The iPhone has gained significant market share in the wireless industry and by doing this, Apple has put a wireless handheld gaming device in the hands of millions of people. Games are available to download directly onto the device from the App store for a buck or two for smaller non-brand name games and $5-10 dollars for a big name like Assassin’s Creed, Tiger Woods Golf or Madden. But like any other software, iPhone apps are prone to piracy and it looks like iPirates sure know how to steal some booty.
iPhone/iPod developer Smells Like Donkey and Fish Labs have had their gaming apps from the App Store fall victim to 80-95% piracy rates for their most recent releases. In order to pirate Apple App Store games, users must “jailbreak” their iPhone/iPod touch to allow for third party software to be installed. Once jailbroken the game install files can be downloaded from other users or websites and installed on the device. Even a non-computer savvy pirate with the right tutorial could be playing Rock Band, a $10 app store game, for free in less than 10 minutes.
A lot of people question why someone would pirate something that only costs a dollar but I think this question answers itself. Why would someone pay a dollar for something they could get it, very easily, for free? This applies especially to the younger, college kid that may not even have a credit card yet. A university student knows the pizza across the street is 50% off on Tuesdays, Colt-45 is the most economic way to get drunk, and pirating software is cheaper than buying it.
Apple is trying to prevent jailbreaking by updating their latest device hardware (iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 3G) to close the hole that was in previous devices’ system that allowed third party software to be installed. This still doesn’t solve the App Store’s problems. Previous models of the iPhone and iPod are “pwn3d for life”, because the exploit is in the hardware and the older devices can be jailbroken in the future no matter what.
Apple is making a valiant effort to preserve the integrity of the App Store and save the developers and itself some money but you have to consider the fact that free software makes the device itself more appealing and increases its sales. Apple only has to try hard enough to keep developers happy and they can keep selling iPhones like hotcakes.
Before this, I’ve heard lots of good news and money making stories from iPhone developers. I really don’t think piracy will slow down the App Store’s development. Phones are a mostly untapped market for good gaming and games for the Nintendo DS and online flash games can be ported to the iPhone easily enough that they seem to turn a profit.
Do you think piracy will bring down enough iPhone developers that the App Store will have trouble or is this just a fact of a software developers life?
