Apple: App Store's success couldn't have happened without game developers

Apple's App Store couldn't have become the tremendous success it is today without the help of games and the developers who make them, Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of iPhone and iOS product marketing told a gathering of developers tonight.

Joswiak made the remarks while accepting the first ever Technical Impact Award from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.

In introducing the award, Mike Capps, former president of Epic Games and current board member for the academy, called out the impact of the App Store for it's democratization of game development and distribution and said that the iPhone is a mobile video game console.

"Thanks to the App Store I'm never going anywhere without it," he said. "You made a ding in our universe and for that we thank you."

Joswiak said that while Apple knew that the App Store was something new and unique, the company had know idea just how big and impactful it was going to become.

"It's just gigantic," he said. "The App Store has forever changed software development, software distribution, because it levels the playing field between the big developers, the small developers.

"The success of the App Store is really tied to this incredibly diverse developer community we have, they make it happen with their incredible apps, their amazing games. And it's because games are so much fun and addictive. Users love them and they do pay for them."

The App Store, he said, has generated more than $25 billion paid out to developers, $10 billion last year alone.

"It's just huge," he said. "I guess this is a testament that anytime you have great ideas, great products, great services come together it's the magic that can happen that really does spark imagination and fuel creativity.

"Thank you for honoring us, thank you for honoring the App Store and thanks to you guys for making it the success it is because it couldn't have happened without you."