News

From the Forums: How Big of a Deal Is Launching on the Same Day As “Major” iOS Releases Like ‘Angry Birds 2’?

Something we see a ton from developers is endless amounts of theorycrafting when it comes to when the right time to release your game is. I’ve heard folks suggesting to release games before events, after events, or even during events like GDC or E3. Similarly, ever since the year-end iTunes freeze started becoming a thing, other developers’ entire launch strategy has revolved around doing everything they can to cement themselves in the charts when iTunes freezes.

Odd releases in the middle of the year though? It seems like your only real concern there is not butting up against too many other great games which might push you down the iTunes featuring list- If you’re lucky enough to get featured at all. Kenny of Super Ultra Hyper posted on our forums that he plans on releasing his upcoming title, Game of Loot on the 30th. The concern here is that the 30th is also the day that Rovio recently announced that Angry Birds 2 is going to be available worldwide.

The question is, how big of a deal is this? I’m of the opinion that it doesn’t matter a whole lot, as any good game launch should have a marketing plan beyond “Get featured by Apple." If you’ve done that, other games getting released on the same day aren’t that big of a deal because, particularly in the world of mobile, everything is designed for such short sessions. If Skyrim and The Witcher 3 were released on the same day, that’d be concerning as those are both games with hundreds of hours of gameplay that can be played for days at a time. Mobile isn’t really like that. I’ll have no problem quickly alternating between Angry Birds 2, Game of Loot, and the dozens of other games that come out next week because that’s sort of what you do when you play mobile games. If Game of Loot bombs, it’ll be because it’s yet another puzzle RPG on the App Store (or at least it appears to be), not because it happens to launch on the same day as Angry Birds

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Don’t care because you’re going to spend the next month of your life playing Angry Birds 2? Let us know in the thread in our forums.

50 Comments

  1. Solarclipse

    Loved kotor, I'm in! Too bad it doesn't sound as rich an rpg as the first one though....

    1. Warriv

      Hey, what made you think that? imo, kotor 2, even in its unfinished state, is the better rpg of the two. Those dialogs with Kreia are brilliant.

    2. jgeirge

      If anything KOTOR 2 has the depth the original lacks. Exploring deeper into the human element and morales, as opposed to the good v evil. I would love to see these guys at Appspyr use the restored content nods to actually finish up the game!

      1. Gamer_Kev

        Are you two kidding, the first game is much much better. The second game is boring and has that generic feel that most out sourced games tend to have.

        1. Warriv

          I didnt get anything like that, loved both games and played them to exhaustion, and, for me, kotor2 is more fun and open. You can turn your companions into Jedi, or draw them to the dark side and turn them into sith. Dialogues are deeper, and your choices will influence how your party feels about you. Combat animations are more fluid and there are more force powers. Stealth actually matters. I don't know, I always though kotor2 as an improvement to the first game, but I guess opinions are just what they are.

          1. jgau

            I agree with Warriv! I loved both but I preferred the second, even with its faults. I hope they bring it to iOS.

  2. HelperMonkey

    This is interesting. Hope it pays off.

  3. vhelixv

    If they port C&C Generals i'll be a very happy man.

    1. Deygus

      Hell yeah!

  4. curtneedsaride

    Still enjoying the first KOTOR, and I think I bought it through the App Store, Steam, and the Mac Store. Already picked up KOTOR II on the Mac Store, and looking forward to the others. I love Aspyr, and this is a great way to assess whether porting it over to iOS would be worth it. So, please go let them know you want it!!! They'll send you an email but you won't be automatically subscribed to anything. In that email, you'd have to click on Subscribe to actually be subscribed. So, if you'd buy it on iOS, please let them know. We'll need another premium Star Wars game to play after being disappointed by the f2p stuff.

    1. Blair

      Even if you do opt in, we are parsing these gamers in a specific mobile category of our email sends. IE: you will only receive an email for stuff you are interested in.

      We hate being hammered by emails just as much as you guys do :D

      1. curtisrshideler

        Cool! That's good to know. I'll look forward to them. I definitely subscribed. After KOTOR and Fahrenheit, I'm definitely interested in hearing what's coming up!

  5. Deygus

    Count me in! I already signed up!

  6. HippoHumper

    Done and done...then done again. Maybe I should create a few more e-mail accounts just to be sure though.

  7. Der-Kleine

    I've played through most of KOTOR on my tablet and most of KOTOR 2 on various PCs I had and personally preferr KOTOR 2, so I'd love to see a port of that!

  8. Kugiro

    Yeah I added my support for this yesterday after doing some searching. Def want this to come to mobile!

