i sold 0 yesterday, like the day before, if you guys have woes.. what have i got. edit.. still not sold any since this post, fingers crossed i get one sale when the updates out... hahaha (sound of wrists being slit )
Wow, that's painful. Sorry to hear that. Funny story that I posted elsewhere today- I found out that I was hidden just beyond the top 100 fold, at #106 in RPGs. Since the game subcategories are no longer available in iTunes (at least not without hurdles that you can't expect the average user to jump) I think everyone in the top 100 RPGs have experienced a loss in sales... However, since I was not visible on that anyway and selling primarily through word of mouth my sales have stayed relatively stable. The upshot of this is I've moved up 5 places to #101, and will likely break back into the top 100 RPGs soon! Too bad that list will only be seen on the devices now... Unfortunately, Apple's made it *very* difficult for the little guy now. I had some hope that maybe they were still making changes to the App Store layout in iTunes, and that they were going to do some great things that would benefit game developers. That hope fades a bit more each morning...
That "Hot New GAMES" section looked like a banner ad for another application at first, which is super confusing for most users.
I agree. It actually took me awhile to find it when fwish pointed it out. I wonder how many people know about it...
My sales just went up! I sold 151 in one day, coming from 73 the day before, 64 the day before. But this also happened just when Apple approved my update, so I was in the recent releases lists, and my update made the game less than 10MB which might have increased sales, and my Lite version also got approved, and iTunes 9 started displaying me as featured on the games page again. So this spike is probably because of all of that. And I'm #51 in the US store in puzzle games! This is the highest up the list I've gotten so far.
I'm at 0 sales yesterday. It's not the app store's fault. That just means the game doesn't stand out in a sea of 10,000+ games. I still think the game is fun, and worth the dollar, so I have to work to convince potential customers the game is worth the buck. The only hope is to keep adding good updates, and improving game play. That's the only way to gain visibility. Now if updates could be approved faster...
I noticed your game is no longer in iphone's hot new games but still in what's hot in itunes does this affect your sales?
My chart's been going kind of haywire, so it's hard to connect what's causing what. A couple days ago I added Skeleton Key to the Strategy game category as well as Puzzle game, and I think that started me getting a lot of exposure. And this was also shortly after getting an update approved and releases the Lite version, so my sales went way up and I got to #42 in puzzle games in the US. That lasted for a day and then it quickly slipped, and I'm back all the way to #65. My sales went: 64, 73, 151, 456 (!!!), 138, and 75 yesterday. They haven't released today's yet. So that 456 peak was awesome, but now it's quickly back to what it was before. I think around the time of the peak was also when I got unlisted in Hot New Games and unlisted in recent games, and I went down quickly. But really as long as I stay in the top 75 puzzle games for a good while, I'm totally happy with it. I just submitted a new update today, so maybe soon that'll drive some sales.
456!!! I guess that the power of Hot New Games ,so that means a lot of people visit app store from thire I-device,not PC-itunes I think you can change Strategy to family,a little bit easyer go get to higher position
I'm along the same lines. I've only sold a handful, and although my game needs a little adjusting, I still think it's worth the dollar. But I'm already working on apps 2, 3, 4 and 5... maybe one of those will kick in better, and I ain't giving up on app 1 either!
New Developer..... interesting stuff.... I just wanted to drop a line and introduce myself... My name is Quentin AKA BossMan696 on the web. I have been in and out of Touch Arcade for a while and was just reading your posts and had to thank you for the wealth of information. I just released my first APP .. Flight Deck and have been experiencing much of what you speak of. Even though the game came out on September 10, it had a release date listed as August 10, which is when I first submitted it. It got rejected because of a CRASH, but I was unable to duplicate the cause so I just resubmitted it. 2 Weeks later it was accepted. But I believe because of the date discrepancy, I missed an opportunity to be featured in NEW and Noteworthy etc. Flight Deck is averaging 70 sales a day which I think is great since it hasn't even been a full week yet. I would like some insight though if you think there is something else we can try.... I had tons of updates planned, but using an outside programmer makes things a little difficult. I have VERY LIMITED Programming skills as I am more of a graphic designer by trade.... I did most of the graphics... and he made it all work. However, since this is a "PAY to PLAY" proposition, I'm not sure how much longer I can work like this as my ambition for the program is overshadowing my pockets to be able to support development.
Flight Deck Developer needs advice.... I honestly think Flight Deck will be a top contender ONCE the updates are added. I'm almost afraid to promote it in its current state given that everybody wants more levels no matter how many you already have. THE REVIEWS have been VERY good especially here on Touch Arcade and I am very thankful! I guess maybe I'm getting impatient. But I try to think like a gamer... My original intentions were to release a major update in 30 to 45 days... and here it is less than a week and I'm already trying to rush the new levels..... I have the artwork done, they just need to be coded and implemented.... So long story short, my question to you as self coding developers.... Should I stick with my current programmer which I think may be getting quote happy given initial success of Flight Deck... or is it relatively easy for a new coder to pick through the existing code and make the changes and upgrades I'm thinking about? Like I said, I am at least a year away from being a coder myself... I have the books and the background... engineering student at University of Alabama.... but I just need the time to get back into this... No, never finished college... massive weight loss, muscles, now I'm sexy to the girls... started own business... degree not so important... Long story, don't ask... yes I regret sometimes, even though they say you shouldn't have any regrets.. ;-)
well,we have since the change of the appstore ZERO downloads! we didn`t have big sales before, but we had 13 each day. since 5 days nothing, nada, nichts. strange. time for a update? too sad,that i haven`t any time for that in the moment. hey,and why is this game hauntedhouseLCD new and noteworthy and ours not? the world isn`t fair.
I thought I'd chime in with my developer experience. Launch day for Xeno Sola (formerly Starcassonne) was 46 sales... but that slowly trickled down to 2-4 sales a day. Game is at $3. I don't know if I'm priced too high or if I'm just a poor marketer. It's doing better than the chess games I've made, but I wish I could push my game back up into the top 100 of board games.
at least some of you have a graph to deal with. unless your a big player; or get really lucky - you wont get any form of itunes placement; when you have it; you wont have it for long - so, you need to get as many sales as you can.. if your selling more than 10 per day; your doing good. there are many developers who are selling games and have still had single digit numbers; even after weeks of being released. it does happen. you simply cannot be found.. one of my biggest beef's is that even now; with the "top free" lists - your getting lite/free versions of commercial games only; what about a true freeware list? you know, where the apps are 100% free - and not a marketing piece to upgrade to a full version.
Things will get better.... I think things will get back to normal as people spend more time playing with iTunes 9. I was the same way in the beginning.... not able to find the same items that were easily accessible before. But after a bit of digging, the lists are still there and available for each category. I do wish it was labeled a bit better though. If you are in the Games/Simulation category, it will show you a basic list sorted by the normal parameters.... release date, names, etc.... Then, if you click on the left or right TOP PAID or FREE Apps lists.. it will take you to the TOP 100 programs for the Games/Simulation category even though it isn't labeled as such.
If more developers go the path of intentionally misfiling or arbitrarily changing app categories after a release to try and game the app store, the category feature will eventually become completely useless.
