one week, only 85 download,please help

I am not sure if I want to get into the whole "limited time sale" thing myself.

I am still new to this market myself, so I am only sort of talking out of expectation - anyway our first game released at .99 cents and I feel it was fair to charge that much for our game, iFist. I'd not like to ever drop it down to free (even as promotion for forthcoming apps) for reasons you can all imagine, and really i hate perpetuating that whole problem of devaluing software even further. Charging a buck is bad enough, but once you let consumers see that you'll flip-flop between charging and free then that's all they'll ever expect from you.

our next game, upon release I'd like to charge $3. That's harder of course (probably keep me way way out of the top 100 market for a long time) but I believe it will be fun and innovative enough that it can have some legs. I am happier to wait it out and see if we can sell more for a slightly higher price in the longer term, rather than poop it out for almost nothing and be another dev with the reputation of "don't buy their software until it goes on sale, or inevitably drops down to almost nothing"

The more people who keep doing that (of the devs who actually develop apps of some quality), the more it hurts us all in the longterm..

all of this being said - I wonder how different the world would be if Flight Control had maintained a $2 or $3 price point?

 

First but starting this Thread I thought some guy or gal downloaded 85 games in a week and needed help but when I heard your story I am going to buy this game. Also but having a contest you will get visibilty like iTune Gift Cards(much needed by most app hungry sharks here ) that will instantly get you visibility or mostly but dont be cheap though (jkjk) maybe like a 50 dollars gift card or 25 and if you make enough money you could do a 100 dollar gift card contest. Anyways if you aren't doing so well in the app store then I suggest (please dont go ) moving to the Palm app store or blackberries or android. But if you do that you will be marked as a traitor (jk again) Anyways good luck to your game and also I going to buy this game right when I get my iTune giftcard.

EDIT: I never knew you were asian! don't worry I'm chinese too also I can add this to my sig by saying I helped out a fellow asian brother from another mother (Rush Hour 3).

 

well, that`s another interesting thread. thanks to all, who tried to help the dev and help so other guys like me.
we just published our first game a month ago and have the same problems like fwish.
we didn`t expect hugh downloads, but we thought, that we will have somewhat about 1000 (not in the first weeks), but it seems, that we could be happy, if we will have 500.
after 1,5 month, we have 200 downloads and we had some good reviews on big sides.

so your game`s doing good.

hope, you will have enough downloads, to make another game.

oh, we will update our game and make another one for sure, because it`s fun to make things for the iphone and it`s a great community.
but we won`t cancel our jobs therefore.

 

Dont give up your day job is the definate theme of game dev for iPhone.
this time last year you could put out anything and do well. now every day it gets harder to be seen.
lets say as an estimate:-
2 people take 2 months to make a game.. excluding equipment and licences
lets assume they want a basic wage ... not massive just enough to live on.. say 20K Uk or 30K dollars.., which is junior wage for game dev in the west
doing the math 30K /12 = 2.5 X 2 X 2 = 10K dev costs
selling at 99c you get 70c from apple each unit..
so 10000 / 0.70 = 14084 units just to break even
your much better off making games for iPhone just because you love doing it..
the poor guys who've spent 6 months on a game with 3 or 4 people ... and feel they have to charge 99c.. are going to have a hard time making back just the dev cost..

 

Reading this thread depress me. Hope the iPhone market is not dead yet.

My app will be released soon and I start to worry.

 

well, i don`t think, that you couldn`t earn money with the appstore, but it`s a lot harder today.
just take a look on other apps for the same price us yours and you will see, that there is a lot of good stuff there.
so, what to do?
i think the main reason for an independent dev should to make a game should be fun.
if you are just looking at the money you sure will be disappoint.

you couldn`t really say, what the people are want to buy. if so, the big companies would only make big hits.
just make a game you like to play.
and i think, that updates will be urgent.
on one side, to make the game better and better.
on the other sides, people would appreciate, that the devs are still working on the app (i think so).

and you will be in the just release list again, off course.

so you are make your first game? you will be surprized about the cooperativeness of the iphone gamers.

i was.

we just had 200 downloads, but we learn a lot and we have some people, who really like the game and gave us good tips for the future.

this is better then just getting 250,– – 500,– bugs (if we get 500,– eu, we just earn 0,50 – 1,– eu a hour. not very much here in germany).

so, just have fun making your game, maybe you have more luck then we do.
if not, you have an app in the store and can work on it like you want.
and everything you learn you can use for further projects.

edit: i hope, my english isn`t too bad to understand, what i wanted to say.

 

I've been thinking a lot about this and observing a lot of developers and their progress where available. I'm gearing up to enter the dev pool myself (for real this time, now that I've eliminated the one constant distraction that was my blog) and I've considered pricing models and promotional methods. I've already got two games planned out and I figure I'd do something like this:

- Intro price at $1.99 during opening weekend. Release both full and lite versions simultaneously. Possibly also release a 3GS-enhanced version at the same time for the same price unless I can figure out how to cram optional S-enhancements in there without requiring a 3.0 build and/or 3GS/3G Touch device to be present.