    1. Kugiro

      I also have never played the updated version of the game as I bought day one when it first came out. Very interested in playing it.

  9. Leydz Boomshaka-Irwin

    Hope im doing it correctly, I get no notification once ive clicked accept?

    1. craig victory

      check your email they should have sent you one if not mabey try again

  10. Pivi

    How I would love to see KOTOR 2 with the restored content available on my iPad... Even without the mod, I will shell out my money in a heartbeat. Let's support Aspyr!

  11. wushumonk

    Add Jade Empire instead!!!

    1. pelagrin

      I second this, but substitute "TOO" for instead.

      1. wushumonk

        Agreed! Haha.

      2. iAjent

        I second you seconding. This needs to happen !!

  12. iAjent

    Done. If this comes off I will be very happy !!

  13. falco

    I own and played both 1 and 2 on xbox and I say the first KOTOR was the best.

  14. iValerio1990

    I'm in!

  15. Zero Ehxe

    Done

  16. Gamer_Kev

    I loved the first game and still have the Xbox versions of both. However I personally did not like the second game. I couldn't stand the nagging hag they stick you with. She took all the fun out of the game.

  17. Supermarioooo

    Can't wait for this! By the way if there's anyone who owns KOTOR 2 on Steam, you might wanna reinstall it, after the best part of decade there was a crazy update a couple of days ago and now you can run KOTOR 2 in 4K if your graphics card and screen support it, with full controller support, works like a dream with the Xbox 360 pad

  18. latkins01

    Please consider adding the community restored content mod in the mobile version!

    1. Dankrio

      I second that!

  19. hil

    I'm actually a bit disappointed. Not because of the game, absolutely not, but when news of the update/new release for KOTOR 2 hit I was really hoping the iOS port would follow on foot. I've been waiting for this since KOTOR came to iOS and it's been quite a while. I want this so bad!
    While I enjoy some of the small gems developers create for iOS, I miss the legendary RPGs of my youth. Myst for iOS was one of the reasons for me to buy an iPad, because I expected a lot of classic game ports to follow, but I'm still waiting and if it weren't for Aspyr I would have lost hope. I expected re-releases to get bigger, but that must have been naive, seeing why freemium came to rule the AppStore.
    Every week I hope for one of the great classics to pop up in "Coming Tonight", but so far it's a bit disappointing.
    The possibility of a KOTOR 2 port makes my heart jump, but if they ask for support now it seems like I should prepare to keep waiting. I was hoping it would come out soon.

    1. ابه بقر

      I think ios 2015 and android 2016 damn! Sucks for me

  20. craig victory

    i really want this to happen count me in

  21. Myqpalzm

    KOTOR 2 has the most complex plot in the series. Still, I enjoyed the game even without the restored content.

  22. Devok

    We need more PS3 ports, grand trismo would now nice or kingdom hearts! Possibilities are endless!

    1. BlackWall

      Ps2*

  23. Teggen

    Plz plz plz add this game, it's on my all time favorites list!

  24. Krikaoli

    I loved Kotor, but the sequel was very disappointing, as you said abruptly end, short story... that was supposed to be a great game...

  25. Bool Zero

    ... And subscribed!

  26. Wizard of Odyssey

    I signed up on the first day. I wonder if they're just attempting to see how many signups they can collect, just so they can say, "we received 11 million questions about this game?"

    I mean, surely they have sales data on the existing KOTOR for iOS and Android, and surely either of those platforms would outsell a Mac/Linux version by an order of magnitude.

    Aspyr is awesome and I hope KOTOR2 iOS comes out really soon. It's a busy year for Star Wars and I am not complaining in the least.

  27. Earth Vs. Me

    I tapped the link expecting to able to sign up through Facebook. I hate giving my e-mail out. At any rate, I'll be amazed if we don't see this hit the App Store around the holidays to tie in with Episode VII.

  28. Jeffrey Jago

    I missed out on kotor2 on my pc:( so bring it on

  29. Master Cheif

    I love kotor 1&2 they are both fun games please make kotor 2 for iOS it will do well like the first one.

  30. Rolando Julius-Bam Bam Vazquez

    Now that it got an update, they need to add the restore content mod into the writing of the game and make it into a mobile game. It'll complete it and as the mod updates so should the game with updates for the other capabilities of the regular updates and it will be awesome

  31. Rob92

    I hope they do it soon because I love KOTOR2 it is the best one

  32. Allen750

    signed up

  33. JonWalsh

    They were both fantastic games, let's just all agree on one thing. Kreia a stupid sitch for losing her hand