1. You also need to pay apple a subscription, update your hardware, change your build process. I think there is also a review step during the build.
2. All the existing tooling (not the game, but the build process) will need to be 64 bit to run on this new hardware. So the build needs to be re-worked
3. People on Mac require more support, which is harder because dev is not a Mac user.
The developer has every right to support or abandon whatever platforms they want.
But there’s some FUD here:
1. There is no review step. Notarization is an automated process that takes about an hour. It doesn’t require a substantive change to your build process. You just submit your build, get a notary receipt file back from Apple about an hour later, and “staple” it to your build using a single tool. It’s not burdensome.
2. The system requirements for preparing a build for notarizarion are pretty liberal if you look at actual hardware usage. Of course some machines fall off the bottom, but it’s not like they’re trying to drive revenue with this. It’s like a teardrop in the ocean.
3. All of this is even less burdensome on developers who follow any kind of process for testing. You would already have a capable machine being used for testing, and would already be seeing delay between your builds being prepared and your distributions going out. Apple’s part of notarization could happen while testing is in process, meaning zero delay. If this doesn’t apply to you, fine. But it probably means you weren’t treating the platform all that seriously in the first place.
1. Submit build
2. Wait an hour
3. Retrieve notary receipt
4. Staple to correct build
5. Upload build
Sure sounds more burdensome to me than:
1. Upload build
Edit: Lol, people arguing with reality. It may or may not be a good thing, but arguing that it doesn’t add any burden to the developer seems hard to me.
You know what's also a burden? Writing a good game. So I'll just write a shitty one to decrease burden.
Isn't burden the thing you're actually getting paid for when you sell the game?
If adding 2 steps to your build process is such a burden that it results in you not supporting an entire platform, you're either lazy or looking for an excuse.
Ironically, releasing on consoles got easier over the years. Patch certification cost (and possibly the entire requirement for indies) got dropped and programs like ID@Xbox allow you to release your game for free.
In some ways, it isn't that different; consoles are just computers with some platform-weirdness. But I do actually agree insofar as that I can reasonably target NT, Darwin, and Linux from one machine (so long as it's a mac or I'm willing to break the Apple EULA), but to target consoles, so far as I know, requires purchasing additional hardware.
2. All the existing tooling (not the game, but the build process) will need to be 64 bit to run on this new hardware. So the build needs to be re-worked
3. People on Mac require more support, which is harder because dev is not a Mac user.