Yes, Trenches 'proper', the paid version, has never been free. We established a mutually beneficial relationship with ICS Mobile. Developers, like us, have a different perspective on the FAAD model and developers know exactly what they are signing up for. Though there are many reasons to go with the FAAD program (or to stay away from it!), one of the most common reasons for a developer to make a game free using FAAD is to promote ANOTHER paid title. If the free version can get 1 million downloads and have a banner for users to check out another PAID game and can get even a 1% conversion rate, then that would be 10,000 downloads of a paid version, easily launching that paid title into the Top 50 of all apps. Obviously, that is just 1 scenario but hopefully it shows you that there is some legitimacy to all of this madness.
Yes, using the service in this way actually makes sense (but making your app free, 2 weeks after its release does not). It would be most effective for promoting sequels. To sustain a service like this (and increase its value) I think it would be best to get back to a free app each week and have a free app every day on special occasions (like Christmas).
Some of the peoples last posts here didn't got the point I was talking about in the beginning. I was talking about completely different things - things, which will affect a lot of indie developers in the near future... or is already affecting them. It is not about if a free app is cool or not. It is not about how many apps are on the appstore and what to do to become visible. And it is not about ICS Mobiles self-aggrandisement.
?? It is all directly related. Because there are 2000+ games released every month this year http://148apps.biz/app-store-metrics/?mpage=submission And there are now 13,992 games for 99 cents for a total of 32,000+ games http://148apps.biz/app-store-metrics/?mpage=appprice A few developers will make their apps free to become visible. Some members here are upset when they lose a few bucks because a game went free but imagine how upsetting it must be for the developer who has spent months developing a game only to have it played by a few hundred people.
I will only be played by a few hundred people in the future - because why should the most people buy the game?
That's what I said earlier. The Appstore isn't exactly the shining example of high quality, in-depth gaming. Even many of the ones that are released for free with these promotions aren't.
I know what you were talking about. You are worried that if everyone downloads these apps for free, no one will buy any games anymore and wait for the apps to go free only. And with zero sales indie devs wont be making apps for iPhone anymore. Well, the sales of most indie games had been reduced to single digits long before Blacksmith Games started this free app a day last december. You can find devs complaining about low sales in threads for last year with a lot of them considering to stop developing for iPhone. So you cant blame it on the FREE a day model. The only reason behind this is the sheer number of apps available and the limited budget,inexperience of indie devs to market their apps effectively. Making the app free has proven to be an effective enough way to get more paid downloads once the free scheme ends for most of the decent enough games. You cant expect these devs to keep on developing while making less than 100 bucks a month. Apps need marketing to sell. Making it free is the easiest and cheapest way to market it. In fact its giving them another chance when they've already lost hope.
Ok so this thread is now running in circles with pros and cons to both sides of the argument. And honestly I see both sides. I see why the appvent calendar was so cool in the beginning - I can see that those games took off because it was a new promotion, but promotions lose steam after awhile and soon I expect to get a credit to my iTunes when I download an app. So what the long term ramifications of this are yet to be seen. But I bet the big developers are egging this on for sure! I think I am going to go organize my new folders now.
As a OS4 user who recently deleted his first app I can say... apple has done right. You simply delete the app, no 1.star.at.hand.option anymore. So if you dont like a game from a freepromotion and delete it you really have to get up off the couch and use your computer to write a review or drop a star (or five ) I think that this will have an effect on the whole thing and although this thread runs in circles the last few comments really have content.
In my humble opinion Hi everyone! Well, it's been a stressing weekend (and still is) after Freaking Inkies was tested on FAAD. I can share my experience on both sides, consumer and member of a small indie studio. And also we have experienced with 2 different systems of promotions, Open Feint (with Fly Kiwi, Fly!) and FAAD (with Freaking Inkies, published by AtakamaLabs). I won't say much about FAAD, Freaking Inkies is still free and disclosure is out of discussion there. But I can say that FGOTD with Open Feint really helped a lot to Kiwi. We managed to have over half a million free downloads and after it went back to paid we got a decent number of paid downloads, not to the same level we had back in march after Kiwi was placed first in What's Hot, then in New and Noteworthy and finally in the App of the Week main deck. It's tough out there in the App Store, and when you have no funding at all and live in a financially underdeveloped country, it's even harder. We're not THAT much afraid, though, and that has nothing to do with Argentina's amazing performance in the World Cup (even though soccer for us is a powerful optimism driver for everything else ). As an indie team we believe in doing our best, with whatever we have at hand to fund it (sometimes publishers, sometimes savings, sometimes work for hire) If you believe you've got a great game by the end of the process, then you did all you could. When it comes to marketing, sometimes it's worth using this promotion tools despite the number of people pissed off because they paid for your game and feel that it makes no senses supporting you, sometimes because of the spoiled kids that throw 1 stars reviews as if they were free shurikens. Promo Codes are also a way of losing paid downloads but we still do it hoping that anyone that gets it will love our game, leave a nice review and maybe evangelize a bit. At the end of the day, what's important is the number of people that know (and hopefully love) your game. It's true that if everybody waits for a game to be free eventually anybody wouldn't buy anything. But I still buy stuff that I feel it's worth spending money in. And I also get stuff I wouldn't even get if it wasn't free (like Tilt to Live, and after getting it for free I'm waiting to spend at least U$ 2.99 in One Man Left's next title because now I know they can't do bad stuff even if they want to). I think promotions contribute to increase the non-TA users awareness of indie games and if the games are good, they contribute to build the indie "brand", to call it somehow... and if that happens, next time you'll give it a shot even if you know 3 months from now it'll be free... I might be optimistic for some of you, but after 9 months of hard work, that's what I'm thinking these days. Now I have to throw the I-Ching coins so, if you excuse me... Saludos y VAMOS ARGENTINA CARAJO!!! PS: By the way, stay tuned for the mother of all updates for Fly Kiwi, Fly!
