Hello, We have our first mobile game finished (we have already published titles on Steam in the past) and are planning on launching on iOS and Android. We have been in communication with the Editorial Team for Games on Google Play, who has said they will consider featuring our game on the Google Play store IF we do a soft launch and can show good retention numbers / ratings from users. They suggested doing a soft launch in NZ due to our game being in English and being an RPG. My question is, as an indie developer, how do we get any attention for our soft launch in NZ? We have been sending out promo codes to press, but there are very few press outlets that cover soft launches (if your title isn't big) and no press I can find that is specific to NZ and covers mobile titles. Is there anything that can be done to get users into our soft launch other than buy them, or just releasing on the Play store in the NZ territory and hoping for the best?
I've never understood soft launches for indies... We're simply too small to make soft launches worth it IMO. Is there a reason other than being conditionally "considered" for a feature? The route I would take would be to do a beta and get some press rolling first, and then hard launch.
You could always do Australia + NZ, that way you'll multiply up your organic downloads significantly, and I think it's a similar audience demographically. Alternatively, you could pay for some user acquisition to get some soft launch users in NZ. Out of interest, how did you get into contact with the Editorial Team for Games on Google Play? We're gearing up for an Android release, and from what I've been able to tell, their policy seems to be "don't call us, we'll call you". Was that the case with you?
