The rise of the 'Middle Class' mobile game developer

It's the belief of some that only a small number of mobile developers have the lion share of downloads and revenue on the App Store, and that the rapidly increasing number of games and apps on iOS means that a very small percentage of developers are now seeing success compared to before. However, according to a new report from mobile analytics firm Flurry, there is still a good portion of success on the App Store taken by "Middle Class" developers -- that is, mid-tail developers who focus on loyal fanbases and particular niches, and find notable success as a result. "Fears over mobile app fatigue are overblown," Flurry's Hillary Murphy said. "The number of developers with audiences greater than 20 million monthly active users has grown 357 percent in 18 months - and that is organic growth not driven by mergers and acquisitions activity." According to Flurry's figures, consumers are still hungry for new games, apps and mobile content, and the number of developers jumping over to mobile is still increasing to fill this demand. In the last 18 months, the number of mobile developers with an audience over 1 million monthly active users has risen from just under 400, to around 875, says the company -- an increase of around 121 percent. "The mobile content economy is not a story of 'haves' and 'have nots' when it comes to audience," Murphy adds. "There is a healthy 'Middle Class' of mobile developers."