iOS game development edges out Android in new GDC poll

When it comes to smartphone game development, it's Apple's iOS that leads developer adoption, according to the second annual Game Developers Conference State of the Industry survey, conducted last month. Ninety percent of over 1700 North American smartphone game developers polled said they're currently making games for iOS. That edges out Google's Android platform, for which 80 percent of respondents are currently making games. Those figures are virtually flat compared to last year. While iOS and Android clearly dominate the category, smartphone game developers are also currently making games for Windows Phone (21 percent), BlackBerry (5 percent) and PlayStation Mobile (5 percent). Among the more than 2600 game developers polled across all platforms in total, smartphone/tablet platforms were the second-most popular when it comes to games currently in development, narrowly beat out by the PC/Mac category.

Second screen development

One of the rising trends in game development is allowing the ability for customers to play and access one game through a variety of devices. That might mean a second-screen experience such as a companion app, or a Universal app that works on iPad and iPhone. Forty-eight percent of the 2600 developers polled said they plan on making their game playable or accessible across multiple devices. Seventy-six percent of the people who are implementing cross-device compatibility said they would do it via a cross-buy/Universal app. Twenty-four percent are implementing second-screen compatibility, such as a companion app. We'll have a few more interesting data points from the GDC State of the Industry Survey in the coming days. GDC will take place at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California during March 17-21, 2014. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech