Windows Central has learned that Kabam, one of the biggest mobile game developers, has decided to stop making titles from the Windows Phone platform. This decision represents a complete reversal of Kabam's original plans to support Windows Phone after previously announcing a major push to release games for Microsoft's mobile OS, along with Windows 8.1
In June 2014, Kabam announced their plans to release many of their current games for Windows Phone and Windows 8.1. Here's what they said they would do in their original press release:
"As part of the deal, Kabam will deliver its lineup of hit games to Windows tablets and phones over the next year, including Fast & Furious 6: The Game, Dragons of Atlantis: Heirs of the Dragon and The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth. Moving forward, Windows users will be able to play future Kabam games in the same timeframe as other platforms."
However, since that announcement, Kabam had been slow to fulfill that promise, to say the least. Indeed, it wasn't until November 2014 before the company finally released its first Windows Phone-Windows 8.1 game, Fast and Furious 6. Since that time, Kabam has not launched any further games for Microsoft's platforms.
Since it has been over ten months since that original announcement, we contacted Kabam to get a status report on their Windows Phone game release plans. We received an email response from their head of corporate communications Steve Swasey:
"Kabam is now concentrating development on AAA quality games for Apple and Android mobile devices and has decided not pursue development for Windows Phones. Kabam is concentrating its resources on the biggest market opportunity, which is Apple and Android devices worldwide."
This is obviously some disappointing news for Windows Phone gamers who had been looking forward to playing Kabam games on their devices. Hopefully the company might consider launching games for Microsoft's Windows 10 platform in the future.
Reader comments
Kabam abandons Windows Phone development after releasing just one game
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Time to admit it: Windows phone is a dead end.
P/s : download game bigool 2015 for mobile
no they will not consider launching games for Microsoft's Windows 10 platform in the future....the platform is at a dead end it seems...almost 5 years and instead of rising is declining without stopping...i bought nokia 1520 last year ,i was hoping that windows store will grow more with apps and games ,but instead it grows with game guides,game walkthroughs etc etc.....i barely see anyone ...except me... have a windows phone and even if you see anyone it will be a 520/530/630 ...thats it.
Just 3% global market share ??? who is going to write an app or even worse a good game for the platform from now on...i hope gameloft to keep their games on windows store at least.
Not for nothing people I see 3 times more games and apps being introduced or updated then being removed from the store.
bitches...they shouldve at least try to be nice with their statement
I think windowsphone is dead with those matket share numbers and guys trust me experience on competitive platforms is much much better we shouldn't be a blind fanboy.
Posted via samsung galaxy S4
FOLKS THINGS WILL CHANGE FOR THE BETTER FOR WINDOWS DEVICES BECAUSE NOW YOU CAN BUY A 7 TO 10 INCH WINDOWS TABLETS AT PRICES AS CHEAP AS ANDROID CHEAP TABLETS. MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE BUYING WINDOWS TABLETS AND ARE FINDING THEM OK TO USE. I THINK THAT MICROSOFT MAY HAVE TO CREATE A LARGER IN HOUSE DIVISION OF PROGRAMMERS TO MAKE WINDOWS APPS AKA UNIVERSAL APPS INCLDING GAMES.FOR MICROSOFT DEVICES. FOLKS IF I MADE PAST APPS FOR WINDOWS SMART PHONES i WOULD NOW LEARN HOW TO MAKE THE NEW ''WINDOWS APP'' INSTEAD OF ANY OLD TYPE WINDOWS 8 PHONES APPS BECAUSE A 'WINDOWS APP' CAN BE MADE TO RUN ON ALL WINDOWS DEVICES INCLUDING A WINDOWS SMART PHONE WITH A FEW MODIFACATIONS. I THINK WHY DEVELOPERS LIKE TO MAKE APPLE AND ANDROID APPS IS BECAUSE IT IS EASIER TO MAKE THEM RUN ON A SMART PHONE OR TABLET
Maybe because Windows OS has 2 platforms: phones and PCs. This makes it harder for them to release the games for both at once. They want to gain as many commercial benefits as possible. Also that we have many screen sizes, amount of RAM... makes the developers put more effort on releasing the apps, and they just give it up. Just my guess. I will still be loyal to this OS. \m/
Geez, I guess I'm an old foggy. I have a few games on my 1020, but that sure as hell isn't why I got it. I got it for the camera, the ease of access Exchange and office, and the very good social media (FB, Twitter, 6tag, etc).
Don't give a fuck about shitty mobile games, LOL
Lol aspdev is such a troll, just trolling comments to spread negativity sad little man
I'vve said it before and I'll say it again. I don't need the latest apps! I love the Windows Phone experience, and yes I have owned both Android and IOS devices. What matters to me is hardware. I want a nice phone, with a kick ass processor and decent battery life. If MS keeps producing budget phones that deliver on price but not on specs, they will lose this customer. My 1520 is getting a little long in the tooth, but I have yet to see hardware from Andriod and Apple that steals my heart. (The Galaxy s6 comes close though, even with the TouchWiz devil!) Hey MS, I hope somebody's reading this. I need a good flagship soon!
Why do you need a processor for, with no desired games or apps? That's kind of like saying, "I want a nice hot girlfriend but I don't want to see at her."
I was a hardcore android user for 5years...I switched to windows this year hoping that sumthing new and gud will be there..but everyday I read ur posts I find only sad news...seriously..I was waiting for the game fast n furious legacy on windows..
Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
You may want to go back to Android. The next step is to make Android apps and games available to Windows Phone through some adjusting. That is if Windows 10 doesn't do what it's intended.
fuck Kabam
Facepalm, a big facepalm. Yes, Windows 10 is one OS for all device. Universal apps have the ability to run on all device, theoretically. Compatibility? Optimization? Do you really think that you can get things like COD, Halo 5, Battlefield or Forza Horizon on your phone? Nope. That's about compatibility. Developers can write one universal app for Windows PC, but it will NOT immediately be compatible with phones. It requires optimization. Universal apps mean that one app can have scaled versions to run on all devices, not just one version for all. In short, it-requires-optimizations, and that's up to the developers.
About market share... Have you ever seen iPads in a mobile market share chart? Yeah, they run iOS, same as iPhones, basically similar to that of Windows 10. So what? Smartphones are smartphones, PCs are PCs, they run same OS, but different versions, and are different types of devices. Make it clear. OS may be the same, but PCs will never be the same as phones.
If you still don't get it, or don't want to get it, then keep believing.
The strategy of releasing 200 version of the same low end phones for low-disposable ncome customers is not having the wild success everyone predicted?
I wonder if anyone in Microsoft is actually aware that developers are running away from their products
It is expensive to develop and support an application on any platform. When companies make these decisions it's generally because the risk of losing money is too high. A few companies can afford to run in the red in hopes for profits down the road, but most app developers probably can't. The only fix to this solution is to gain market share.
I agree that Windows 10 provides an opportunity for developers, but mostly for those where the app makes sense on a Tablet and/or phone. If it only makes sense on a phone, Universal apps won't matter in the decision process, only the market share of the phone.
I will be amongst the users that support Windows Phone, I think it's way to good and important to abandon. Not having any competition except for Google and Apple will not turn out well. Microsoft is the only one that respects their customers by making their services available on all platforms. I personally will rely on Microsoft Ecosystem to prevent lockin.
Then make Fast and the Furious 6 that I don't need a net connection to play the game if your going to abandon Windows Phone, Kaboom !
Don't want their stupid games anyway
I am sorry. I love MS, always hated Apple and Google. But, WP is not going to make it. Most people hate the tile interface. If they had released their first iteration of Windows Mobile 7 way back when, they would have kept Google at bay. Since they already had a market, and people were familar with WM. But they canned their icon interface, took a long vacation and let Google take their place. Until MS gets rid of the tiles, no one will use their products. Look, they added tiles to windows mobile, it died. Then to Windows PC's, they are suffering. Then XBox One, it is running behind Sony. The tiles were a very bad idea.
You're a bad idea
Windows mobile wan't tiled, and it wasn't going to win against iPhone. Tiles are brilliant, but there have been some rough transitions on the desktop side of things. The phone and microsoft band show the power of a tile based interface, it's easy and a pleasure to use.
You hate the live tiles? I think that's the best part of Windows Phone. Granted, the PC version isn't up to snuff on Windows 8.1 or 10. I can't wait until people are happy when Microsoft just throws in the towel and makes a forked version of Android.
I didn't say I hated the tiles. But, most people want their phone OS to look like Windows 95. When I had windows phone and showed how much better the OS was than Android, people would comment that they didn't like the tiles. And the tiles made it too hard to understand. Most of the people I know who have Android, leave the phone as it came out of the box. Never realize they can remove or add icons, and widgets. Hell, most never even figure out how to change the background...You wouldn't believe how many I work with, switched to iPhone because they thought Android was too complicated. That is what MS is up against. They don't stand a chance....
Yet HTC and Samsung aped the tiles idea.
Who plays these feeemium games anyway? The less of this garbage in the store the better.
All this negativity. There are more phones selling now than ever and more opportunities for those that do support the platform to be the ones making the sales.
The odd app here and there won't change anything and when there are enough phones they'll be back.
I don't know the specifics but, from that quote, it sounds like they're contractually obligated to release at least 3 games over the course of a year on windows phone from whenever that presser went out. Are there more details on this?
"As part of the deal..." What's this deal they were talking about? We're missing some information here. Who reneged on what that they decided to abandon WP?
If only we could get something close to 100% of the Windows for phones user base to download apps and games from these major publishers when they finally dip their toes into the Microsoft waters. Yeah, it's a small pond yet, but if EVERYONE in that pond downloaded your shit, wouldn't you and other developers reconsider the meaning of market share? I think we should all download the game right now. See how many votes we can get for them to stay. I was hoping to see Middle Earth...
Windows 10 won't change everything but lets just hope that it will change something.
If you look at the app updates on Android now they look like windows phone apps.
Windows phone has it developers not trying
I still think there is a good posibility that Kabam, some of the banks, and others who published or promised to publish apps and then walked away took incentives in some form from MS and then reneged on the deal. Its not like MS could take them to court even if the other party was in breach of contract. The PR cost would be huge. I can see the headlines: "Microsoft sures to force xyz to develop apps for their failed phone platform.".
They should pull back fast and furious 6 also,because their only game launched on wp also don't work.shame on kabam
Without apps, users will not flock to an ecosystem, especially a new one. Unfortunately, today, apps come first. Users follow. Microsoft's only hope of getting their mobile platform off the ground is to somehow get Android apps running on Windows Phone while not having Google pursue legal action. People will go where all the apps are and that is not Windows Phone. This is a huge problem.
Ah whatever. I just love WP. Thats it.
One by one everything is leaving windowsphone platform
I guess most developers want windows phone to fail, so that they dont have to make extra efforts developing for a third platform.
I hate to agree with this statement, but I think there is some validity to this. Why would the masses of people care if there are three viable mobile OS? Would it matter if there were 4 or 5? Why must there only be 2? I do understand the degree of difficulty a developer has to take on to develop for all the platforms, but there is more marketshare for WP than most sites lead on. It is 4.8% in the US and in the 14 percentile in some European countries. This equals millions of people. Why not develop for millions of potential cutomers? If I had the skill to do so, I would develop for any and everything I could or at least hire others to do what I could not handle on my own. Leave no penny unearned!
If this developer wanted WP to fail, they wouldn't have made a game for it. Fast & Furious 6 has only 325 reviews on the WP store, and over 1 million reviews/10 million plus downloads on Google Play.
It's not disappointing, it's frustrating. I hate to join the bandwagon, but after my contract is up, I'm switching to Apple.
Same ol story, different day. At least the Blue Devils won. GO DUKE #L1520
Go Duke! (class of '01)
So they introduce a bug-riddled game, and then cry when they get slammed in the Store and nobody wants to pay for their turd? Good riddance!
Windows Phone Windows Mobile IS NOT DEAD! Stop saying it is people. Its dead when Microsoft says they are no longer pursuing mobile market share so stop feeding the negative press monster wp Scooby snacks
This is a devastating blow to our platform. I really hope that windows 10 changes the minds of DEVS because I would hate to see windows phone become a novelty item
Devastating blow? It is a free to play studio, their whole business model is churning people through a repetitive game and hopefully convincing a healthy percentage to pay for upgrades. Most users leave in a few months so they need a large install base. If anything I think it shows WP users aren't that gullible.
Windows Phone is NOT dead! People need to stop saying that. It is that attitude that ruins any kind of intelligent discussion. Per the latest Kantar Worldpanel market share study for the 3 months ending on Feb 2015 maret share for WP is 4.8% in the US and higher in many European countries: France - 14.2%, Italy - 14.4%, Germany 8.8%. (source: http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/smartphone-os-market-share/) This equals millions of people. It is not only percentages that matter. The sheer number of potential customers matters too. Who wouldn't wany millions of people to have access to their app? The ones who don't are who I don't want to support. Who thinks Rudy Huyn has not made any money from Windows Phone apps?
I hardly play games on my phone. I don't buy phone for games. I chose WP because of the OS security and the way it is, UI etc. The way I see it is like WP is more business oriented the the other OS's.
I think MS must release its on games to rival those released by these quitters.
I'll just wait for Win10. If nothing changes (about apps), then I'll buy an Android phone. This is really sad.
Quite honestly, who cares, I would rather spend money on a upfront purchase, than more of this free to "play" crap.
Don't care! I will survive, and so will WP... I'm pretty sure they aren't the only ones making games.
If you think about it, it makes sense from a business perspective. I'll sight Autodesk as an example. Many years ago AutoCAD was available on PC Unix (many flavours) and Mac. Unix died away leaving only PC and Mac... Autodesk then dropped Mac for many years. Not enough users. Only recently have they started making AutoCAD again for the Mac. But not the main products like Revit or Civil3d. However they make apps mostly for IOS and Android with very little WP apps if any. Businesses build software for prevalent platforms. If they are smart they branch out as users demand. AutoDesk for example is listening and is Beta Testing new WP apps. So toward thinking company's respond, but closed minded do not. Example is Snapchat, they are closed minded.... Screw them.
Another
Wow, lot's of negative Nancys on this post! So what if some are leaving? I think they would pull an app in favor of devoting their windows teams to creating universal apps on Windows 10. Let's say even that isn't true and they are just pulling away from Windows all together. That means as a company they decided that the screen most people spend 8 hours a day working on should not have the ability to use their app. Let's salute them for that level of ignorance by marking this as the point at which their failure began. Everyone thinks we will all just live on phones and tablets and our work computers are just going to fade away but I think the recent market total still has windows running on over 90%. I also know that anecdotaly, many in my family have Androids and iPhones and tablets running whatever but we all still have Laptops and Desktops in our house that we go to all the time and act like the 'main' computing device we use.
Furthermore - Apple has been plugging away at the desktop/laptop market with under 10% since the nineties (maybe earlier). Should they have given up? I think at the very least Windows Phone should hold on as a niche player - but I still think it will eventually replace Android because Google just gives me the heeby jeebys as a tech - so I think the general populace will get that feeling too soon enough.
Well said! ;)
Well, it's not the fact that they aren't doing it, it's the thing that they said they will and now that they won't.
IDK, makes no sense. Anyway, good luck to them on android/ios markets..
Sorry, but anyone wasting their lives playing games on a small form-factor device like phones needs to seriously think about life in general. Nothing better to do? What would these people have done 10 years ago? Hit their heads against a wall?
Well said, games on phones are lacking a lot by default.
So only TV screens are suitable for games? Poor excuse, try harder.
You don't get the point. WP is a business phone and has the best business apps and the best integration with desktop systems. Kids running around with android systems are just not a target market for MS and I doubt they'll ever be - unless the can connext XBOX and WP - so a play-everywhere thing. I doubt that anyone buying a WP does it because it is superior to others for gaming. So why bother ... look at the kids playing those games - future zombies. They come and go with a trend. Same for games - hype today, dead tomorrow. So why bother ... it's like watching movies on mobiles ... ever noticed the difference with a real movie theater or home entertainment?
Sorry to say this but just because YOU only use your phone for business doesn't mean that everyone else is the same as you. We all use our phones for different things and you just berated gamers for playing games on what you consider to be a business only device.
WP is losing badly in the business space and MS's apps function very well on iOS.
Moreover, handset gaming is a very lucrative business. Just not on WP.
Match 3 style are awesome, low commitment games that are shitty on a big screen though...
I enjoy my Windows Phone experience more and more each day, this news changes nothing for me and even if gameloft went, id say the same, triple A game titles on a phone aren't ever as good as I want them to be on any device anyway, so as long as my phone does the things I want it to, which windows phone does better than any other OS, ill stay and buy the beautifully cheap devices (because they strive to get them into our hands more than Samsung, iphone etc) so bye bye kabam and screw you to the next leavers.
I think the dead horse has been beaten so severely that he's just a pile of dust.... When are we ever going to get some good news for a change?
I don't give a shit
Ahhh the sky is falling, yeah right... Who cares they stopped development for 8.1 and windows phone... I don't...they will regroup for Win10... Business is all about making money and capitalizing on opportunity.... Opportunity is coming with Win10 universal apps..
This show the backward ness of windows phone
"biggest market opportunity, which is Android and Apple devices worldwide"..... But it isn't. In some countries WP is leading or in second. Maybe they mean global share, and not on a case by case basis, but still....that seems like a weird way to look at it. But alas, that's how most look at it. Actually, I don't think that's even fair. I think most just look at US and assume that represents the world or the best opportunity. I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but there is a lot more on this globe besides the USA and 75% of it is water.
How is WP selling well in a few countries bigger than the worldwide numbers for ios and android? Doesn't make any sense at all.
The US is where handset makers and devs make money. More disposable income, higher spend rates. Pushing low end phones in random countries is a losing angle.
I think its got to do with less OEM for WP...less OEM meaning less choices= less phones = less consumers = less apps.
Windowsphone hasn't yet caught with android (although i like WP over Android)...However with Win 10, WP will b at par with android, if not better....But still MSFT must allow OEMs to have their way with the OS (only in some features like appearance etc) so that atleast the devices will look different...Then hopefully WP will gain market share
While there is certainly something to both the idea that we gain more apps than we lose each day, the dreaded "app gap" is the elephant in the room and has been since the first iPhone back in 2007. I'm a Microsoft die hard and resist anything Google or Apple as I've seen failures on both platforms on the business side of things.
However, today's consumer and game-player is now tomorrow's business decision-maker. It's easy to forget that. We have yet to truly see how Apple's dominance in the mobile and app store will affect business decisions in the future. Microsoft MUST leverage their capital made from their business dominance to make their app store a true player.
That means offering outrageous things like allowing the devs of "pay" apps to keep most or all of the revenue from those apps. It means paying Chase bank more than Apple would pay to bring back their app and then pay them bonuses to subsidize development everytime it is updated with new functionality and otherwise kept in line with the iOS and Android variant.
When one is as far behind as Microsoft on apps, with Windows 10 around the corner, it's time to back up the money truck to the app developers' door and to the corporations' loading dock. Offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade helps, but not if we keep losing major apps and there is no incentive for a developer to launch apps and keep them updated for our platform.
Totally agree. And they need to make partnerships, offering enterprise price cuts, to get companies to push a WP app. And most of the companies are not even devs. They merely pay a dev outsourced, to build apps for them, and that does not typically include WP. That is what Microsoft have to change. I think there are enough indie one-man devs like myself, loyal to the platform but that is not where the problem lies. I love the idea of devs getting 100%... Besides being a great prospect, I really think it is necessary too.
Yes, good to hear from someone who is actually a developer and can speak to this from an informed perspective. I also agree with what you say regarding offering Enterprises like Chase Bank an incentive on the software licensing side to keep (or hell, even FAVOR) a Windows Phone and Windows 8.1 universal app. That's something that big business actually cares about-- as Microsoft has ALWAYS received tons of money from them from software licensing. Heck, it's a good chance that the these companies are even a bit jaded against Microsoft for this very reason-- so give them a break there in exchange for market share opportunity.
Then, just as you said-- give incentives to the app development companies that make it lucrative for them to ask the business "What about us getting you a Windows Phone app at the same time that we get you one for Apple and Android? I hear that Windows Phone users are very loyal and have boycotted companies that won't bring an app to their platform!". Yeah-- you want them doing your marketing for you and making that point until the Windows Store is a player.
Your move, Microsoft. Ignoring this troubling trend is tantamount to writing to death sentence and negative press for Windows 10 before it ever reaches RTM. Windows 10 won't reverse this trend on it's own any more than Windows 8 did-- yet the success of Windows 10 DEPENDS on the quality of the Windows Store. I'm a loyal Microsoft consumer and business owner-- recommending Microsoft products almost every day to big corporate and to SMB. However, I'm not an ostrich and I won't insult my clients by asking them to stick THEIR heads in the sand. I WANT BADLY to be able to show every client that we have WHY they should choose Windows Phone over iPhone.
The world of software is the old world. The new world is a world of apps and the cloud integration of those apps with software and service.
Jesus Christ...
... Superstar!
I understand why they are doing this but fuck them for promising to deliver their games and then backtracking on their promise. And not even give us an announcement.. "Just let them wait and maybe they'll forget about it.." Pricks..
Even Microsoft is jumping ship ...they realized WP is dying ..thats why they took their apps to Android and IOS...and no ,nobody cares if they don't have office on their platform..that wont make them switch to WP
Kabam? LoLz.. What's that? I support Gameloft! Coz Gameloft supports me..
Android and iOS market are flooded with Cracked Games.. So, even if they do earn money, it still a lost.. Hahahaha.. Goodbye suckers!
Yeah. We got it the first 2 times...
Why would ppl switch to windows when they r getting every damn Microsoft app on android n ios... No user base gonna increase...
Makes sense
Just think... just ONE universal app game with Windows 10 would open them up to all the XBox One owners out there, plus HoloLens, Windows Phone, tablets, laptops, desktops, surface hub, etc. Their loss. Considering the the ROI for a game to cross over to an actual gaming platform like XBox One would be more than enough of ROI, and then adding the rest of the platforms that it would reach, they are nuts if they don't do Windows 10 Universal.
I don't feel sorry for people who are blind to the future.
Keep in mind the "write once, run anywhere" platforms are rarely as easy to develop with as one might think. You still have a lot work to do to get UIs for each target platform. Most though, won't put in that kind of effort, and like Java and the web before it, you'll end up with sub-par products across all platforms.
Kabam? LoLz.. What's that? I support Gameloft! Coz Gameloft supports me..
Android and iOS market are flooded with Cracked Games.. So, even if they do earn money, it still a lost.. Hahahaha.. Goodbye suckers!
I had played f&f6 for like a few mins. Then the min. It asked for money I uninstalled. When will devs understand not everyone wants this model some of us are willing to pay upfront to do away with these limiting revenue models
Kabam? LoLz.. What's that? I support Gameloft! Coz Gameloft supports me..
Android and iOS market are flooded with Cracked Games.. So, even if they do earn money, it still a lost.. Hahahaha.. Goodbye suckers!
Little fuss really. So a game developer sticks to what they know. No loss really. UK market is pretty healthy for for win phones. Perhaps with people who use their phones. Kids buy android more in my experience. They use games but do not follow the adverts and actually buy stuff. So many games are free on android so they make money of adverts that get no actual revenue. At some point they will work this out......
An unfortunate trend this...
If Microsoft wants this platform to succeed they need to put in more work, its obvious these developers like kabam don't care, and don't want to make any effort either. They need to have in-house mobile game development teams for their first party apps and also let xbox one developers of indie games commit to developing games and apps for windows phone and desktop. There are so many good indie games on xbox one. That will be very suitable for windows phone. Where is gears , forza and halo for. Windows phone. Why not sell windows phone to the millions of xbox gamers out there. Its clear they are not marketing wp properly. And worst yet they are not dedicating enough resources to the mobile team.
Another apple sheep. Kabaamm..pfff
Honestly I don't blame these game developers. As a customer I wish we had more WP choices (though lately I don't really play games besides poker, hearts and backgammon), but the rational side of me acknowledges that the overall market share of WP doesn't necessarily justify resources when many of these firms can't hire enough developers for the core market of iOS and Android. I feel slightly different about the financial apps and wish they did their best to support all of their customers.
I love my 920, but this is becoming ridiculous. As I have been with windows phone for years now ( Had a Titan, Titan II, and 920), I am also tired of hearing it will get better with this or that. Windows 8 was supposed to bring an onslaught of prime apps and developers the the platform. Now its Windows 10. I love my phone, but honestly, at some point I am going to have to move onto something that is more supported. Right now, I am "making" it work for me, and really, I shouldn't have to do that.
For me it will be iPhone. What will you jump to?
I blame WP downfall on iPhone and Apple lovers/MS haters so as much as I hate Android also, I'd choose android based on the lesser of 2 evils. But I would only make the switch should MS ever turn off WP. I don't care at all about the app situation. WP caters for my needs as is so as long as MS is providing the OS and phone I'll never be making any switch.
Probably the same, as it just works. I know its an iPhone, but it will be nice not worrying if X app will be available or if X is dropping support. When i see an add in TV or in a magazine, it will actually be one available for my device. Would really be nice.
For me, I'm probably going to buy the coming-soon Xperia Z4. I'll still keep my Lumia 1020 as my secondary phone; the camera's too good to abandon. :P
I still think developers are being paid by other "companies" to remove their apps from windows and only support their platforms. Maybe they are all trying to force the android apps on windows thing by leaving the platform as well. One thing is for sure, MS has screwed themselves by being lazy and slow with WP. They are making it worse for WP by releasing everything for other platforms. And windows 10 will not change a thing as far as smartphone market share.
That's what I'm thinking, especially as market share doesn't seem to be an issue as some of the devs have apps on Blackberry Appworld yet they seem to be finding any excuse to stop WP development.
Don't let the lockscreen hit ya on the way out, Kabam...
I'm not optimistic in this :/
WP will die at this rate :'(
Windows Phone is not dying but it is in a unification process when Windows 10 is released. Do you believe in what Android-biased users like rashberry, Toan Le and DeCarvalho83 are saying? I totally don't believe in the bullsh*t they're saying!
I also use a Android phone, a Redmi Note to be exact and formerly a Samsung Galaxy SII and to tell you the truth, TouchWiz is the worst and most bloated UI for Android EVER even with all Samsung and unwanted Google apps uninstalled and MIUI is not technologically advanced yet to allow app moving to a memory card while Windows Phone 7.x allow OEMs to make phones that use a memory card as internal storage and WP8.1 started to play the catch up game against Android by allowing apps to be stored in a memory card provided the app is compatible to be installed in it.
Lastly, about app and game developers, if a game or app developer just release one app and leave developing more for Windows Phone thereafter, I call them a bullsh*t developer who doesn't care about WP at all and we don't need their more empty-than-Microsoft's own excuses. What Microsoft themselves and we WP users need are app developers who commit to the mobile OS by not just releasing more apps but to also keep commiting to WP by providing continuing updates to them no matter how long it takes.
There is only one solution for this simple problem: Open up the damn os...let US decide how it looks and feels!!
That doesn't bring new apps or games. OR users.
Definitely new user..and with that bigger market share --->developers
Only a few users care about customization. Most don't even change their default wallpaper for months or even years! As long as apps and games are in the market and they can have what their friends have, they are happy. But WP lacks there. They often can't have the app or games their friends are using! Having apps 2 years after 95% of smartphone users have used it = fail.
Well most people I know don't care about WP because they think its boring and no customization..the apps aren't there because people don't buy WP
So being able to customise a phone will bring more users? Even if there is no official SnapChat? No updates on Whatsapp since a year? No updates to Facebook since half a year? No updates to Twitter app since 4 months? No official Google apps? No official Pebble apps?
Those developers don't care ...i wouldn't ...im not gonna make an app for 13 people with a windows phone ...that's not how it works ..Microsoft has to figure a way to get more users -->users will attract developers
What exactly do you want to customize on WP that you cannot already customize? You can already arrange your Start screen any way you want. Same with the Lock screen. You can change the background pictures, color of tiles, transparent tiles, etc. What else is there that you want to change?
We have like 20 colours ,60% I'll never use ..and background is only available in wp10 preview ....after 5 years MS realized its a big mis ...and have you seen how ugly the long row of apps is when you swipe to the left ..have you seen the gigantic fonts in apps and settings ..sometimes it doesn't even fit on the screen ..i want to customize everything ...it took MS 5 years just add a stupid background so I don't have to stare in to this big ,black hole behind my start screen and app list..its ridiculous
Android already exists for that
That's why they are kicking ass and WP is dying
Devs = we need users before we commit apps to the platform.
Users = we need apps before we commit to the platform.
The ongoing saga of windows phone...
That is not true. Apple fans lined up to purchas iPhone even before they knew what it was and before it had many apps. People flocked to Android phones before it had many apps as well.
Yet some of those devs will develop for Blackberry, get your head around that one.
Windows Central needs to stop reporting this. We get it, developers lately are leaving the platform. But reporting some gaming developer that by the looks of things no one has heard of is pointless. The less negative press the better. Why don't you focus on the positives. The last few Lumia conversations posts have highlighted awesome new games and apps, with hardly any of those getting show cased here. Get on top of it win central!!
Start your own blog then.
It is all about what brings the most clicks. On here, any news brings the clicks. As long as something is written people put 400 comments on it in no time!
Are these devs going to focus on blackberry as well?
That's a joke.
That's what infuriates me about devs, they say that WP market share is too small to bother developing for yet they have no problems developing for a platform that has, AFAIK, less than one percent of the market!!!
Totally understandable
Did Microsoft fitted a bomb under them which exploded the kabam with a kabam! Sound?.... I think so.... That's why they are abandoning windows platform.... They have fire in their tail.... Poor fellows.....
Why would I want to "play" these "games" on a freaking cell phone anyway? That's why I have a Vita and a 3ds, real gaming platforms with PHYSICAL BUTTONS.
There are some pretty good touch-based games too, though, like Mirror's Edge (WP) and Zuma's Rvenge (WP).
I don't even know Kabam before reading this article. No gaming for me at all, so no upset at all.
WC should open a new section about abandonment
We should start placing bets on how many apps will be leaving the platform per week
I hope they're just waiting for windows 10 in a business view it makes sense hold of development until the next os is in place and then release without any possible rework.
Sad all the same.
Their lost.
How is that their loss?
Most of their games are F2P and any company that wants to make money will get their products everywhere.
Haha i heard first time this shit kabaaaaaaam name, who cares suckers
In my opinion Microsoft just doesn't care for any developers to leave this platform. Their goal is to gain more market share ,with their low end phones in India or in Chine , where people truly need that low budget phones,, and after that , after a 1 year old development , they will announce their new holoLens , and Flagship lumia , with great OS and everything will be Alright
... And then he woke up...
And everything went better than expected. Windows is the top dog and news everywhere about it for years to come :)
Their press release was insulting and pompous. Did they seriously just use the words "AAA" to describe iPhone and Android mobile games? Okay, Kabam...
Yeah I laughed a bit when I read that.
I'm not really sure that their only game for WP could be counted as AAA.
I left Kabam right after they took Edgeworkd off of Yahoo games.
First time I hear about they...
As they turn away some of the biggest pc indie games will find their way into all windows 10 devices... So yeah that's okay with me :)
Only time shall tell wen all of these developers will come crawling to Microsoft, remember Microsoft is fully aware of their strategies
Windows phone is growing everyday (for exemple : 15% of the market here in France, 21% only for IPhone) and the upcoming Windows 10 will boost this value !
It's a bad choice for the developper to leave Windows phone at the moment....
We cant say 'yet' that the upcoming win 10 will boost the value. Let win10 come on our devices first!
True but at least they shold haul their arses to Build and see what MS can offer. :P
I assume developers will get what they need to start developing for W10 very soon.
National market share isn't meaningless, it proves that there are certain regions that Microsoft should be focusing on instead of the US.
This is ridiculous. The US is the most profitable market. Europeans make less and spend less as a percentage of income. You succeed in the US or die in handsets. Perhaps China is a different story, but WP doesn't even rate there.
What's their email address?
Lol
contact@kabam.com
What a hideous cycle. Not enough apps so people dont use windows phone so developers dont make apps for WP so people dont use WP etc etc etc.
Yes, so when developers complain about small users base, they are slapping their own face with their own hand. Because they don't bring their apps to the platform and the user base won't increase! Developers are too dumb! I'm also a developer but I'm wide and open and willing to support as many platforms as possible.
So google by themselves fixed the app gap when they took years to hit 300k apps. Or perhaps devs say opportunities even when google had 1% market share. Sadly people are brainwashed into a duopoly nothing more.
I hope they all get herpes
Statistically, 50% of them already have them.
Darn, I was so looking forward to Contest of Champions :(
On lack of Windows Phone 7 apps, response was wait until NODO, then it was wait until Windows Phone 8, now it is wait until Windows 10. Windows Phone is a massive failure. Microsoft just hasn't realized it yet. Day after day I keep reading how what few developers there were are adandoning Windows Phone. My current phone is a Lumia 1020 and it will be sad day when Microsoft finally kills Windows Phone.
They know it's a failure. They just haven't given up yet. You gotta give them credit for persistence!
Their biggest mistake was trying to emulate Apple and be all consumer-centric. Wp7 had nothing in terms of enterprise functions compared to it's predecessor. Not to mention the idiotic idea to tie your msd card to your phone (encrypting it in the process) so you can't use it any of your the devices unless they were able to read secured msd cards (not many devices). Landscape support was woeful, several key features was (some still are) US centric.
The list is endless.... Which is just sad.... Given the amount of time and effort they put into it.
Personally I feel that was due to the lack of foresight (they would have known their implementation of hubs would need an o/s update to address changes made by facebook for example) and a persistent direction (jumping from productivity to content first).
However with Windows 10 there is a clear goal and the potential is huge, it is even more efficient. Presuming they are able to implement the same or better efficiency on phones. The performance increase will be nothing short of mind-blowingly awesome and frightening at the same time.
The use of external storage in Windows Phone 7 wasn't even supported or endorsed by Microsoft, so I am not sure why in the hell you are complaining about that. Talk about pulling the crazy out of left field.
The lack of features, especially enterprise features moving to Windows Phone 7 WAS an issue. Also, their "update story" turned out to be not much better than Android, who was already getting to a point of maturity and polishing its usability at that point. The the whole debacle about dropping support for 7.0/7.5 devices moving to 8.0.
Universal Apps won't matter. iOS and Android still offer more capabilities for what can be done in Mobile Apps than Universal Apps have on Windows 10, and the performance of Universal Apps on PCs is still behind that of Native Apps (noticeably, though I do expect *some* improvements in Windows 10). Even if they bring the performance of those apps to par, they still won't be able to match the functionality of proper desktop software because the Universal Apps are ultimately limited by the capabilities of Windows Phone 10 - which includes *much* weaker hardware and less system resources and power to depend on.
Why do you think the devs are leaving? No one is using or buy their apps. They aren't really making much money. Because while the apps are decent smartphone or tablet apps, they're horrible desktop apps and most of Microsoft's users are on desktops and do things that smartphones or tablets cannot handle well via WinRT code.
No one on a Windows Machine will buy the crappy Audio Editors available on the Windows Phone Store (or available as WinRT/Universal) when they can get Audacity for free and get more performance while performing 10x more functionality without a hitch on their PC. Same can be echoed in many other categories of apps.
Even most of the built-in apps are terrible, nad perform terribly compared to desktop apps that come as part of 1-3GB install packages. It's just astounding how well desktop software performs compared to these mobile apps. What people expect from Software on a Desktop does not mirror what they expect from Software on a smartphone, so the idea that Universal Apps will drive Windows Store Revenue (which is needed to get Devs to pay more attention) or even drive excitement for thier smartphone platform... I just don't get it.
The first thing a Dev will have to consider when developing for Windows 10 is: Should I develop a Desktop App or a Universal (i.e. Mobile) app, and "What Desktop Apps are currently available in that space, how much do they cost, and how reputable/ubiquitous are they."
It's not like I'll ever seriously use the Universal Coach's Eye App when I can afford Dartfish and even if I can't, Kinovea does 500% more for free with higher performance.
Windows Universal = Tablet and Phone (with Windows RT gone... It's almost (but not quite since they still do sell tablets, but their own tablets try hard to avoid selling themselves on the "Apps" and instead focus on how they can replace notebook computers with a keyboard and touchpad/pen, lol) lost on me why they'd put so many eggs in that basket), not Desktop and Phone.
It was a failure the day it launched in a market saturated with 95% owned between two major players. But it has been fought for 5 years. Yes half a decade and they are hoping to put up another big punch this year. That won't knock out any of the big boys, but it should hopefully make things better for Microsoft. There is plenty of cash to be thrown around to keep this going for at least another 5 years. clue: Xbox.
It might finally be the time where folks have tried android they have tried ios and say what the hell give me something fresh and oh it works like my PC,my tablet,and my xbox
This is a good point.
That's a terrible point, if you have 5 years worth of App, IAP & Media Purchases on platforms like Apple and Google's - especially when you realize that niether of those support Windows Phone and therefore the experience in reusing that content is made as difficult as possible for the user.
The reason why you don't give the competition that much time is becasue people become invested in other ecosystems and that serves as a natural form of lock-in, where users just find it to be too much work to work around all the issues that brings.
And there's more people who own Playstations instead of Xboxes (and the PS4 is selling quite a bit better than the XBOne) so in many cases even that won't be much of a selling point. They'd rather get a ChromeCast or $69 AppleTV instead.
It will also be a time where people have for 5 years more invested into iOS or Android apps and games as well already settled into the ecosystem. Moving them to a new ecosystem would even be difficult because that means that have to start over again with new ecosystem, new purchases, new environment. Why would they do it? What's so compelling? Lack of apps on WP? Lack of flagship phones? Availability of all the apps and services on iOS and Android already? No exclusive benefits of WP? What's compelling anyone to "try" WP?
Perhaps only "it looks same as my PC or Xbox".
The simple reason of the os simply being better. I handle bad android phones and upset customers that feel like they are being ripped off, that they cant have a smartphone unless they pay 400+ on one. Then when I demo the 640, they simply say, I cant believe the sales didn't even show me windows. The market of android is saturated with 70% low end crapdroid, who the majority of all androids install a total of 7 apps. Think about that. I have 195 apps on my 930
Spot on but how do we fix that
That's your opinion. If WP was so much better I think word would have gotten out by now, and you wouldn't have to use your own opinion as some sort of fact (when it is no such thing).
Another one bites the dust. Let their stomachs get filled with it.
Another slap in the face. No respect for windows phone. Of the app developer doesn't apply to you doesn't mean we don't need them. Damn. Floundering...
That's pretty blatant. "Biggest market opportunity"
Some developer group this is driven by profit first and then enthusiasm.
Strange, that!
:D
What's strange?
What/who is kadam games? Never heard about it/them lol
Yeah this really isn't a big loss.
Well done, Kabam. Just repeat what everyone else is doing : Leaving Windows Phone Developpement.
It's not like there are a billions worthy games on WP, like you can't have any benefit from making a good game here.
I know WP is "only" in the third place in the market position (Once again : it's not like we were millions of users), but I'm sure there's a damn high percentage of users owning a wp buying apps than there are users not buying any.
(EDIT : Ofc this is all sarcasm.)
I spent to much on Xbox. Less on phone apps now.
They would have evalutated all these factors before deciding to abandon wp.
What's the rate of major devs leaving to major devs joining at this point? MS might as well rebrand WP 8.1 and Win 10 as the hotspot for indie app and game developers because that's all we're going to have. Win10 will not save them.
I'm starting to think Windows 10 isn't going to save the mobile division either. I'm so sad that I feel like this ship it's sinking.
This happened right before windows 8 was released. We had a lot of devs stop developing or OEMs pulling out. Then windows 8 came, and we had an influx for a while. I suspect the same will happen with windows 10 except this time, I believe the windows phone market share will grow
There's a slight difference in these situations. 7.5 to 8 was an architecture change so I can understand devs pulling their old Silverlight apps then coming back with new WinRT xaml apps. This would be like pulling your 8 app just to reupload for 8.1.
Not quite. Windows 10 apps can be universal. You have to repurpose your app to take advantage of this. Its not as simple as a 1.0 app update. They would have to pull the app and republish as an universal app. I dont see bank of America, kabam games, snap chat, instagram et al... Ignoring the potential of that
8.1 apps can be universal too and you don't have to repurpose at all. Open your app in VS, upgrade to universal, and resubmit your phone app. The app also DOESN'T have to be universal. Open the app, upgrade to the new .net framework, test and resubmit. I've upgraded a test app from 8 to 8.1 universal and it was very simple. MS has also said you don't need to pull your app either.
Sinking it is, but don't jump just yet. We still have plenty to survive. If by end of 2015, things don't make a U-turn, anyone sane should re-think how they've wasted half a decade of technological advancements.