Hey, man, the fart game market is cutthroat. You've got to do what you can to rise above a saturated genre and find a way to stand out. This is serious business. (Excuse me for a moment... *Frrrrrrrrp* ...aaaahhhh.) Anyway, as I was saying - serious business. Even if your competition stinks.
Ratings are misleading sometimes... I'd say stick with the youtube and website reviewers. They really play through the entire game and give a full rounded idea of what to expect. The problem with ratings is that people rate badly because they lost, or don't know how to play, or don't know how to review (rating 1 star and say how awesome the game is). A few days ago I noticed a website listing apps gone free recently. What bugged me was how they included the ratings of apps in their post. I was seeing three stars, three and a half stars, for apps that they had previously praised highly. Maybe they thought three stars was good for an app, but it seems to shout "lukewarm" or "average". As for FreeAppADay, I'm not gonna lie. They've saved me a fair bit of cash and got some cool apps in return. And frankly, I don't think we should blame FAAD for the bad ratings, they're just opening up a channel for more people to download the game. It's the inaccurate ratings that we should blame. With that said, I don't particularly think there's much "specialness" to making an app free every single day, and it's even starting to get a bit overwhelming. I think an app every Saturday and Sunday would keep the appeal and make it special.
Sorry I could not help it! I saw the vid and I had to pull the trigger on this one! But For pure gamers we've got some awesomeness lined up this week....
*gg* hey - someone still owes me a Fly, Kiwi, Fly! code I have won in a competition lately and yet to receive... Now lets get serious. Thanks for you clear words and your opinions. Thanks also for sharing your experience with FAAD and OF. I can see your points, and some of them make sense to me, too. I really appreciate your post. The situation I am talking about has yet to come. I don't know if it will be utterly disastrous or, on the other hand: not at bad as it seems yet, but time will tell. It is really not about the rating of the games (I think that this matter is nearly over with iOS4.0), it is about what will happen to new game releases. After having many discussions on this board, mainly in social groups or over pm and also with friends of mine, I got the strong feeling that websites like FAAD are turning us slowly into cheapskates, and in the near future (at first place) the indie devs are in a situation more worse that now. Please let me explain how I came to this conclusion: It started when everybody was happy to get some cool games for free on FAAD. After a short while, competitors emerged and also started giving away games for free. These free-games-websites also begun to subtly change the behaviour of quite a bunch of iDevice gamers. You can subclassify these people into different groups: - the first small group always thought that games for more than a buck are far too expensive and will always wait for a sale or the free download. They're existing for a long time (longer than FAAD or orther websites) - but the free promotions lately justify their behaviour now. - the second group contains people which get more and more pissed because they buy a game on first day and then it goes free a few days / weeks later. This group is growing, just check out actual threads about people complaining; these are also often the ones who post reviews like: "Firk! I got scammed! I paid x.99$ and now it is free! I want my money back". on AppStore or change their reviews from 4-5 starts to 1 star, just out of anger; - the third group are people who doesn't complain - but are already thinking about stopping to buy indie games for the first few weeks. More and more people agree to wait - because the game will be free eventually and they don't have to spend their bucks on indie titles - instead they can save them for high priced games from EA or GameLoft. I was really terrified to see how many people on TA are thinking in this way already; - group number four contains people who used to buy games, but now are satisfied with four new games/apps each day and doesn't need to buy games anymore. There are also very much casual gamers in this group, btw. - last group number five are the people which are new at iDevice gaming and already learnt that the don't have to spend money to get cool games. May all these groups are small in members, they continue growing. But pulled together, they can't be called small anymore. Sure, there will be the freaks who always buy on first day or support their favourite developers - but how long until even these people are fed up? Looking at this growing group, I don't wonder anymore that the initial sale numbers for indie games are shrinking. Fact is also, that the competition on AppStore grows bigger and bigger each day and devloper already have a hard time to make their products visible. So, if these initial sales are missing now, which alternative do the devs have - than trying to make their apps visible, with the help of a promotial website like FAAD or OF? And, how can anybody convince these frustrated or [now] just waiting former customers into starting to buy apps in the first days again? The more people get for free, the less they appeciate the given. And the the higher the quality of these free things is, the more they get spoiled. So, as I said, I don't know if the situation will get worse and worser or stay the same as it is now ('cause my bloody crystal ball is broken ), but we all should think about and be responsible for the things we are doing. With all these free promotions, are the indie devs not worth to be supported with a few of our bucks anymore?
Vovin, You make a lot of valid points, but the main problem is the enormous growth of apps in the app store! And Apple can't stop the growth because their are competing against Google and the Android Platform. This is a structural issue:Apple is in the business of selling idevices and from a promotional standpoint the more apps they have the better, because they can say "we have more apps than any other smart phones"! But this in turn affects indie devs as it becomes more and more difficult to get visibility and that's why you end up with site like faad because the only way to generate some massive visibility is to go free, but not your regular switch to free but rather a turbo charged free campaign push!
well, Tilt to Live is now 3 stars, and Freaking Inkies is 2.5 Very well done FAAD, you have provided them with a whole bunch of free downloads and successfully lowered AppAdvice's #5 best game of all time to 3 stars from 4.5 stars, and IGN Editor's Choice Award game from 4 stars to 2.5 I would definitely pay 600 bucks so you can lower a game I worked hard on 1.5 stars. Do you accept paypal? or check? Could you lower it by 3 stars if I paid an extra 200 bucks? Let me know if we have a deal or not.
