With gaming industry heavyweights Sony and Nintendo having the majority of the mobile gaming market until the iPhone, some have wondered how many developers will begin to develop games for the iPhone and upcoming iPad instead of the PSP and DS. While the iPhone is often overlooked as a serious contender in the mobile gaming world, the attention the iPad has received in terms of its ability to compete with Sony and Nintendo have promoted Game Developer Research to survey mobile developers to get their take on their future of gaming.

The study conducted by Game Developer Research claims that 19 percent of all game developers are currently writing for the iPod touch and iPhone, with many of them and more eventually writing for the iPad as well.  There is no doubt that the iPhone has helped increase the amount of mobile games being developed, which has doubled from 12 to 25 percent of the entire game development industry.

While there are many reasons for the increase in the number of developers developing for iPhone, iPod, and iPad, the majority of devs responding to the Game Developer Research study claimed their platform of choice is typically decided by ease of development and market interest. The motivation for developers switching to iPhone, iPad, and iPod is quite evident, as Electronista reports, “The transition to the iPhone is partly evident through the number of ports. While many are producing original titles, games like the Assassin’s Creed series and Civilization Revolution are actually Nintendo DS versions modified to use the touchscreen and improved performance of Apple’s machines.”