Almost two years ago, I published The Street King to the Google Play Store. This was my first published title, and I spent almost four years working on the game before it was even ready for release. I've since continued to provide free updates with new content and bug fixes, and quite a lot has changed about the game over these past few years.
However, there's also quite a lot that hasn't changed. From the day this game was released, I've received a lot of support, and many eager fans have been asking for multiplayer and an iOS port since then. Unfortunately, there's always two sides to the story, and as many other Android developers would know all too well, piracy has been and will always be a major problem.
At the heart of the three issues of multiplayer, iOS, and piracy is sustainability. Of course I would love for this game to continue to grow and expand. Multiplayer is something that I truly want to add, and an iOS port is something that I've been looking into for quite some time. However, the state of piracy on Android means that continuing development on this game is becoming more and more taxing. I find myself why I should even bother continuing development if the moment I post an update, 10 different websites have already cloned and cracked the APK.
This would become even more of a concern if I were to add multiplayer; all of these cracked copies of the game would make it incredibly easy for cheaters to dominate online racers and destroy the experience for legitimate users. That reason alone is almost enough to dissuade me from working on an online mode. As a solo developer, I don't have the resources or money to file lawsuits against illegal file hosting sites, and I don't have the time to constantly monitor online races to check for cheats. To be clear, I do want to develop multiplayer, but whether releasing it will ever be feasible remains to be seen.
Now, on to the topic of iOS. Whereas Android is plagued with DMCA violations and cracked APK's, the iOS market is considerably safer for developers and is much less prone to piracy due to Apple's restrictions on where apps can be downloaded from. This makes iOS a very attractive choice for release, but at this time I don't have the resources to publish to the Apple App Store. I can't afford to pay for an iPhone/iPad, a MacBook, and, on top of all that, Apple's $100 yearly developer fee. Especially since I don't have any other games that are ready for release, I can't justify spending that much to publish a single game. Things would be different if this was a full-time job, but The Street King is, above all, a hobby project for myself. I work on the game because I enjoy it, but it isn't my career or my main focus in life. It doesn't turn a profit or even break even when I consider the thousands of hours I've spent on development, and that's okay; but what I can't do is let the game become a source of financial strain for me.
So where does this leave the future of The Street King? For now, I have to admit I'm uncertain. For the foreseeable future I will continue to develop for Android while doing what little I can to deal with pirates. Multiplayer remains uncertain as long as pirates continue to pump out cracks for unlimited money and free cars. An iOS port will come if the right opportunity comes, but I don't know if it ever will.
For now, though, I thank all of the legitimate users of The Street King for your continued support, and I thank you for taking the time to read this.