We had a Halloween-themed game planned for release on iOS next month. I’m now giving serious thought to axing (groan) that project and concentrating our efforts elsewhere. Maybe we could have four or five launch titles on Windows 8 instead of three. Perhaps now’s the time for us to start working with Windows Phone. Maybe we’ll even have to go back to writing other people’s games for a while. But I’m responding to this very quickly and very seriously. If you’re a developer, you should do the same.
The lack of visibility and the potential shift of the iTunes App Store further away from the indie developer is enough for Lightwood Games to look at Windows Phone as a platform. They won't be the only developer in this situation, and they won't be the only developer looking at Microsoft to see how the launch of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 pan out.
Lightwood Games are already working on Windows 8 titles.
Neither would it surprise me if many of those developers will be kicking the tyres of the Windows Phone 8 SDK to see if the new environment and coding options would be easy for them to work with. This, of course, will need to wait until the SDK is publicly available, which will likely be after the launch.
Here's where Windows Phone 8 has a chance, as the alternative to the chaotic app stores of iOS and Android. Microsoft are aware how important discovery is... if they can crack that problem and bring the indie developers with them, then perhaps the call of 'you need apps' will be answered.
You can read more of Newman's post on Lightwood Games.