Why doesn't someone create a free app, sorta like AppSniper that only picks up games from a certain group of people (advertisors). You can get money by having people pay to advertise their games, giving you money for servers and everyone wins.
You're forgetting the non-US market in that 200 a day scenario. You don't have to be anywhere near the top 100 games to get 200 a day worldwide. For me, 200 a day is not enough, but it certainly may be more than enough for other single dev companies.
Well you are welcome to your opinion, and I'm not trying to pick a fight but.... that's kind of like saying "I've never seen a cat catch a mouse... so I'm reasonably sure they can't catch mice..."
Sweet, the appstore-idol's have joined the discussion . Congrats on the success of ZombieVille USA... we've had our eyes on that title ever since you announced it on the unity3d forums. Great game and perfect timing! So the reviews for your next title will read 'from the developer(s) of ZombieVille USA..' and that'll definitely bring you a large-enough volume of sales. But really, what if the same day had 10 other such reviews with apps from 10 other high profile devs at similar price points? (this is a very likely scenario by the looks of it) By now, we know all the indies will price below $4 for the most part... and the $0.99 sale to get on the top 100 is a trick that literally everybody (including the big devs) uses now. I'm just saying, some folks have had the advantage of being the first in a certain genre.. or maybe a sweet second, but will your second title have the advantages the first one had? ... And for us going in with a first title, we've got months of hard work to claim returns for (we're a 4 person dev team), we're just looking for a more solid gameplan than just plain 'hope'.
You have to wonder where the sales are coming from outside the top 100. The top 100 isn't an abstract concept that we're all dying for here.. it means a ton of visibility from would-be purchasers. If you've gotten sales outside the top 100, you've got sources - like toucharcade or perhaps other sites that have reviewed your game.. or the few tiny sales that the itunes recommendation system provides. Now, you've had your brilliant games featured on many sites and you've gotta assume you're getting a decent amount of purchaser awareness from these places. These free sources have become more saturated, the amount of sales possible from them diminishing by the day. Getting on to a top100/top10 list on a review site has become predictably competitive..
Thank you for contributing to the discussion. Anomaly is an example of a great game that hasn't received the exposure it deserves. I'm sure you've put in months of hardwork into the title and it shows. On the plus side, you've still got a shot at greater appstore glory of some level if given the right amount of exposure. I'm sure a lota folks have their own interesting perspectives on what a great games suited to the market would be and so did you ... Have we all heard the stories of the numerous dev's who tried to 1-up some of the prevalent hit titles and failed miserably? No...(I've come across a bunch and they too are now looking for a game-plan) and just as such, there's a ton of dev's we wont hear about... Keep up the good work. You've got skills and virtues that a lot of folks should perhaps die for...endurance, patience and commitment being a few of 'em
I think the sales come purely from being in one of the top 100 sub categories on iTunes and on the phone. People who like puzzle games visit the Puzzle top 100 list. Sure, you may not get the general eye of the public, but you still get a whole bunch of puzzle player eyes. Of course, results vary according to the popularity level of your category. The Kids category is a lot less popular than the Puzzle category.
I think having a number of quality games is the best indie game plan. Each one will add to your daily income, spreading the risk, so it doesn't matter as much when one of them fails. This is a business based on limited shelf space and user opinion. The best you can do is create a great game, make sure people know about it, release updates, and hope.
Ah there, so you're a slave to one of 'em top 100 appstore lists and therein lies the question, what if you dont make it to one of those lists, or perhaps not long enough. The action/adventure/arcade lists are constantly bombarded with quality titles and it isnt unlikely that you might not make the list. I believe folks that do this for their bread and butter should really look at some sort of advertising.. how about gathering an email list that you could market to, from an initial title. Having a list of that sort should provide some sort of feeling of security...there's atleast a few companies doing this at the moment though. Also, here's hoping touchArcade's userbase increases within the year and that they dont change their policies. Right now at around 50k US uniques, the developer saturation rate(compared to would-be purchasers) might catch up fast.
True, if ya can move the quantity you're talking about. Lately though, we're seeing more of the bigger devs go with the 0.99 sale, this should mean they're catching up to our little ray-of-hope.. That being said, congrats on the success of Sparta. Had you released a few months earlier, you'd probably have made twice as much cash (just my stupid lil opinion though...ya cant say the thought didnt cross ya mind)
I'm ecstatic we've got some of the major dev-celebs voicing their opinion on the subject. And honestly that's what these folks are, you're the modern day tech-celeb...rejoice Underworlds is one of my fav games, perfect execution and released at the right time. I'd have guessed it'd be a top 3 title for quite some time and I'm surprised it didn't make it there, it's these tiny unknown factors that we need to research perhaps. Here's hoping your next title will see greater success
Actually, its more like saying "I've seen fast cats catch mice, and I've seen slow fat cats not catch mice, so I think there's a connection." I think people got a little irritated by my comment or something... all I'm saying is that quality does matter, success is not just totally random. If it were, I could just make an app that was nothing more than a picture of a turtle and sell a million copies out of dumb luck. No, putting X hours into your game/app will not necessarily yield Y returns, but in an entertainment field that's never the case anyway, what will be appealing and gain traction is never a known quantity. All we can do is make the best product we can, and try to give it as much visibility as we can - but comparing it to a lottery is a poor analogy. At least this is a market where we can actually go toe to toe with the big guys and not just get forced out of the market because we don't have enough money or clout.
It's really not that hard to make one of the sub-category lists, if your game is decent and you've promoted yourself. You could sell under ten copies a day in the US and be on the majority of the sub lists. As far as advertising goes, I just haven't seen evidence that it works for indie games yet. But word of mouth works amazingly well. And I'd put money on Apple employees visiting this site quite often, and watching the trends.
Yes quality certainly matters. In our case I don't think Sheepish would ever have been featured if it wasn't for the quality of the game. Apple aren't going to use low-quality apps to showcase their platform after all. Quality is also what will keep you in the top 100 lists once you get there and what will keep your users coming back for more. If Sheepish hadn't been featured by Apple I firmly believe it would have been one of those quality games that disappeared into the abyss. So yes I firmly believe there are quality, original apps out there that have never seen the light of day.
Putting out a quality game is like buying lots of lottery tickets, as opposed to putting out, say, a picture of a turtle, which is like buying one ticket. (And yes, I believe that there is some finite chance of the turtle app being a bestseller---just look at the Three Wolf Moon t-shirt on Amazon, or for those of us who remember the 70s, the Pet Rock.) I don't know whether from a financial perspective it's better to put out 30 novelty apps or a single high-quality one. But I'd bet that either way, you'd be much better off financially working a normal job. I suspect you'd even be better off if you were paid for that job in actual lottery tickets, which return only about 50%. So yes, quality matters and yes, it's still a lottery. If you're in it for the money, it's a suckers game. Do it because you love it.
These are not true for me I have 110 ratings for Stick Escape, but I have a ways to go before I reach $5,000 US let alone $10,000 US. Maybe this is over many months, but after 1-2 months I haven't quite reached those goals.
I think he was referring to 'reviews' and not 'ratings'. I believe @0.99 you'd require around 1000 ratings to cross 10k usd. I've a feeling you'll get there soon enough ,your game should pop next to stickwars (it does) on a similar itunes search.
The ratings->revenue co-relation isn't absolute info, it's just assumptions made on scantily available data. But it's good to know that 'much much less' (ratings) @0.99 can also amount to 10k. Thank you and cheers!
