1）谷歌Android开发者博客最近指出，印度Android设备激活量在过去12个月中增长4倍以上，该国已成为全球第四大Android应用下载地区。

但该市场盈利性甚至比中国更低，不过谷歌已针对印度开发者提供了销售付费应用、IAP产品和订阅模式等服务，并添加了当地货币支持。与此同时，谷歌还增加了面向俄罗斯市场的卢布货币支持，美国最大的运营商威瑞森也在近日向美国Android用户提供其运营商计费服务。

india-android(from intomobile.com)

2）手机游戏开发商Sports Interactive日前宣称《Football Manager》系列新款游戏最近在Android平台盗版率高达11：1，其首席执行官Miles Jacobson表示他们曾在游戏发布之初设定了一个销售目标，如果项目能够达标他们就会再推出另一个版本《Football Manger 13》，但目前的盗版情况让他们不得不重新考虑这一计划。

football-manager(from pocket-lint.com)

在今年4月份，Jacobson曾估算其游戏在Android平台盗版率为9：1，他认为游戏是一种娱乐形式，并非人们与生俱来享有的人权，如果玩家想玩相关游戏，就应该认同其售价为其之付费。

3）据pocketgamer报道，游戏开发者Rick Dakan最近承认其Kickstarter融资项目《Haunts:The Manse Macabre》虽然已获得近2万9千美元支持，但由程序员离开，这款游戏很可能中止项目开发（游戏邦注：该项目原先计划发布于PC、Mac和iPad平台，已获得1214名捐赠者，其开发商本身也已注入4万2500美元资金）。

haunts-the-manse-macabre(from pocketgamer)

他表示其主程序员Jonathan已经重返谷歌任职，没有多少业余时间可开发这款游戏，另一名程序员Josh则彻底退出该项目接手另一份工作，他也不愿意在业余时间继续开发这款游戏。

Dakan声称这款游戏所有系统均已到位，但存在大量漏洞，并已几乎耗尽它在Kickstarter平台所获资金，已无力再雇佣一名程序员。该项目在今年7月初已成功实现2万8千美元的融资目标，扣除Kickstarter抽成及Amazon Payments费用后其所获资金为2万5千美元。

在8月份Josh入伙时，他们每周为Jonathan、Austin和Josh三人支付的薪水为1900美元，7周的费用就超过2万美元，另外还有1200美元用于印制T恤。

观察者认为，这一现象表明通过Kickstarter融资的小型独立开发者除了资金问题之外，还应该考虑团队成员中途退场等多种未知因素对项目的影响。

4）据insidemobileapps报道，微软日前公布了Surface平板电脑售价，Windows RT设备分为三种不同型号，32GB版本售价499美元，32GB并带有黑色Touch Cover键盘的设备售价为599美元，64GB版本且带有黑色Touch Cover的设备售价为699美元。

microsoft-surface(from techsmush.com)

5）据AllThingsD报道，Epic Games打算将《Infinity Blade Dungeons》的发布日期延迟到2013年。观察者认为这一决策对Epic来说是一大损失，因为这意味着该游戏将错过假期季的销售高峰，丧失大量iOS新用户。

infinity-blade-dungeons(from gametyrant.co)

《Infinity Blade 2》于2011年12月发布时曾创造了iOS销售纪录，单月收益超过500万美元，推高了之后数月成功iOS游戏的营收门槛。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）India becomes fourth largest market in terms of Android downloads

by Jon Jordan

China is obviously the place to be when it comes to fast-growing mobile markets.

However, according to Google, the other ‘billion person nation’ is quietly gaining momentum.

Device activations have grown more than four-fold over the past 12 months, boosting India to become the fourth biggest Android territory in terms of app downloads.

Pay local

Of course, even moreso than China, monetising this market is very difficult but Google is looking to improve the situation, if subtly.

It’s just added support for India developers so they can sell paid applications, in-app products, and subscriptions via Google Play in the local currency – the Indian Rupee.

