Atm, my company have more problem on getting more user base since more players = more ads revenue (despite have huge IP following for the animation series here).
We are developing our own IP, but Im personally a bit hesitate since new IP = not many ppl know = less player unless if you have unique gameplay or good marketing.
Usually big company "cycle" their revenue mainly for advertising purpose, so if you read around you will come close to something like "cost per thousand impression".
That is why you see big hollywood actors got paid just for simple game advertisement (game of war, clash of clans & another military base type game feature arnold schaw... i dunno how to spell his name).
As long as you give gamer "urge to spend money", there will definitely be some people spend couple of thousand of dollars in it.
iOS framework is good if you can make simple free / premium games. Gamers on iOS tend to spend more money than android counterpart.
*Unity is good for 3d game, but terrible IMO for simple 2d games unless you go for very stylized graphic heavy game. Best if you can find mentor who can explain how to use it, Im self taught programmer but my fellow programmer at my office help a lot explaining couple of things from unity. Other than that, creating tons of simple prototype will help you in long run. Else, do alot of tutorial definitely worth it (although Im not fan of tutorial)
**If Im not lazy playing games, i will probably : Do a lot of endless game with ads (something more fun than flappy), small scale (something like finish in 1 month) and spam it as your passive income (not much but couple of dollars per game per month can stack up fast as long as you use "incentive ads".
*** Kickstarter is usually for people that you know you can deliver the product. Working for game part time while doing other real life jobs seem the better way since game development is kinda risky.
Good luck with your future work