14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is encouraging developers to jump on Windows 10 bandwagon and create apps and games for both PCs and smartphones, but judging from the success story game publisher Game Troopers, this idea is only partially good.
In a blog post on Microsoft’s developer website, Game Troopers’s COO says that while Windows Phone originally helped them achieve $1 million in the first month on the platform, the desktop then became the key point of focus.
Alex Rodriguez, Chief Operations Officer for Game Troopers, says that the success they had on Windows Phone helped “validate our business model,” but the trend has then shifted towards desktops, with download figures pretty much speaking for themselves.
“The launch of Windows 10 has allowed Game Troopers to publish more of its titles on desktop PC and tablets, and it’s seeing the benefits. For example, the shooter ‘Overkill 3’ has received 2,000,000 downloads on Windows 10 PC compared to 90,000 downloads for Windows phone,” the blog post reveals before getting into more details regarding the way to sell more in the Windows Store.
Windows Phone dropping below 1 percent market share
These statistics actually make sense, and the main reason is the declining performance of Windows Phone, but also the growing adoption of Windows 10 on PCs.
Windows 10 has reached the 20 percent market share milestone for the first time this week while Windows Phone has dropped below 1 percent, so it kind of makes sense for developers to enjoy bigger success on the desktop.
But at the same time, devs who are porting for Windows 10 also need to keep an eye on other ways to make their apps noticed, and the best method for doing that is to become featured in the store.
Game Troopers says Microsoft is helping developers in this regard by featuring the best titles, and this can be a significant boost in the number of downloads, but also generated revenue.
“Our most powerful tool for driving downloads is to get featured in the Windows Store,” the COO was quoted as saying. “Microsoft features our games constantly. We can get the maximum awareness for our games very easily; this cannot be achieved on iOS or Android.”
Although it’s very clear that Windows Phone apps aren’t enjoying the same success as their PC siblings, building universal apps is still worth it, mostly because devs can tackle a growing audience on multiple devices with the same code.