Incidentally, Google has also added local currency support for the Russian Ruble too, while largest US carrier Verizon has signed up to provide operator billing for American Android users.（source：pocketgamer）

2）Sports Interactive: Football Manager’s piracy rate now 11:1 on Android

by Keith Andrew

Football Manager developer Sports Interactive has claimed the latest game in the franchise’s piracy rate on Android may be as high as 11:1, with the title’s longterm future on Google’s platform in doubt.

The claim was made by studio boss Miles Jacobson, who added the developer is having to play it year by year as to whether it sticks with Android or not.

‘Depressing’

“We set a sales target at the beginning of the project that if we hit we would do another version,” said Jacobson.

“Thankfully we have hit that, so we will be doing Football Manager 13 on Android, but it’s quite sad when a business actually has to take piracy into account…we will be making the call year to year.”

This isn’t the first time Jacobson has spoken out about Android’s problems with piracy.

Back in April, he estimated the game’s piracy rate on the OS to be around 9:1, adding it was “really disappointing that there are so many people out there who love our work, and spend countless hours being entertained by it, but don’t think we deserve to get paid for that entertainment.”

“There are no excuses for any form of piracy – if you don’t want to pay the price set for a game, don’t pay it, and don’t play it,” he added.

“Gaming is an entertainment form, it’s not a human right.”（source：pocketgamer）

3）Kickstarter project Haunts on hiatus as programmers quit

by Keith Andrew

A developer behind a game backed by almost $29,000 in pledges on Kickstarter has admitted there’s little chance the title in question will be released any time soon.

Rick Dakan, who was leading development on Haunts: The Manse Macabre for PC, Mac and iPad, has taken to the game’s page on the crowdfunding website to admit the project is up in the air.

Its development has been put on hold follow the departure of key programmers and, ironically, a lack of funds.

Don’t leave me

“The principal cause for our dire condition is that there are no longer any programmers working on the game,” said Dakan on the site.

“Our lead programmer, Jonathan, was always going to move on to something else after a year or so.

“We had hoped that he would be able to work on the game in his spare time, but now that he’s going back at Google, he has told us that his spare time will be very minimal and not enough to make progress on the game.

“Our second programmer, Josh, has quit the project entirely to take another job. He does not want to work on the game in his spare time.”

A total of 1,214 have backed Haunts to date, with the developer itself having also spent $42,500 of its own money getting it up and running.

Money matters

Dakan claims the game actually has “all the systems in place”, but currently suffers from a lot of bugs, making it unfit for release.

The big problem with getting it ready for launch, he added, is that most of the money pledged by backers has already been spent.

As such, hiring replacement programmers after a regular salary to finish the job is out of the question.

“We actually have a fair amount in the bank, but most of that is about to be sent to the IRS as part of payroll taxes,” added Dakan.

“We met our goal back in the beginning of July, raising $28,000, of which we got to keep about $25K after Kickstarter and Amazon Payments fees.

“With the addition of Josh in August, our burn rate went to about $1900 per week for salaries for Jonathan, Austin, and Josh. Eleven weeks of that cost a little over $20,000, plus another $1200 or so for printing and shipping t-shirts.”

What next?

The question now, of course, is what happens next. Consumer enthusiasm for Kickstarter projects has been built upon the idea that, by and large, games that reach their targets get released.

The Haunts debacle may dent such confidence, with small indie outfits also having to contest with a multitude of other factors, such as the departure of staff.（source：pocketgamer）

4）Surface tablets get a price – Microsoft has announced how much its line of Surface tablets will cost. Surface with Windows RT will initially be available at three pricepoints: a 32GB version priced at US$499, a 32GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$599, and a 64GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$699.（source：insidemobileapps）

5）Infinity Blade Dungeons delayed – Epic Games has delayed the release of Infinity Blade Dungeons to 2013, according to an interview with AllThingsD. The news is likely a big blow to Epic.

Missing the holiday season means missing a large portion of new iOS users and sales. The previous title in the series, Infinity Blade 2, was able to break iOS sales records after its Dec. 2011 release, earning more than $5 million in a single month, a figure that became a high water mark for iOS earnings for the next several months.（source：insidemobileapps）