The Value of Time in a Rapidly Evolving Market

How does one plan a development schedule to a successful iPhone game?  More than likely, a game on a three-month development schedule will end up with stakeholders wanting to add more features and refine the art.  When the game starts to take shape, it ends up that there is just not enough time.

It is really easy to justify adding time to the development schedule without realizing the repercussions based on the speed of the market.   After all, what could the harm be in adding another month to a project that is only three months?

In that one month added to the development time, the market could have changed drastically.  There is no question that the app store is evolving at an extremely fast rate.  From when early adopters first tried their luck with the SDK for the June App Store launch to the market now, we have seen games (and apps) go from simple proof of concepts for iPhone controls to full blown premium games that could rival those on other hand held gaming devices.  Keep in mind it has not even been a year since the App Store officially launched.

That being said, that additional month of development means the game could have gone from potential first to market to being second or third.  The control scheme that was decided on could be invalidated by a newer control scheme that another developer came up with.  And worse yet, iPhone users could have moved on to another game “flavor of the month” without giving a game a fair shot.

Unfortunately, developers do not develop at an accelerated rate because the market itself is accelerated.  That month is a month of engineering in a somewhat unfamiliar space that does not really have “best practices” yet.

In other words, time is extremely valuable in this market of accelerated growth.  Not being able to accurately predict the market when creating development schedules could leave gamemakers in a scenario where they are constantly revamping their game design in order to keep up with the market, or worse yet, being in a situation where they can never catch up.

As game developers we will constantly have to juggle between releasing a game based on our market prediction or accept the risks in adding time to development.  The ability to adapt to a rapidly evolving market in order to make those calls will be vital to the success of any gamemaker.

Allen M