Windows is already available to roughly 90% of the market worldwide, so even if half of those users upgrade, developers will already have access to a MUCH larger user base for Windows, which inturn should make things more interesting for them when developing Universal apps. The fact that MS seems to have also majorly toned down the panoramic interface for apps, making them more inlign with iOS/Android, should also make things more interesting for devs as they don't need to develope a completely new app for Windows, they could just port it. Incase you haven't noticed, ever since the announcment of Win10, it has constantly been on the news and on blogs and it hasn't even released yet nor have they shown all it's features; this is a good sign that MS is ramping up their marketing and PR.
I believe one of the biggest mistakes MS did, was let news leak that it is considering the use of Android apps on Windows. Such news gives devs who are already having a hard time believing in Windows apps [or being lazy] even more reason to pull their apps because if were up to them, they couldnt give two sh*ts about any ecosystem, all they care about is making money and if handicapping Windows apps means MS using Android apps, then the devs win since they don't need to worry about developing or porting for Windows EVEN IF there are "successful gains" for the ecosystem.
That's obviously just my opinion but I personally believe Win10 will make a difference and there will be some major app announcements at the event where they unveil the next flagship Lumia's and Windows for Phone.
Here's the issue we have:
You're equating DESKTOP Users to MOBILE Users. You think just because someone uses Windows on the Desktop, they will use Windows on a Phone. I have a Windows Notebook, and iPhone, and an iMac PC (and an M8 Android Smartphone). They all run dispirate/completely different platforms.
Universal Windows Apps are basically the equivalent to Universal iOS Apps. Windows Modern Apps are still Tablet Apps. The fact that you cannot resist Microsoft's Distortion Field is your personal problem, but not everyone is so easily fooled.
Apple can put iPad Apps on the Mac, and I still would go to the Mac App Store and use proper desktop Apps on my iMac, becuase iOS Apps aren't that usable on a Desktop Machine.
I use Windows For Video Analysis and Audio/Video Editing. There are no usable Apps that exist or can exist as a Universal apps. What is possible with the APIs Microsoft makes available for those Apps simply makes it impossible. The reason why a Lot of people like the idea of Windows 10 is not because of Universal Apps, but because Microsoft finally makes it very, very easy to IGNORE the Metro components of the OS, instead of going out of their way to force us to use it.
WinRT Apps are still Tablet/Phone apps. They will still have the same issue that Metro Apps had in Windows 8. They are solving no problems there, and they are still trying to find ways to get more people to use Universal Apps on the Desktop to try to give reason for mobile developers to develop more Tablet and Phone apps. That's all. And I don't think it will work that well.
Metro Apps are just terrible on the Desktop and Software Prices in general have fallen to the point where people aren't going to pass up paying $59 for Sound Forge Audio Studio to use a $4.99 Metro Audio Editor, Lol. That just won't happen.
Universal Apps are great for very simple things nad mobile games, but the point of using Windows - especially if you can afford a Mac, is in its vast Desktop Software ecosystem. If you need Tablet and Phone "Universal Apps" you already have a much, much better ecosystem to get that: iOS.
Yes, Universal apps are worth getting excited over provided you have a Windows Phone (so I'm not opposed to people, here especially, being excited about them - only to the outlandish sorts of assumptions they make because of them). However, most people don't, and most people don't really want one even given the "promises" that app model proposes. So, there still is no incentive to really target that "platform" for a AAA developer.
I still expect some Indies to target the platform. It's easy money for them, when they are developing on extremely small budgets and can hit profitability so easily, when so many other developers avoid it and leave so many corners open.
Take a chill pill, no where in my comment did i say GUARANTEED SUCCESS. My point was that the market share of Windows COULD HELP increase development of apps and bring across existing ones.
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The casual ppl who will use tablets such as Surface etc will likely want to download games and apps such as instagram and whatnot (as its a tablet as well), so with the existing large user base of Windows, developers would be stupid not to bring apps to Windows and when they do, it WOULD make sense to have them as universal apps as they have nothing to lose but everything to gain from it. Whether WP grows or not, wont matter as long as Windows is getting apps WP users COULD have access to them. This is similar in some ways to Appstore where iPhone has the userbase and apps yet the small marketshare of Macs can use those apps as well.
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Like it or not, not everyone is using desktops these days, people are moving on to more mobile devices such as Surfac, Yoga etc ...Win10 is not OSX, its been made more touch friendly, so using modern apps on Win10 is not like using iOS apps on OSX.
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I completely understand what you are trying to say but you're also clearly not seeing the emphasis of MS's One OS for everything, one store for everything. Win10 is a much bigger step than you seem to realize and it has potential to bring devs on boards and possibly sort out the app gap situation ...that's obviously not for certain but it's also definitely not out of the question.
Since every desktop will have Win10 (it will be free), MS is banking that it will save them. The phone market will get developers by default since devs only need to create for the desktop space and phones will reap the benefit.
There will never be seem less integration between tablet and phone. Devs (myself included) will always have to split logic/UI/device capability between the two. So this is simply not the case. And regardless, WP needed a turnaround a year ago at least, now it is getting too late. End of the year, the ship will be at the bottom of the sea. Widows 10 will not change anything.
This is actually why Win 10 won't save them. There's no imperative for devs to create a specific app for Win 10 when every desktop and tablet will have a desktop with a browser. Apps will become a second thought except for mobile and Xbox. WinMo 10 is going to need heavy indie/3rd party dev support.
Did you not see the demonstration they did recently of a normal web page accessing OS level APIs through javascript in Project Spartan? In order to get that access the page has to be submitted as an "APP" but it sure makes it easier to get some support into the store.
A bank COULD do mobile deposit over their mobile web site with this functionality. At least for WP users.
Or they can develop normal Apps for Android/iOS and forget Windows Phone, while developing much simply Web Apps that aren't dependent on OS/Browser-specific code? I mean, that's precicely why a lot of developers ignored IE and Microsoft was forced to drop it and use every browser name under the sun in its user agent for Spartan... Right?
Developers won't develop "Apps" for your platform just because you tried to bait them by switching from one app model to another. I mean, they're already probably tired of Microsoft "changing directions" as it is. As a consumer, I'm quite exasperated with the constant "resets" myself.
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