I’m a Windows Phone 7 Game Publisher!

Windows Phone 7 isn’t widely available yet, but you can already buy quite a few apps for it. I’m proud to say that my little game, Classic Hits, has just been published in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

Although I don’t even own a Windows Phone (fellow MVP Todd McDermid tested Classic Hits on his real device), I was able to use the emulator to browse the app area.  I took the following screenshot of my game in the Marketplace.

I’m curious as to whether anyone will buy my simple game given that there’s nothing to shoot down or explode. The development effort was certainly not in the coding (I could easily make it open source) but in assembling the data and trivia for over 2,200 songs.

There’s lots that I don’t understand about the Windows Phone marketplace. For example, four XBOX Live games are listed as ‘Related’ to Classic Hits. In what way are WP7 and XBOX Live related? In what way is Tetris related to a trivia game? Does someone think my app is cross-platform?

Microsoft needs to throw resources at Subscription Management for WP7 in its App Hub. I’m not talking about certification and publishing because my app was approved and put online within a couple of days of submission. I was kept informed of the progress for each step.

Rather, it seems like the Developer and Marketing people have done *too* good a job attracting developers like me to the platform. Microsoft’s accounting infrastructure is struggling to cope with the sudden influx of subscriptions and queries.  Early adopters are venting their frustration about being unable to phone a human being who can sort out registration, payment, and refund issues. It’s as if WP7 has piggy-backed much of its management on Xbox Live without Xbox being ready.