Developer demands “big contribution” from Microsoft before supporting WP8 and W8 | Hacker News Reader

Developer demands “big contribution” from Microsoft before supporting WP8 and W8

wmpoweruser.com

39 pointsyread21 comments

I don't see the problem here. It sounds like a simple economic proposition -- "Porting this to WP8 isn't worth our time unless we get extra money for it."

Maybe Microsoft will take them up on it, and probably they won't. Either way, why the drama?

As it stands now, WP8 is the incumbent. If all developers applied the "pay us to make it for your new platform" attitude, it doesn't bode well for newcomers.

Also, the tone used can be taken in bad taste, since this was a kickstarter asking for "support".

WP8 is worse than the incumbent, it's the incumbent with very little value proposition and low prospects for success.

> If all developers applied the "pay us to make it for your new platform" attitude, it doesn't bode well for newcomers.

That's the way of the world I fear, newcomers have to either take the domain by storm or actually add value to the system to change things.

I think it has always been this way. iPhone had it easy as they were able to build up an install base before opening to 3rd parties. That was a unique position though that won't really be possible again, at least in phones as we know them.

> iPhone had it easy

And yet, somehow, predecessors didn't.

The iPhone didn't "have it easy", it provided value to users through a significantly improved user experience, and then to developers through both a significant user base and the ease to reach them through a unified and not completely garbage platform.

> they were able to build up an install base before opening to 3rd parties. That was a unique position though that won't really be possible again

Maybe. Maybe not. The iPhone was dinged for its significant lack of features at release (hell, it still is at pretty much every release), a new man with a new vision could make a different set of tradeoffs and succeed as well. There's no set template for success. Or failure.

Yes, it was essentially the first mover to execute well in a new class of phone. Someone else will likely eventually come along and disrupt the smart phone as we know it now and will have the same advantage. In terms of the smartphone as we know it now though, it is going to be very hard for anyone to come out with anything so radically different that they can get away without a 3rd party ecosystem and grow and install base big enough to challenge iOS/ Android.

Microsoft caring about newcomers is hell suddently freezing.

Microsoft always used every tool to kick newcomers in the nuts and throw them to the dogs. It's karmically right for them to pay for their sins, literally.

Want to support something important? Spend resources on supporting Firefox OS. Spend resources on Ubuntu Phone app. Do not bother with MS unless they pay thru the nose.

> Either way, why the drama?

Because drama leads to anger, anger leads to reactions and reactions lead to pageviews.

I know for a fact that many small/indie studios have done exactly that: ask MS money to port to WP8. The drama I suppose came from the wording and then one noisy fan that started doing, well, what fans on the internet do.

If you don't choose WP8 to be your differentiating factor, then it makes little economic sense to support it. Sure there's some residual profit to make if the port is easy, but you could instead spend your valuable time developing the next game for the platforms that do matter in economic terms.

Note that the Windows platform on mobile is odd in the sense that phones and tablets use different OSs, unlike Android or iOS. The advantages and disadvantages of that decision can be debated elsewhere, but it clearly can make porting more complicated for non-devoted developers.

If you read the article further, you learn this demand was actually just a joke.

"SnowFury Studios, Inc: @WindowsPhoneUsers – Our apologies, the comment re Windows Phones was a poor attempt at humor and was removed when it came to our attention on launch day. This in no way reflects the company’s view of the platform. We have no issues supporting Windows platforms yet at the same time, we also need to focus our efforts."

Yeah, I thought it was actually a good joke.. not sure why some people need to see drama behind everything

Failure to include a winky face in tweet results in collapse of game studio - now that's a story.

Well, they did not say "just kidding, we will definitely support Win by quarter X of year Y" in their appology. It is obvious they were NOT kidding.

I've worked at companies that were paid by Microsoft, Nokia and others to port our apps from other platforms.

This is par for the course, and something Microsoft did a lot when they launched WP8.

I don't see anything wrong with asking Microsoft to contribute. At this stage in Windows Phone's lifetime, it's probably a win-win situation.

Developer covers some or all the development costs (to minimize the risk of porting to a platform with significantly less users than iOS and Android)

Microsoft gets another app in their store - and seeing as they contributed, they can probably also mandate a higher standard. They also get 30% of every purchase.

The developer probably shouldn't have worded it like that though - keep the financial stuff behind the scenes.

Interesting to compare the reaction here with this

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6152491, where someone thought it was insulting to be exposed to a request to fund development.

I see it as a non-story. Even if that was what they meant to say (although they seem to have changed their mind since), it's more of an observation of Microsoft's practice of paying established applications to port.

Besides, I'm not sure they're really want to become contractually obliged to produce (and maintain?) a WP port...

I don't know why Microsoft would be the exclusion, but since I assume Microsoft/Apple/Google will be the sole distributors of the software on their respective platforms and also directly enjoy a share of the profits, it seems entirely reasonable to ask them to invest in the development of the software.

If this is anyone else's attitude, the place to sign up is here:

http://www.appcampus.fi/

Fun fact: MS has spent more on W8 and Surface marketing than it has made on the Surface. http://www.geekwire.com/2013/microsoft-surface-revenue-853-m...

I don't see the problem. Most of us (mobile developers) don't have the manpower, time, or the money to support the Windows platform. They have a very small market share and their surface platform just tanked, big time. Partnerships and incentives are actually how Microsoft works so it's not unheard of to ask for help. Particularly in the license department. I can't afford to give my staff full enterprise MSDN subscriptions or even just Visual Studio on every machine. Never mind the fact that no one I work with uses Windows and would need that too. If they can give cheaper or free tools and then lower the cost of entry it would really help us support the platform.

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