[HN Gopher] Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he...
___________________________________________________________________
Microsoft cut off game maker's revenue stream, so he built his own
replacement
Author : aluket
Score : 71 points
Date : 2020-02-15 15:24 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.cnbc.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.cnbc.com)
| speedgoose wrote:
| I don't feel bad for the game developer. Its business model is to
| publish simple classic games, but with ads.
| scarface74 wrote:
| Exactly. I hope Apple Arcade takes a big bite out of ad
| supported games on iOS.
|
| However, if there is an option to pay for the games to get rid
| of ads, I have no problem with him publishing games and making
| money on either ads or people paying.
| elbrian wrote:
| As long as there's an option to remove them, I look at ad-
| supported games as a demo. I'll always gladly pay to remove
| the ads if I like the game enough to play it more than a
| couple times.
| speedgoose wrote:
| The ad-supported version can be a disaster for your privacy
| though.
| nikkwong wrote:
| Plus, a lot of apps don't remove their ad SDK even if you
| do pay to not "see" the ads, so you are still being
| tracked either way.
| iotku wrote:
| >Its business model is to publish simple classic games, but
| with ads.
|
| Is this not precisely what Microsoft is doing?
|
| I haven't played game of solitaire since Windows 7 because I'm
| not going to watch a 15-30 second preroll video advertisement
| in order to play the Microsoft Solitaire Collection.
|
| And I'm certainly not going to pay monthly to avoid ads for
| games that used to be included with the OS without
| advertisements.
| albertshin wrote:
| Have you considered that perhaps it's not the ad itself but
| that it just takes a 15-30 seconds of a delay to maybe
| realize that you're about to waste your time / ease your
| boredom that maybe keeps you from playing?
| refulgentis wrote:
| s/that/"I don't feel bad for the game developer, they don't
| gatekeep with their pricing model"
| catalogia wrote:
| Framing adware as a socially progressive business model is
| nauseating.
| swiley wrote:
| Building a business that relies on a platform you can't function
| without is irresponsible. It's not just bad for you because of
| how fragile it makes your business but it's also bad for everyone
| else because it normalizes it and makes building stable
| businesses harder.
| frozenport wrote:
| Worst case is he paid his dozen developers for a decade. Sounds
| responsible.
| wtracy wrote:
| What's the alternative for native mobile apps today? Roll your
| own smartphone OS?
|
| And yes, I'm deeply frustrated with Apple and Google for so
| forceably locking everyone into their walled gardens.
| BlueTemplar wrote:
| And what are you going to do about it? I'm researching
| Google-free LineageOS and checking out Librem's smartphone...
| wtracy wrote:
| If you think there's ever going to be enough people
| flashing their phones with custom ROMs to support an
| industry of consumer software developers, I think you're
| going to be very disappointed.
|
| Now, if we could get some major carriers and/or retailers
| backing Librem, that could be interesting. I'm not holding
| my breath, though.
| scarface74 wrote:
| Because I know if it weren't for Apple I would be downloading
| Random software from the Internet from an unknown developer
| and giving them my payment information.....
| tomc1985 wrote:
| What's wrong with that? Much excellent software is still
| purchased in just this way
|
| Or is trust a forgotten skill nowadays?
| DaiPlusPlus wrote:
| It's not us I'm worried about - I remember getting
| software for my PocketPC in *.cab form from
| PocketGear.com some 18-19 years ago (wow...)
|
| The problem is everyone else: the non-experts. People pay
| Apple and Google (indirectly) to curate and moderate
| their respective app-stores.
|
| Remember how about 10-7 years ago the web was covered in
| ads for various DVD/video/movie conversion software? A
| small number of companies selling thin wrappers around
| ffmpeg or DirectShow (often but not always bundled with
| spyware or other crapware even if you paid for it) that
| only did one specific conversion (e.g. "DivX to H.264
| Converter Pro 2009" and "WMV to MPEG-4 Converter Ultimate
| 2010" etc). I'd really rather not go back to those days
| for apps for my phone - or anyone else's phone because
| then I'll be roped into fixing people's phones (instead
| of their desktops) and Apple will be there laughing all
| the way to the bank after they get rich selling a phone
| platform that's stress-free to consumers because they
| moderate and curate their App Store.
| scarface74 wrote:
| I don't know - adware, viruses, etc.?
|
| With the tight security of iOS and to a lesser extent
| Android, I know a random app can't do anything except
| what I give it permission to do.
|
| I'll download and try any random crap on my iOS device,
| I'm very careful about what I install on my computer.
| Right now, my home computer has nothing more than the
| standard development tools. My other computer has Office,
| Vuze (for uhh downloading Linux distros), and a Plex
| server.
|
| When you can't even trust the competence of companies
| like Google
| (https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/15235262?hl=en)
| not to screw up your computer or well known companies
| like Zoom not to install an auto reinstalling backdoor in
| your computer (https://www.zdnet.com/article/zoom-
| defends-use-of-local-web-...), I'm very wary of
| installing anything unnecessary on my computer.
| overcast wrote:
| So, computers, phones, internet, electricity? I agree to an
| extent, but there comes a time rolling your own is nonsensical.
| fauigerzigerk wrote:
| I think there are three types of services/markets we depend
| on:
|
| a) Well functioning markets (cars, phones, email, web
| hosting, computers, delivery services)
|
| b) Well regulated markets or public services (electricity or
| telecom in Europe, well entrenched public data such as SEC
| filings, open banking in the UK)
|
| c) Broken markets ruled by all-powerful oligopolists (app
| stores, online marketplaces like Amazon/eBay, game consoles,
| search advertising, social networks)
|
| In terms of dependency risk it's clearly c > b > a.
| notafraudster wrote:
| Sure, but when you start building your business you'll
| probably do some kind of risk analysis and the risk that
| electricity is no longer available is catastrophic but
| unlikely, while the risk that Microsoft discontinues a
| struggling in-app ads system they built as part of their
| largely failed UWP initiative that they've been signalling
| backing away from for the last four or five years is both
| catastrophic and obviously going to happen. Ditto all the
| Facebook game companies that got eaten when that platform
| collapsed.
|
| I know not every dev can afford a PM but every dev can afford
| to take a few minutes to do a risk document and check in with
| it every month or two. It seems to me there really was not a
| good business case for investing in Microsoft's ad platform
| to begin with.
| cwyers wrote:
| ...but he can function without it. He built a replacement.
| ec109685 wrote:
| And there are others if his falls short: https://vungle.com/
| scarface74 wrote:
| You mean like every console game maker?
| GlitchMr wrote:
| I sorta wonder what will happen to ads in Microsoft's own games
| (in particular Solitaire). I kinda hope they will be removed, but
| I doubt that would actually happen.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2020-02-15 23:00 UTC)