14 DAY TRIAL // The mobile gaming industry is rapidly growing nowadays, due to the ubiquity of platforms like phones or tablets, not to mention dedicated handheld devices, but Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser believes most companies tend to consider this segment purely as a new profit avenue, not one for which quality experiences may be made.
While the triple-A gaming industry is still quite safe and profitable, many analysts predict a growing importance for the mobile sector, as more and more people buy platforms like mobile phones or tablets, not to mention devices like the Nintendo 3DS or the upcoming PlayStation Vita, and want to consume lightweight entertainment on the go.
These consumers will be disappointed, at least according to Houser, who says that video game companies these days just want to make a quick profit from mobile games, instead of trying to push the medium forward.
"This is my personal opinion, but I think a lot of people in the general mobile industry are more focused on making money than making good products," said Houser to Japanese magazine Famitsu, via 1Up. "We're a business, too -- we have to think about how to build revenue and we value the knowledge you need for that, but we want to conduct business with superior products. Focusing on nothing but business is depressing to me; it's boring. I want people to understand that we make games for more than just to make money."
Houser then shared a few details about how Rockstar Games operates, and how the developer, responsible for hit titles like Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption or L.A. Noire, always wants to put quality first.
"Our mobile strategy is not at all different from our console strategy -- in other words, we don't have one," he said. "Our focus is purely on making games that we can be confident on the quality of. We've never made something because we felt it was a business opportunity or because we thought there was some niche in the marketplace we could fill."
Rockstar is getting ready to detail Grand Theft Auto V, the next installment in its hit franchise, although what platforms it will arrive on is still a mystery, while Grand Theft Auto III is set to debut for mobile platforms soon.