What started off as one of many concepts developed by Firemint CEO's Rob Murray during the 2008 Christmas / New Year holiday break has turned out be a one of the great success stories on the Apple Appstore. Firemint have just announced that Flight Control has hit a whopping 3 million sales for the iPhone and iPod.
Even after 18 months of release, Flight Control fans will enjoy more free updates with support of Apple's new Game Center features coming and other additional extras in the pipes. Congratulations Firemint!
(Here's an old interview with Rob Murray back in the early days of Flight Control)
(Press release)
We're thrilled to announce that Flight Control has now landed on more than 3 million iPhone and iPod touch screens! Our ever-popular App Store classic continues to delight new players around the world, and even 18 months after release is in the top 30 paid games in 64 countries around the world, including #7 in Netherlands, #12 in UK, #14 in Australia, #16 in France and #27 in the USA.
3 million Flight Control landings
Over 2 billion planes have been landed on Flight Control's online leaderboards, approximately equal to 5,000 times the air traffic handled by LAX per day! Flight Control has enjoyed numerous free updates adding social and online features, additional airfields and gorgeous updated graphics to make the most of the iPhone 4 and iPod touch 4th generation Retina display. We will also release an update that supports Apple's new Game Center to coincide with its launch, and even more free updates are currently in development.
Flight Control has also spread its wings to new platforms, with Flight Control HD, the highly successful adaptation for iPad being awarded a prestigious Apple Design Award for its "innovative gameplay, outstanding use of Multi-Touch, and superb attention to detail". Flight Control HD for PlayStation Move is about to launch in glorious 1080p, coinciding with the Move motion controller's European launch on September 15. It supports drop-in/drop-out multiplayer for up to 4 people and stereoscopic 3D, and features an exclusive new map that cycles through day and night. Flight Control is also available on Nintendo DSiWare, and through a licensing agreement with Namco, is currently rolling out on non-Apple mobile phones.
Flight Control is a fantastic example of an App Store success story, and we're overjoyed that player communities around the world are continuing to embrace its elegant simplicity and insanely addictive gameplay. There's a lot more Flight Control to come, so stay tuned!
It's funny isn't it...
Not long ago, it was the common expectancy for game companies to release a game that they've worked on for multiple years only for it to have a shelf life of a few months before hitting the bargain bin / sale at a $15 - $25 price or so. It still is for many games, really, for boxed retail.
Who could predict then that you'll be able to make much, much smaller games with a smaller budget / time footprint, and still have them sell exceptionally well 18 months after release. I'd imagine after 18 months, most boxed retail games have long gone from the shelf.
It's one of the major issues games have....
Movies live on as DVD's and sit on the shelves for years. A constant revenue stream (even if it is a trickle). Retail games have that small window to shine before they disappear into obscurity.
Although things like the Virtual Console on the Wii is changing that, but still for the majority games have a much smaller retail window than movies or music to try and turn a profit.