"Does any of this get better for mobile devs? No, it gets worse, unless you're picked by the platform's kingmakers."
I can only vouch for the major mobile software marketplaces, but the App Store, the Android Marketplace, and Amazon's Appstore are festooned with indie/small shop (or even one-person) developed apps.
There are handfuls of developers whose works fans look out for. Mika Mobile is one. Never heard of them? They made Zombieville USA, a million+ selling app. They followed up with OMG Pirates!, another million seller. They now have Battleheart, which was top 5 in the app store and is still on the top 200 charts, even at $2.99 in the notoriously penny-pinching App store.
Need more? How about taptaptap, who have never made an app that wasn't a huge ($500,000+) seller. Or Backflip, Donut Games, and Nimblebit, who have all had monster sellers consistently.
There is room for not only hobbyist and/or one-hit blockbusters (Tiny Wings, Doodle Jump, Pocket God), but also consistent sellers (the aforementioned, Popcap games, and of course Rovio), along with AAA megacorp houses. Now, being an indie rock star competing against the Billboard and the millions of bar bands hoping to strike it Aerosmith-big, now _that_ is an undertaking. Ditto, filmmaking and acting.
I can only vouch for the major mobile software marketplaces, but the App Store, the Android Marketplace, and Amazon's Appstore are festooned with indie/small shop (or even one-person) developed apps.
There are handfuls of developers whose works fans look out for. Mika Mobile is one. Never heard of them? They made Zombieville USA, a million+ selling app. They followed up with OMG Pirates!, another million seller. They now have Battleheart, which was top 5 in the app store and is still on the top 200 charts, even at $2.99 in the notoriously penny-pinching App store.
Need more? How about taptaptap, who have never made an app that wasn't a huge ($500,000+) seller. Or Backflip, Donut Games, and Nimblebit, who have all had monster sellers consistently.
There is room for not only hobbyist and/or one-hit blockbusters (Tiny Wings, Doodle Jump, Pocket God), but also consistent sellers (the aforementioned, Popcap games, and of course Rovio), along with AAA megacorp houses. Now, being an indie rock star competing against the Billboard and the millions of bar bands hoping to strike it Aerosmith-big, now _that_ is an undertaking. Ditto, filmmaking and acting.