Game firms are ringing the changes for iPhone

Almost two-thirds of the UK's games development businesses self-publish their titles, according to a survey by trade body TIGA, with more than half of those publishing games on the iPhone.

Jamie Sefton, sector manager at Game Republic, which supports video games development in Yorkshire, said about 95 per cent of developers in Yorkshire either self-publish or are thinking about self-publishing.

"Producing apps for platforms such as the iPhone is accessible to everyone and allows companies to take control of their own destiny," he said.

"iPhone has been popular because Apple has been excellent in controlling everything and making the barrier for entry very low.

"Under this model, 70 per cent of game sales come back to the developer and companies can reinvest the money they make rather than paying publishers, distributors and marketing departments."

The games industry in Yorkshire is worth about 100m – 10 per cent of the UK's 1bn industry. There are 28 games companies in the region, employing more than 500 people.

Team 17, based in Ossett, West Yorkshire, produced Worms, which was the UK's third best-selling games app of 2009.

Mr Sefton said: "The disadvantage is that there are so many apps. For example, if you want to develop a niche dice game, it will have to compete with 450 niche dice games out there.

"One of the issues for developers is making sure their game is heard above the hundreds of thousands of other apps out there."

There is money to be made for those who are successful. "Angry Birds", an iPhone puzzle game developed in Sweden, has sold more than five million copies in six months.

However, app sales of more than a million are quite rare, with some only selling a few dozen as they compete with more than 220,000 apps on Apple's App Store.

But, according to Game Republic, a good game with good marketing can expect to sell 30,000-40,000 apps for between 59p and 1.79.

Bradford developer Four Door Lemon has developed two iPhone apps – QuizQuizQuiz, and You Are the Ref. More than half the work it currently carries out is self-published.

Managing director Simon Barratt said: "The market has changed massively. Before last year, 100 per cent of what we did was work for hire but the iPhone made it easier to self-publish and the work for hire has dried up.

"Before last year we had a couple of ideas meetings a month but now we have to come up with ideas all the time. It's hard to compete against the big brands but if you've got some good marketing, you can rise above it."

He added: "The iPhone is the main market now but it's a small percentage of the devices out there at the moment so there is potential for real growth across the market."

Digitally self-publishing has also allowed games companies to develop new business models, such as "Freemium" which gives the basic game away for free and then uses micro-transactions to sell more features and updates in-game.

Mr Sefton added: "On the one hand, companies now have more opportunities for self-publishing but a lot of the big publishers have cut back on hiring companies to develop games for them. Developers have suffered because of that and a few went out of business.

"They have to be very nimble and on the ball with changing their business models and taking advantage of opportunities that are there. It's very hand-to-mouth still."