The mobile gaming scene is fraught with anti-gamer business practices,
according to Super Meat Boy developer Edmund McMillen. Writing on the Team Meat blog recently, McMillen offered a scathing analysis of the current state of the mobile game business.
"As many of you may have noticed, there is a whole sh*t load of wrong
out there these days, from abusive and manipulative money making
tactics, to flat out stealing," he said. "To us, the core of what is
wrong with the mobile platform is the lack of respect for players. It
really seems like a large number of these companies out there view their
audience as dumb cattle who they round up, milk, and then send them on
their way feeling empty or at times violated."
McMillen clarified his claim by lambasting mobile games that force their
users to slog away at repetitive actions or use real-world money to
acquire in-game items.
"There is an ongoing theme these days to use a very basic video game
shell and hang a 'power up carrot' in front of the player. The player
sees this carrot, and wants it! All the player needs to do is a few very
rudimentary repetitious actions to attain it; once they get to it,
another drops down and asks them to do more… but then the catch… instead
of achieving these 'goals' by running on the treadmill, you can instead
just pay a single dollar and you instantly get to your goal! Better
yet, pay 10 and unlock all your goals without even having to ever play
the game!"
McMillen then offered a damning take on this particular design choice.
He said, "Words cannot express how f***ing wrong and horrible this is,
for games, for gamers, and for the platform as a whole. This business
tactic is a slap in the face to actual game design and embodies
everything that is wrong with the mobile/casual video game scene."
Despite his disdain for the business practices of the mobile game sector, McMillen and Team Meat are currently working on Super Meat Boy: The Game
for iOS devices. The developer concluded his update by saying that Team
Meat is approaching development on that project with "very open eyes"
and that his goal is to make Super Meat Boy: The Game a title that
respects players.
