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[K1lo]

I've taken the plunge and started as an indie games developer - something I've wanted to do for a while and like others on these forums I've set myself the goal of seeing some financial return within six months. I'll not be heartbroken if it's only a small return (i.e minimum hourly rate-ish) as long as it shows potential for growth.

My first project that I've been working on for a few weeks is going to be a Windows only game, I picked Windows as this is the platform I've had several years of experience developing for in the past and the massive install base. Am I potentially making a mistake here? It seems (being the operative word) that the majority of the indie developers who live off their work target iOS / Android and whilst there are many high profile success stories on the PC it seems the barrier to entry is considerably higher. Ignoring platform specific distribution channels, are there big drawbacks to only targeting Windows?

[Schwiggy]

I've heard that there's actually less competition on PC; though you'll be in the competitive land of mining-building games.

The only "drawback" I can think of is development time (which shouldn't really be a real drawback) as people have longer play sessions on PC than mobile.

Oh, wait, there's no single, centralized store for PC. That's a drawback. You need to go to your audience, they won't come to you. But you already knew that, good luck! 

[zalzane]

Choosing the correct platform is extremely important.

When you make a game for the PC, you need to keep in mind that your game is in direct competition with other PC games like TF2, GW2, or whatever else is big at the time. The rude way to put this is that you're going to have a very hard time getting a PC gamer to take time out of their day to play Super Mario Bros on their PC over league of legends. In addition, the method that you'll use for marketing on the PC is very different than something like iOS. For PC, you advertise through word of mouth (usually through steam chats), forum posts, and blogs.

On iOS/mobile it's an entire different scenario. You're competing against whatever the flavor of the month is, whether it be angry birds, jungle run, or whatever the hell everyone is playing right now. Keep in mind that people don't go out of their way to play games on their phones, they usually do it while waiting on a bus, going to the bathroom, or waiting for class to start, making simple, easy to enjoy games much more lucrative. In addition, marketing on iOS is a bit different in that it's harder to advertise on the internet because people can't just click a link and try your game like it's a PC game, they have to go out of their way to go to the whatever app store, download your game, and then play it.

Those are just some of the variables to consider when choosing your platform.

[bateleur]

the majority of the indie developers who live off their work target iOS / Android

I doubt very much that this is really true. A lot of the top mobile devs are very active in the games community and iThings are much talked about because they're a new thing and (according to some) the future is mobile... but there aren't many successful mobile devs at all compared to PC.

Even a lot of the really well known mobile devs whose names you hear all the time are making shockingly little money. Like all of gaming there are isolated stories of people making a small fortune, but they're really not representative.

If you're going to pick one platform, PC is a great place to be.

[K1lo]

If you're going to pick one platform, PC is a great place to be.

That's what I wanted to hear 

[zalzane]

If you're going to pick one platform, PC is a great place to be.

That's what I wanted to hear 

Why did you even ask if you were just waiting for someone to say what you were wanting to hear?

[Klaim]

Like, confirmation from peers that he's not being wrong?

[Muz]

I'm a (paid) mobile developer, and I'd have to say that it's not easy. There's a fucking massive entry barrier. I see people trying to jump onto the mobile bandwagon all the time, and most of them fail. They're entirely different things. And they're really frustrating to work with those people when they apply techniques and experience from PC software into mobile.

Porting does not work. There is no fucking way you can design for one and port it to the other.

Controls cannot be ported. If you rely on controls at all, you're screwed. Mouse-based movement can't be ported - the biggest mistake most people make is that clicking on things to move doesn't work. A cursor is tiny. A finger is huge, and blocks whatever it is you click on. You have to design the UI in a way that can't be controlled via mice, unless it's pressing buttons.

There are no keys on a touchphone. D-pads don't work. Tilting the phone side to side doesn't count as a joystick.

Screens are tiny, but resolutions are deceptively high. You get less than a quarter of info displaying room compared to a laptop.

I am a minimalist; mobile is perfect for me because I thrive in a limited resource environment. If PC works for you, don't change, it will be a waste of time. If it compels you, then go for it.