Why is there such a lack of good games on the iPad?

[eviljack]

From reading this forum, I hear a lot of people use their iPads extensively for gaming. What is everyone playing? Every time I check the app store all I see is freemium games which I wouldn't touch with a pole (Exception of which being the latest Magic the Gathering) or old PC ports I've played ages ago (KOTOR, Titan Quest, FTL and XCOM) and don't feel like going back to. Why is there such a lack of the more indepth console/PC games available?

There are a lot of minigames but generally they do not keep my interest for more than half an hour. Would be great if devs started bringing better singleplayer experiences to the iPad. Are there any decent full length games that I might have missed?

Sorry if this sounds like a rant but I'm genuinely baffled.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

Easy. Because while people will pay $60 for a console app, they balk at spending $60 for an App Store download.

Thus....Freemiums.

 

[maflynn]

Easy. Because while people will pay $60 for a console app, they balk at spending $60 for an App Store download.

Yep, the race to the bottom created a whole new software category. The clear majority of apps are fremium based and I generally don't buy them personally.

 

[sracer]

Yep, the race to the bottom created a whole new software category. The clear majority of apps are fremium based and I generally don't buy them personally.

I don't mind the freemium model... I have no problem sticking with the "free" part of it.

 

[maflynn]

I don't mind the freemium model... I have no problem sticking with the "free" part of it.

Many of the "free" apps are not truly free. I think the Super Mario game that recently came to iOS is one example of how crippled a game is until you buy more levels.

Then there's the obtrusive ads in other games, and while I understand and agree that developers need to make money, I don't like my gaming experience being interrupted by an ad, and that seems be the latest trend.

 

[iDento]

Easy. Because while people will pay $60 for a console app, they balk at spending $60 for an App Store download.

Thus....Freemiums.

Very true, no one would pay 60$ for a game, then all the DCs, maybe 60$ for online gaming in the iPad.

 

[CTHarrryH]

Also iPads haven't sold anywhere as well as iPhones and their sales numbers have been going down - may change with new Pro's and IOS11. So if you are a developer do you spend you time and energy on high volume iPhone or low volume iPad?

 

[richpjr]

I would be willing to pay much more for a game - if the games were as good as something you could get on a PC, PS4 or XBox One.

 

[pacorob]

There are still games out there on iOS and work very nice on iPads as well for which you buy once and get no ads. But indeed the amount of apps that offer this are realy limited nowadays.

C&C/Warcraft 2/3 (like):
Viking Village | see in App Store by Limitless Fun (free, to get rid of ads you can buy the Wizard for 3.99 euro, once, in-app purchase are optional and not needed, no gems or anything).
Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim by Herocraft (1.99 dollar once, does have 2 in-app purchase though but really cheap 0.99 dollar)
Z Steel Soldier | see in App Store
Machines at War 3 RTS | see in App Store
Land Air Sea Warfare (HD) | iPhone / iPad (1.99 dollar – iPhone – 3.99 dollar – iPad)
Warfare Incorporated | see in App Store
MechCom 2 – 3D RTS | see in App Store
MechCom – 3D RTS | see in App Store
OrcWar | see in App Store - has ad, but you can play offline (turn wifi off) and then ads won't show, no in-app purchases

see also my blog post from August '16. Please do note that some of these apps haven't been updated in a while so I cannot guarantee they all still work with iOS10 but I do have quite a few installed an they work fine.

Racing:
Rush Rally 2
Reckless Racing 2 - no ads, paid, but also has in-app purchase but not needed to play game
Reckless Racing 3 - no ads, paid, but also has in-app purchase but not needed to play game
Reckless Getaway - has in-app purchase but not needed to play game

Tetris / PuyoPuyo (like):
PayaPaya - has ad, no in-ad purchases and unfortunately isn't specically build for iPad, but I love this game

Strategy:
Epic Little War Game (ELWG)

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

Also worth pointing out that within the PC and console gaming world, the biggest sellers are not RTS games. There is definitely a market for those kinds of games and its clear that the iPad lends itself well to top-down and isometric RTS models.

But most console games are heavily reliant on control pads and joysticks, or on PC with mouse/keyboard. Even the best of the iPad on-screen controls, or pairing a gaming pad to an iPad, really still doesn't compete with the console/PC input methods for low latency/high speed gaming. So frankly, I doubt the gaming industry's attention (which is heavily focused on the the FPS MMO these days) is even marginally focused on tablet gaming. It's just not the right platform for that kind of experience. And that means you are attracting far more indie development houses than the focus/talent/$ from the big dev brands out there.

I'm guessing that the economics still favor consoles first, PC gaming second (maybe even third behind mobile gaming) and then tablet gaming comes in about dead last.

 

[pacorob]

I do see a slight shift towards mobile though, however indeed some games actually play a lot better on a console or Pc/Mac (especially if it regarding controls and actually playing on tv screen).