Game Developer Research debuted the results of its State of iPhone Game Development report.

The report uses iPhone App Store data and an anonymous survey of almost 150 current iPhone developers. Metrics have revealed a trend towards longer development cycles for iPhone games currently in production.

For example, the number of games with 1-3 month development cycles among survey respondents dropped from 61% of completed projects to 41% of in-development projects. In a related trend, the number of games with 4-6 month development cycles rose from 25% (completed) to 47% (in development).

The survey also hinted at upcoming changes in popular iPhone game genres. The majority of developers are still working on projects in the extremely popular puzzle and word game genre (53%), but that's somewhat decreased from 62% who've worked on completed puzzle and word games.

Other uncommon game genres are also expected to increase in number as apps get more sophisticated, with the 11% of respondents having worked on completed strategy games, but 15% planning strategy titles, and 11% already done on projects in the story-heavy adventure game genre, with 21% planning such titles.