Back room dealing and platform exclusivity plague mobile games

Mobile platform holders are constantly battling for superiority, and they’re desperately searching for anything that could potentially turn the tide. If you take a look at the charts on any given app store, you’ll find that games are consistently featured among the top-selling apps. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Apple, Google, and Amazon are working with developers to either secure platform exclusivity or offer exclusive content for a number of major titles. This troubling tactic of paid exclusivity was discussed in-depth in a recent article over at The Wall Street Journal, and that piece serves to highlight some of the ways these major tech companies are manipulating developers and consumers for profit. Infamously, Apple and EA allegedly brokered a deal for timed exclusivity of Plants vs. Zombies 2 in exchange for substantial promotion in the iOS App Store. The WSJ goes on to claim that Amazon is using the exact same tactic for its own app store, and Google is offering up prime app store real estate in exchange for some oddball Android product placement. Nobody’s hands are completely clean of this kind of wheeling and dealing, and it has absolutely no tangible benefit whatsoever for consumers. Of course, this kind of behavior is far from new. The traditional gaming industry has been practicing sleazy exclusivity and promotion deals for years now, and it’s not getting any better. Microsoft’s platforms receive timed-exclusive Call of Duty DLC in exchange for co-marketing, and nobody bats an eye inside the gaming industry. Similarly, Ubisoft titles like Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs often see additional content on Sony’s platforms, and Xbox users get the shaft. Titanfall isn’t forsaking a PS4 release because the folks at Respawn and EA simply love the Xbox One — it’s because of an exclusivity deal penned with Microsoft. Considering how commonplace this is in the world of console games, it’s no surprise to see that mobile platforms are up to the same ol’ tricks. This type of distasteful behavior isn’t going anywhere, so it’s up to us as consumers to educate ourselves. Instead of downloading whichever titles are featured prominently, stop and think about how you’re being manipulated by these companies. Instead of automatically buying and downloading whatever is currently being highlighted in your app store of choice, ask your friends for recommendations, and read reviews from trustworthy sites. You’ll never be able to remove corporate interference altogether, but at least you’ll no longer be a pawn in their marketing game.