SPANISH FORK — A 14-year old boy from Spanish Fork created an iPhone video game app that had the potential to bring in at least $2 million in revenue if it hadn't been free.
The "Bubble Ball" app was downloaded more than 2 million times in the last two weeks and had a total of 400,000 downloads Jan. 13.
According to ABC News, if eighth-grader Robert Nay had sold the app for $1 a download, he would have been able to pay for his undergraduate degree at BYU — the school Nay currently plans to attend — 113 times.
Nay decided to develop an iPhone app after being encouraged by one of his friends. So, while other kids are outside or playing video games, Nay spends his time at the Spanish Fork library researching and developing video game phone apps. He is now the CEO of Nay Games.
According to switched.com, Nay spent more than a month using Ansca Mobile's Corona SDK to write more than 4,000 lines of code for the physics-based title.
Nay has displaced the "Angry Birds Seasons" game from iTunes App Store's list of top free iPhone apps with his 'Bubble-Ball'.
Approved by Apple two weeks ago, "Bubble Ball" has been steadily climbing the charts and according to sfgate.com "was named the App of the Week in the Corona SDK app showcase on January 9. Since then its popularity has skyrocketed, culminating in its #1 spot on January 13, 2011."
This first app was free, but Nay is developing another app that will sell for at least 90 cents a download. As to the new game he's developing, Nay says it's a secret for now.
In the "Bubble Ball" game, the purpose is to get the ball from point A to point B. According to World News Insight, "Each of the game's 21 levels gives you a different route to navigate with different game pieces to assist in your deceptively simple-worded quest. Place the geometric pieces however which way you please to create ramps, platforms, and even catapults to send your ball to the finish line."