I really like his story. I've seen 'Lite' apps do very little for games too, so it makes me wonder what kinds of things a developer should be putting into a Lite version to give it the best chance to convert to an actual sale. As for quitting his day job, if he is making 21k+ per day as the article suggests, then I guess thats not such a bad thing to do. He'll make enough money before its popularity wears off to at least justify taking a couple years off, and hopefully he can get a team together and make some really great games.
Wow, that's a fairly odd thing to do after only a few days of good sales, on a single app. I'm guessing he doesn't have a family to support.
The article said he sold 16,000 copies in one day. He's now at #1, so he can expect to be there for at least one week. 16,000 * $2.99 *.7 *7 = $224,000 And that's just in one week. If he makes $0 for the next 2 years, it's plenty to support most families. Many have made the jump to full time on much less funding than that.
I'd be curious to hear about of the experiences of people who haven't "made it big".. definitely seems like if you're fortunate to be on the top 25 list, you can make some serious money.. But what if you never reach the top 25 or top 50 list? Are you looking at just a couple of sales a month due to being doomed to obscurity? Or are sales good, just not "quit your job" good.
Take out the new additional taxes he's not used to paying, and it's really not that much for a family to live off of, especially when he won't be getting free healthcare/401k matching, etc. anymore. But the money isn't the issue I was having with it. It's the rash decision to quit your job after only a few days of success at something else. Especially when it involves a single product, which 1,000 other people will now be making clones of, some of them better clones. Sure, now he's got time to make another app, but like the article said, his app was not a hit at first. Dangerous business, this App Store! But hey, if he's got no ties, more power to him! I hope he gets a long ride out of it.
Depends on what your current job is. I'd say if you were one of the top 150 games, and you sold exactly the same amount every day, you could probably quit most jobs. If you're always in the top 100 games list, I'd say you could definitely do it. Whether it's safe to do, that's up to each person's comfort level.
Have you quit your's? I mean, do you draw enough money from the sales of a currently single app to satisfy the needs and wants of your rather large family?
This is interesting, I have been reading that the Dev's of iSteam 2 - 20 something year olds made $100k in one month?!?!?! Trism made 250k?! After hearing all these crazy stories I just borrowed my buddies Mac and I am starting down this path with high hopes. We have about 4 people on board me my brother and 2 close friends... I am hoping that if we do it right that we could make some extra pocket cash also... I already have some good ideas in mind, and I have already started on some of the art and stuff for a game. All I can say is depending on how hard the programming is, we are looking at our first game in about 4-5 months hopefully... Wish us luck! [EDIT] - BTW I won't be quitting MY day job anytime soon... My bro and friends don't have jobs so their fine
Sweet brewster, thanks for the kind words, and you know you will be one of the first beta testers I ask...
But how much time will he have to put into his next game if he doesn't quit his day job? I think quitting is the "right" thing to do. Having to juggle development and your day job is difficult and almost everything on the side goes in slow motion. Even if he's generated enough income to for the next 6 months, he has 6 months of full time to put into improving his current app and investing into new apps. If he doesn't do it, he loses some of this opportunity. arn
The whole market is completely crazy right now. I work as an artist on iPhone games right now and I know some good programmers and I know a few of us could team up and try to be one of these overnight success stories. I have no doubt we could make a good game but its completely up in their air if it will be gobbled up so voraciously by the iPhone gamers. I haven't played iShoot yet but I'm sure id like it, its essentially Gorillas from the days of Qbasic. Its a known game with hundreds of iterations on almost every system in the world and yet one guy made a version for iPhone and it caught on. There is so much luck behind it that the chances of specifically recreating it aren't too good. Then again, he did it once, I'm sure he can do it again. When your a one man game team you make what you'd like to play, and perhaps EVERYONE else also wants to play what you want to play and its a success. Maybe you make a game that you love and nobody else gets it. Its a tough gamble. I make good money right now, I know there is the potential to make way more, but there also the potential to make nothing. It's a very enticing yet very scary market for iPhone apps. It generally confuses the hell out of me.
just played iShot Lite for like a half hour. And as a developer I think its pretty solid. I know people buy it for 3 bucks, but I don't pay more than 2 on apps now
Wow. I would feel awesome after a success like that. On a totally unrelated note, what's the easiest way to program iPhone games?
Ok . I hope that more skilled people take on this challenge, soon. I want to see real diversity in the App Store, and I want to see devotion to the games. Anybody with the smarts and time can be a developer, but it takes devotion and skill to be a good one. I hope to see whatever idea you have turn into a great app.
