Not too long ago, there was a lot of talk about tablets as a next-gen gaming system for hardcore gamers. The hype even led to worry in the industry about the PS4 and Xbox One launches: some said gamers didn’t need those boxes, because players were happily consumed with their iPads. As it turns out, though, gamers still like the big TVs in their living rooms.
The conversation has shifted now. The higher echelons of the App Store and Google Play charts are composed of casual experiences, and horror stories of indie developers making no money in mobile/tablets abound. Yesterday’s Apple event barely caused a ripple in the gaming world, and there were no breathless visions of a glorious gaming future on stage or online. There is even a quiet trend of a certain breed of developer moving their efforts to focus on PC, as Steam is a marketplace where core gamers “actually spend money”.
We never wavered from the sentiment that tablets are fantastic gaming devices that have given us some of the best experiences of all time. And a far as we know, select high quality tablet games do make money. So we’d like to send a love letter to these games, simply because we want more of them! It’s not about the business model, it’s not about the graphics, it’s not about adherence to traditional genres. It’s about “full meal” experiences (instead of snack-sized sessions) developed native to the platform. These are the games we spend half our vacation playing – spend some time, and money, on them this weekend.
