So, I know there's a thread in the games forum about iDracula's success. But I thought it was interesting to post a thread here from a developer's point of view. I mean... Here's a true "indie" game with (no offense Chillingo ) not a huge name publisher. Chillingo did a good job with some grass roots promotion here. I think most of the credit, of course, is a solid game with very visually appealing graphics. But still, somehow it gives hope to smaller devs that an "indie" game can rocket to the #1 spot immediately after introduction. arn
I don't have it (I haven't bought anything since november. I have plenty of money, I just couldn't find any games, so why buy something I don't want?) , but the screenies look good! Yes, I am glad that smaller devs are making it up there! Blocked is another example. I hope my first game that I will be releasing a month - 2 months will do well! If you want more info on my game, look at my signature!
They designed the game well and it carries lots of playability, looks great and is overall fun, they did a real good job with iDracula. I find a lot of the games on the app store are thrown out either too early or just there to make money, this game though deserves to do well from the start.
Yep- I suppose some of the success is down to it's cheap price of $.99, however good the game actually is (I'm not saying it's not good- just saying the price is one aspect). I hope to have similar success with my first game (going really well btw!)- however, I am dubious about charging such a small fee for something that has taken many hours of my life, however much I have enjoyed it. See what I mean? I was thinking more a $4 price tag, with a lite version available and a YouTube vid for all to see. What kind of return could come from such a small charge of $.99 per sale? Are we talking hundreds of dollars in a week still?
I read somewhere that while $1 get's you instant sales, in the long run it will die down quickly so a slightly higher price is more evenly spread, but that will change depending on how your app is and if it's worth it promote it well I guess, paying for a few website ads might help you.
The #1 spot is in the 12,000-14,000 sales per day range last I saw. So iDracula is making $8000-$10,000 a day in that spot. But TA is the biggest http://www.quantcast.com/toucharcade.com/traffic arn
WOW!! Blimey, I could quit my day job with sales returns like that! Perhaps I should rethink my business strategy. I just hope I can get some support from you Arn, in posting it on your main blog- I would appreciate it. Can you PM me details on advertising on your blog too? Thanks.
Is that #1 spot, 12-14k daily sales across all the nations? Still that's a fine number of sales to have if you can sit up there for a week or three.
You can sometimes if not most of the times get more money by selling the app cheap than expensive. Gabe and Valve has come out with an report on that some week ago. When they have their weekend deals on the Steam platform and the game/games cost less they make much more money then they did at full price. Like the recent sale with 50% off L4D. They saw a 3000% increase in sales! (no there arent extra zeros in there) So I think iDracula is making more money now at $1 than it ever would if it released at $3 The $1 also puts it up fast in the top25 which makes even more people buy it.
That though all depends on many things, the game was near full price for ages so a drop attracts tons of people who want to save money, where as selling the game low priced to start with might make people react differently. Also full retail games come out around £40 and not £1-3 I understand what you are saying though.
yeah but dropping the price on apps isnt as effective on app store. There is no big sign saying to everyone this app is 50% off I think starting cheaper and then setting the price higher after some days is the best strategy on the app store. This is for indie developers who dont have 1million dollor marketing campaign
They made a great looking product with a great name. There aren't 300 clones of the game on the app store already (an untapped market). They have a unique control scheme that's fun to play (though I suck at it).
Personally I didn't think iDracula was very fun. From a developer's standpoint it is a very simple game to make. The enemies come at you from all directions and have little AI. The gameplay is soooo simple. I could have written it in 2-3 days. The artwork is the best I've seen on the iphone however. Since it was the same style as my next game I wanted to check out what they did. I am not sure if pricing at $.99 is always the best way to go. I'm on track to making the same kind of money as ishoot over the course of a year without having a #1 app.
Hehe! Is that a little nudge at me there? Perhaps I shouldn't be so tough on devs in the future now I am becoming one myself.
Interesting discussion guys. Is there any more opinions on cheaper prices? I must admit, I am a little torn- with some people saying it would be good to start cheap and increase price in time, and others saying to start as you mean to go on, with a sale price later. Hmmmm....
