Angry Birds 2 and Game of Loot both available on the 30th (My Game)

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by SuperUltraHyper, Jul 18, 2015.

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  1. Foursaken_Media

    Foursaken_Media Well-Known Member
    Patreon Indie

    This is actually our hunch... however, this only applies if you get an App Store feature imo. It could be a coincidence, but our two biggest launches happened simultaneously with some other huge releases (Sonic Dash, Temple Run 2, Temple Run Oz).
     
  2. Eli

    Eli ᕕ┌◕ᗜ◕┐ᕗ
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold

    It makes total sense, but, man, how do you ever get more than just zany anecdotal data to back that up?
     
  3. PikPok

    PikPok Well-Known Member

    Nov 26, 2009
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    The short answer is: yes, it matters. The more nuanced answer is: it depends.

    It is fairly obvious that a game like Angry Birds 2 is going to get top billing on the App Store. It will get the large feature banner on the carousel, a premium spot in Best New Games, and likely multiple other spots in subpages and categories. Every spot it takes is one less spot where your game could otherwise be potentially featured.

    The word potentially is important here though. If you were releasing a game which didn't have the quality or hype to get top billing, is a game like Angry Birds 2 actually taking away anything that otherwise could have been yours? Game of Loot looks great, but would it otherwise have risen to the top slot that Angry Birds will most likely take? It's a pretty high bar of quality these days, so you'll have to hold up what you have against that and determine whether or not that's a bar your game would otherwise meet.

    If you don't think you'd otherwise get top billing, I'd argue the problem for you here is not Angry Birds in and of itself, but the fact there are other high quality launches lined up for that day as well. Race The Sun and Operation Dracula as another poster mentioned are other would be contenders for that top slot that will be pushed down, taking up secondary and tertiary slots, making it harder for you to compete for those other feature spaces that you otherwise may or may not have a chance of securing. A spot in Best New Games isn't as good as the top level banner, but it is far better than nothing. And who knows what else is coming out next week that will be competing for that layer down of featuring?

    Additionally, having multiple high profile releases will start to crowd out media coverage and forum chatter. Discovery might be a bit harder as a result as compared to a "slower" week. Not to mention more competition for "Game of the Week" style media outlet coverage and awards.

    So, yes, it probably matters that your game is releasing against multiple big releases from other developers and publishers, even if Angry Birds 2 itself likely isn't directly cramping your style.

    Personally, I'd at least consider pushing back though the challenge is finding a week that isn't crowded, especially when most new releases aren't announced ahead of time. You could push back to a date that is even worse in hindsight.
     
  4. XperimentalZ

    XperimentalZ Well-Known Member
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    Jul 20, 2010
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    We're also launching Mechanosaur Hijacks the Moon on July 30. Everything was organized before we learned about the launch of Angry Bird 2. Even in the eventuality that it would have been better to launch on another date, it might be more hurtful to change a launch date in catastrophe at the last moment.

    There's also the question of paid vs free games. Launching a paid game along with a bunch of other great paid games on a single week can be tricky, if we assume that the average player has a limited budget per week.

    However, if you launch a paid game along with other great free games or a free game along with other great paid/free games, it might not make so much of a difference, assuming that players will simply download everything that look interesting that week and get to play it eventually.
     
  5. ineptidude

    ineptidude Well-Known Member

    Apr 22, 2013
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    Angry Birds 2 is free with a timer system that runs 1 play per half hour. I wouldn't worry about launching alongside. Consumers will probably be looking for something to do while waiting for the energy refill.
     
  6. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    Theres also the anti Angry Birds crowd. The game was great 3 years ago but its all the same now, i'll be hunting for some other new game releases today, no interest in 'i presume' timer based freemium Angry Bird games
     
  7. mindmagicgames

    mindmagicgames Active Member

    Jun 11, 2015
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    Indianapolis, Indiana
    Another question to ask is whether or not you are targeting the same audience. I'll download angry birds just because it's angry birds, but it won't stay on my device for long. I prefer strategy/rpg style games (I've got one in development now) and I'm always hunting for good games to play.
     
  8. SuperUltraHyper

    SuperUltraHyper Well-Known Member

    Feb 4, 2015
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    #28 SuperUltraHyper, Jul 23, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2015
    For me it's just such an unknown...how the market will receive my game, how I can get the market to care. I am unknown, my game is unknown, and I have no budget to get the word out. Essentially, I have made as good a game as I can given the constraints, 2 years of my time. You know, you read all this marketing how to stuff and every single one opens with "Make a good game." So that's been my plan... take the 20ish years of experience I have making games for others and use it to make something worth playing on my own. I guess those how to's also say not to do what I have done, spend my own money and tons of time making said game...but I'm an all in kinda guy. ;)

    If you wanna try the game check out this Touch Arcade link for a promo code:
    http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=266708

    However, I am not a marketing guy and I obviously want to set myself up for success as I approach launch. How you do that though...I don't know. Facebook Accounts, Twitter Accounts, press emails, blog posts, blah blah blah, all those things the "Guide to Marketing your App" sites command you do months in advance...I am of the opinion it's mostly B.S. Don't get me wrong, for Just Cause 3 or Blizzard, it's important and symbiotically, it drives web clicks. But me...Like anyone cares about an unknown app months before it's released (exceptions extended to Angry Birds 2 and other well established brands.) If you (read: tiny me) can get a reasonably sized site to preview your app then maybe it would help build brand months before launch. But it's a hard fought battle when there's 100,000 apps that will see daylight between your preview and launch.

    My plan was pick a quiet week and cross my fingers. So much for that idea. I wanna say "if it where easy more people would be doing it" but there are tons doing it so who knows. If it where easy more people would be making money at it I guess.

    Want to know the full dev story for Game of Loot? Check out my blog post on Gamasutra:
    http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/KennyThompson/20150320/239334/Making_Game_of_Loot_The_tale_of_an_artist_creating_an_indie_game_alone.php

    Here's to hoping!
     
  9. SuperUltraHyper

    SuperUltraHyper Well-Known Member

    Feb 4, 2015
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    #29 SuperUltraHyper, Jul 26, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2015
    To illustrate my point about the enemies you will face and to give you guys some insight into what you'll be up against as you progress:

    [​IMG]
     
  10. SuperUltraHyper

    SuperUltraHyper Well-Known Member

    Feb 4, 2015
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