- Regular price at $2.99 or $3.99. Keep it there, maybe have some sort of sale down the road, but not for a while, and never to $0.99 or free for any reason.

- Have a promo code contest of some sort, preferably one that would provide promotional results by design, like following on Twitter or something involving a lite version in addition to requesting honest App Store reviews.

- Spread the usual batch of promo codes among review sites and such to try and get some front page exposure.

Probably not too much different than what most developers do really. I won't ever do the $0.99 or free thing unless I actually develop something that's basically a throwaway. (Lite versions will obviously be free) I'm taking a long view when it comes to development. I'd rather be consistent and I don't want to take the well-travelled route of gaming the system. It would be much better on my conscience to take the high road and develop polished stuff that people hopefully like and be respected as a developer.

The bottom line though I think is that you have to develop something people are going to like. At the end of the day, games that just aren't that fun aren't going to generate many sales no matter how hard you promote it, so I'd probably want to take a two-pronged approach to the development stages:

1. Get a small group of other developers to alpha test. These are folks who can spot problems and explain in more technical detail what the problem is and even offer some deeper insight into how it could be fixed. They also have more knowledge on how to incur problems because they'd know where the common pitfalls are and can test against them.

2. Cast a wider beta test stage that will be primarily be aimed at end users who can then playtest from a straight user perspective and offer help and insight into the design of the game, UI features, playability, and overall enjoyment and replay factor.

To me, I think this would help iron out the biggest problems and present players with what in the end is a polished and well-tested product that doesn't suffer from being regarded as a public beta like so many games that get released far too early.

 

Hi, some advice which I hope you find useful. General advice:

1. Screenshots

If it doesn't look interesting, it probably isn't interesting either. And if I don't know what I'm looking at, I'll move on.

2. Looks are everything

If it doesn't look good, people will move on. Sex sells. If you can't draw, don't draw -- stick to what you are good at. No money to hire a proper artist? Make a deal and split the profits. Keep it simple. Less is def more.

3. Uniqueness

Is it unique in some way? If yes, great! If not, what makes it better than the rest? Have an edge.

4. Trailer

It's hard to make a good trailer, my god our early ones were terrible. Spend more than 5 mins on your trailer, more like 1-5 hours, it shows. Keep it short.

5. App description

You need to be able to describe it in one sentence. Keep it brief. If you are to quote someone, keep that brief too.

6. Features

More features isn't always better. List your features and focus on the most important ones, make the core feature really REALLY good.


These are just my personal opinions and more specific to your game:

1. Core game play

It doesn't look fun to be honest. Accelerometer controls are rarely the best option on the iPhone. Really. To work with you have, I would pull an ***** (name dropping isn't necessary) and copy the controls of Flight Control. And make the game challenging. The genre is popular now, take advantage of that.

2. Graphics

Redo all of them. ALL of them, including icon. And keep it simple. Good examples with simple but excellent graphics: Drop 7, geoDefense and Flight Control.

3. Screenshots

They are in the wrong order. Most important first. And if people don't understand what the game is about by looking at the screenshots, why not add some little speech bubbles?

4. Luck

You need luck too. Someone important will have to pick it up and like it. And tell others about it. The rest will follow.

5. Trailer

Why on earth did you film it in your kitchen/laundry room? Use a clean background, a white wall is not that bad, or do it complete darkness. Plug your device to your computer and record the sound that way. Keep it short, very few will watch more than 30 s.

6. Website

It's good enough - you have screenshots, video and a short description.


Cheers,
Anders

 

Nice tips, thx!

 

np, good luck!

 

looks, like the downloads are better now.
adventurecharts:
usa=31
italia=36
australia=39
…
(via majicrank)

you are in more countries top 100 lists then we have downloads the last two weeks. ^^

grats.

 

(offtopic, sorry fwish)

I wish I could say LOL here .

Btw, just letting you know I got you another sale today . Another dev btw. As everyone who has tried your game, he too loved it and couldnt understand why the game didnt sell enough.

Anyways, Now that I got you almost half the sales you had in last two weeks(ie 2 sales out of 4), I think I should start getting a cut from the profits you made from any such sales generated coz of me

Sorry. p/j.

 

off topic 2 ( i think, it`s ok, because the downloads for him are better now ^^)

oh, it isn`t such a big problem.
if we had tons of downloads, we would just sitting in the sun or the pub and drink too much beer and wouldn´t work further on the game.

another one?
wooooh.
if we ever get money from apple, i would be glad to spend you a beer or send you a check. ^^

as i wrote, we have some nice ideas for upgrades and when i have time, we will make them.

and, hey, maybe we should make a chinese version for our 3 customers there?!

btw. i work as a boardgame designer and we made a korean and chinese version of a game some month ago. so i have some experience with the chinese lay-out.

 

nicecave, errr nickcave (that was an accident for real!)
as mentioned in your main thread, I do like your game and i think it's unique in what it is trying to present, also well-done in it's execution. But i can see why it is not cleaning up sales on the appstore-

the games this is based on are a good 30 yrs old, and though a small cross-section of people will absolutely appreciate that, the masses won't be able to see where you're coming from (and many of those in the general iPhone customer pool were so young/not even born when game and watch games were in vogue). So if they see screens of a game like this they aren't going to understand. A lot of devs will see it and say "ohhh wow game and watch!" and kick in a buck or two, but that's a much smaller base.

