How do developers choose a platform?

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, I’ve got a question.

What attracts game developers to a given platform, be it X-Box, PS2, mobile phone, handheld, PC or downloadable games? What thoughts, choices and considerations does a developer go through before deciding where the games they create are going to be played? Is it financial aspects? Respect for platform holder? Other games on the platforms? Cost of development? Ease of development? Agreements and restrictions by the platform holder? Audience size? Audience type? Platform image? Fanboyism? Simply technical abilities and limitation?
Is it purely a matter of how much money they can make or are there other aspect involved such as how the developer wants the game to be represented and who it will reach?

I’m just a little curious about this.

[Anonymous]

1) What platform holder does your company havea licence to develop for.
2) What dev kits do you have
3) And most importantly, what platform does your publisher want you to develop the title for.

[Anonymous]

Like omen said.

1) Depends on the company.
2) Depends on the budget for the game.
3) Target audience.
4) Depends on whether cutting edge tech required? or more casual
5) Has a platform vendor approached the developer to develop for them exclusively.
6) Profit.

p.s. ease of development is rarely a deciding factor in my opinion otherwise there would have been no ps2 games or possibly ps3 games :)

[Author]

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