Hi, I have been working on a soccer game and thought it would be a good idea to do a soft launch in the NZ or Australian app stores. Some clips of the gameplay... https://vine.co/v/OvIwDJBaApA https://vine.co/v/OgYFhEAZrgQ And a funny clip just to show the range of movements we have so far... https://vine.co/v/On3rTlDYlUH A soft launch would allow me to tweak the controls, understand what people want in this type of game and add more features. Although I have beta tested the game I think seeing how the game does in real market conditions is invaluable. You really only get one shot at releasing a game so having it as tuned as possible for the main App Stores ( UK, US, Italy, Germany) would be an advantage. I also thought it might be good marketing wise as the game might build up a following and there might be pent up demand from people who are looking forward to it coming to their app store. I cant think of any downsides so i thought i would ask here to see if anyone else had experiences to share.
Unless you have an instant and constant stream of users in the soft launched countries via your own marketing methods, which gives you enough data to start refining and testing changes, you'll probably want to get involved with User Acquisition (UA) in that country via advertising (Google/Facebook Ads etc), whom will advertise your game and cost you some $ per install, thereby clinching you a User. So the cycle I'm assuming most social games coys get into for soft launch is: Weekly UA ( e.g. 1000 ) > Get play data > Refine app based off data and update next week > UA brings in new users to play new version > Get play data again > Refine again > (Repeat till you hit your desired ARPAU/DAU/MAU/7Days Retention Rate/K factor/LTV/Whatever else) Analytical data receivers are usually built in the game, which will send to server ( e.g. when player stop playing after tutorial 2, send this data to server ), and generate graphs and tables telling you where in your game are players dropping off etc. Go crazy with your analytical data setup, you can measure things from ratio of male/female users ( from facebook/google profiles ) down to which stage is most replayed (thereby deducing that you should make more of these kinda levels, or not ). Not sure how much/how accurate feedback you can get via user comments and all. These are just some observations I see so far in my day job, it gets very data driven at this point, which can be a great turn off for some, but it's critical if you have investors to answer to. As they said, finishing the game is only the 1st step. I don't think there are any downsides to soft launch, but to go into it without a clear action plan might be a redundant move. This part of post development also befuddles me, this deliberate pipeline created over the past few years to 'refine' your game with 'real world data', with so much manpower and $ involved before you even start seeing any profits.
This is a lot more complicated than i thought. UA is not something i can do on my budget. I have not got any metric recording code in my app yet. I think this is important though, have been relying on beta testing and people coming forward with feedback up till now and as you say it is not accurate. It does not take much time to add metrics and can give me a clearer picture of how my game is being used. Based on your post i have now begun to think that NZ and Australia are not the best soft launch markets for soccer games. Also i need to have some metrics in before launch. My goal or aim from soft launching will be to refine the controls so if i achieve that it will be worth it. Thanks for your reply. It was very helpful. I am glad i asked.