You do have a particular audience and it would behoove you to go to that source (start seeking more classic gaming forums out, ingratiating yourself over there, show them what you've done) - in particular there are a couple niche places where they'll concentrate on this very particular type of game (early 80s handhelds) but mind you, that's starting to get a bit esoteric

i think it looks great, i recently got an account over at neogaf so i will pimp your game over there, i think some of those folks would be all over this (you'll likely get couple of sales!)

the lesson that all should take from this - screenshots are VERY important, you must make your game appealing-looking to as wide an audience as possible. it's rough, it's a lot of work, but ultimately it will make or break your sales. this is shallow but this is how it goes (great screenshots for the sell, fun gameplay/good features for the follow-through). It was a major lesson we learned after releasing iFist, and it's a huge issue now as we are in development on our follow-up title. If it is not something you can easily rectify in your current project, make sure to prioritize it in your future developments!

 

sorry, fwish, for OT, but your apps doing fine, so you won`t need this thread anymore

ehm, nickcaveMAN.

you are in the lambrettinis thread? didn`t see you there, maybe we should move this conversation to that thread.
but as i wrote in the title, i don`t think, that fwish didn`t need this thread anymore. ^^

don`t misunderstood me. i never thought, that we sell million copies of the game, but i really thought, that we will have 1000 downloads.
i know, that this is a game for older people, but, hey, most of the people i know, who have iphones are 30–40 (well, this is germany, you only get the phone with an expensive telephone-rate.)
ok, and there are 40 billion iphone out there, so what`s 1000 of them?

most games based on really old ideas.
doom? vintage stuff (but with better graphics and better sound and… hm… more levels)

yepp, but as i wrote, this game isn`t for the kids (ok, maybe a hardcore gamer forum wouldn`t be the right place to try to promote that kind of game, but we have two fans here (huhu, devilish good and imnosuperman) and it`s a very interesting and helpfully forum, so i`m feeling free to post my thoughts here.)… ehm, what did i want to say?

ah, yes, it`s for the older iphoneuser. btw. my 9 year old niece loved the game (but this could be, because she just want to play with my iphone).

never mind.

wooh, spooky.
but i tried to find those sides, especially japanese sides, but didn`t found anything. and besides, spending so much work for maybe 10–100 downloads wouldn`t be very efficient.
i think, we better should make our upgrades.
we will change the graphics to different videogame-types.
early LED (just red dots)
later LED (different colours)
early atari
and, crazy, a pinball screen version in orange
etc.
but always the same gameplay.
you see, i learned a lot.

a videomuseum as a game.

the kids wouldn`t like it, but we (the progger and me) will have fun and maybe we will reach sometime enough downloads to get some money from apple.

and our next game will have 3D graphics and zombies in it (really, but it won`t be a shooter or anything like that, and zombies are only in one level.
and we didn´t use zombies just because it`s popular but it fits into the game. famous movie monster. the only retro in that game will be the levelscreens. yes, the game will have different levels.)
this game could be a success, because it base on a boardgame, whick sold over 25000 copies, which is a really hugh number in that market (don`t mention monopoly or risk… or settler, carcassone or any other game) and we have an official license to make that game. so it`s no rip off.

but since then, there will be gone a lot of time.

so back to topic (ehm, sorry again, fwish)

that would be nice. as you maybe notice, my english isn`t so good at all (i really often use the dictonary, hope, you understand me anyhow.

ehm, there are 4 screenshots in the appstore.
there isn`t more to shot, that`s the whole game.

but i know, what you mean. our website… ehem… it`s … let`s talk about something else.
maybe the website of tigerstylegames? (Edit: damn, they made their website.)
just kidding. they made a great game.

we need a video of the gameplay?
sure, will do this… ehm… next week?

ok, thanks for your tips and kind words.
i learned a lot here in the forum (to tell the truth, i didn`t know anything about the iphone market one month ago and haven`t any game on my iphone. and i never use the istore before. and i wouldn`t buy music there, but this is a other story…).

time to go back to work.
aloha from germany
maura aka nick caveman

 

There really is a ton of great information in this thread. I love to see the community so active and helpful.

I wanted to add to the discussion about having lite versions of your apps.

In my experience it really depends on the app and I agree with Stroffolino that it's important to be smart about when to utilize lite versions. They are certainly not garanteed to boost sales, but can sometimes be really great.

Some multi player games that benefit from network effects are a good example... the game-play experience for each individual is made richer by an increase in the volume of others joining the game with lite versions, and that in turn drives more paid sales. The best MMO ever made wouldn't be much fun if you were the only player.

In general lite versions can help IF the apps biggest obstacle is that is just needs momentum or a large enough audience. Otherwise you can run the risk of giving away the element of your app that makes it really great.. and sabotaging your paid sales. Or you can meet the same fate by withholding that great element and not showcasing your app particularly well at all. It's certainly a delicate balance


hope this helps and thanks for starting a great thread fwish, I dig your passion for making great games