app store fully integrated with your device?
This is a worrying concept for mobile gaming anyway, I sure won't be developing games for this kind of system.
Anyway thats my rant over. 😀
Pigumon
macrumors 6502
Any Publicity is Good Publicity.
-Apple approves app
-Sales are dismal
-Apple pulls app
-News outlets report Apples pulls subscription based games
-App gets unlimited exposure
-Demand increases
-Apple re-approves app
-Sales skyrocket
Just a theory! 😀
But really, anything subscription based SUCKS. Except periodicals. 😛
-Apple approves app
-Sales are dismal
-Apple pulls app
-News outlets report Apples pulls subscription based games
-App gets unlimited exposure
-Demand increases
-Apple re-approves app
-Sales skyrocket
Just a theory! 😀
But really, anything subscription based SUCKS. Except periodicals. 😛
Stella
macrumors G3
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)
I'm sure Apple found a problem with the subscription functionality and pulled it ASAP. Apple in which case would be silent and not offer a reason.
As a consumer, subscriptions for games suck - unless it's a MMORG ( but a lot are now moving to free to play and pay for extra content. )
I'm sure Apple found a problem with the subscription functionality and pulled it ASAP. Apple in which case would be silent and not offer a reason.
As a consumer, subscriptions for games suck - unless it's a MMORG ( but a lot are now moving to free to play and pay for extra content. )
thewitt
macrumors 68020
Nonsense. Really, you need to move to Android where your complete hatred of all things Apple is welcome.
thewitt
macrumors 68020
I'm sure you are correct. As the first of what are likely to be a large number of subscription games, using a completely new distribution model, they have uncovered a problem and will correct it before it is either exploited for security or monetary gain.
As for whether or not subscription games have a future, the market will bear that out, as it should.
In my opinion it was a stupid idea in the first place, who would want to pay this much money for some basic games monthly...
Can see how it would be usefull, ie if they release a game every few months that you don't have to pay for if you are subscribed.
Then again, from developers point of view, the upfront payment method is not always the best. If we take Rovio for example with it's Angry Birds game, it has now made as much money from iOS sales as it has from Android, despite giving it away for free for the latter, and expects to overtake it soon as with the ads based model, the revenue continues to tick over.
Either way, the reason why Apple pulled this app is simply because it won't be getting a porting of the monthly sub, simple as that.
Then again, from developers point of view, the upfront payment method is not always the best. If we take Rovio for example with it's Angry Birds game, it has now made as much money from iOS sales as it has from Android, despite giving it away for free for the latter, and expects to overtake it soon as with the ads based model, the revenue continues to tick over.
Either way, the reason why Apple pulled this app is simply because it won't be getting a porting of the monthly sub, simple as that.
Michael Scrip
macrumors G3
Exactly.
For the developer... getting $5 a month from millions of people seems like a goldmine.
But as a customer... I won't wanna pay $5 a month for the same games. I would expect new games to come out every month to even make this service worthwhile.
So the developers have to keep making new games... which costs them money. But... they will probably start cranking out crappy games just to make their collection seem big.
This isn't like a subscription to a magazine where the whole point is to get new content every month.
The collection of games had better be damn amazing for me to fork over $5 every month.
Otherwise I'll pay for a game once and keep it forever.
The Bible is good? News to me.
Thankfully they have the lawless Android platform. At least they can be enormously successful there. Right?
I like the subscription model for music, there is so much music out there, and I lost interest in owning bits and bytes while ago. There is really no value in keeping forever a puzzle game, once solved is done. So, a subscription model may very well works fine, given the availability of a large library of games, as it appears to be the case with this company. Those who prefers to own their games can just buy them, what's the problem in having choices?
Piggie
macrumors G3
The bad thing is, Apple set down rules you have to adhere to.
You develop an App within those rules.
Apple passes it, and it's made available.
Then they change their mind and remove it.
This is a major no no. Can you imagine in the real physical world acting in this fashion.
Here are the legal requirements for making a car, you make a car.
It gets sent to road/safety testing and passes.
A few days later, you get told you can't use the car, and they won't tell you why. They just have decided they don't like it.
I'm surprised Apple don't get law suits against them esp if you have spend many thousands of dollars to develop something and then the rules change for no reason.
You develop an App within those rules.
Apple passes it, and it's made available.
Then they change their mind and remove it.
This is a major no no. Can you imagine in the real physical world acting in this fashion.
Here are the legal requirements for making a car, you make a car.
It gets sent to road/safety testing and passes.
A few days later, you get told you can't use the car, and they won't tell you why. They just have decided they don't like it.
I'm surprised Apple don't get law suits against them esp if you have spend many thousands of dollars to develop something and then the rules change for no reason.
Mac-Joe
macrumors newbie
NO.... NO.... NO.... this can not be... !
This can not be... after all adjusments made (like stated) to any regulation and/or requirement imposed by apple for the app-store, and then someone at apple decides in a dictator like manor that the app will be pulled then that person should be fired from apple... if the submitting company has realy done everything required then this is a very disgusting apple...!
This can not be... after all adjusments made (like stated) to any regulation and/or requirement imposed by apple for the app-store, and then someone at apple decides in a dictator like manor that the app will be pulled then that person should be fired from apple... if the submitting company has realy done everything required then this is a very disgusting apple...!
tatonka
macrumors 6502
On the contrary .. the games visual appeal should increase, since way more powerful machines can be used to render the graphics on the server side. Also more complex gameplay will be possible.
Imagine streaming games like World of Warcraft or Call of Duty to the iPad (ignore the steering/controlling issue for a minute). Those games would never run on the iPad in the first place.
Secondly, playing games kills your battery life more than anything else to begin with. I don't think the streaming part would make it worse much.
A bit plus of streamed games would be that you can stop at any point and later restart the game at exactly that point, regardless of the platform. So you could play on your Mac .. nature calls .. you continue you game on your iPad.
Not saying I would care for subscription based playing, but there is certainly appealing aspects to it.
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Problem with that theory is just that it involves Apple taking steps which make them look rather bad to boost somebody else sales .. don't think that is going to happen.
That said .. I bet the developers don't mind the big media fuzz/free publicity.
T.
gkpm
macrumors 6502
Sorry to the Apple haters out there in macrumours but it's likely there's a solid good reason behind this.
Maybe the app had problems, maybe Apple found some issue in the subscription system when used in games or some legal issue popped up (remember Lodsys?)
Bit early to jump to any conclusions.
Maybe the app had problems, maybe Apple found some issue in the subscription system when used in games or some legal issue popped up (remember Lodsys?)
Bit early to jump to any conclusions.