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Ler
03-05-2010, 09:05 AM
Can anybody tell me after paid app becomes free how iPhone users get know about it??

I see good statistics for our Secret of Lost Pyramid - we made it free and for 7 hours statistics is next look here (http://vkgames.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/statistics-for-free-secret-of-lost-pyramid/)
I noticed that twitter post a lot about price change...3-5 monthes ago app appeared on the iTunes in the Release Date section, but now??
Pamx
03-05-2010, 12:07 PM
Users will only know about it if the price drop gets picked up by website/blogs etc. As far as the App Store is concerned, you just drop out of sight until you make an impression in the free charts. (and the same is true when you go back to paid). It's therefore up to you to make sure people know your game is free.
nattylux
03-05-2010, 12:38 PM
Actually, price drops get picked up by a lot of app tracking sites, AppShopper probably being the biggest one:

http://appshopper.com/all/games/prices

These price drops scroll by on the front page of TouchArcade (Newest iPhone Games and Price Drops), as well as other sites. A lot of users watch for these, which is why the first day of a price drop you may get a lot of downloads from people seeing them in these sources.
Pamx
03-05-2010, 01:00 PM
Of course, you're absolutely right nattylux. However, my observation has been that the sites/blogs that track price drops are effective in pushing downloads of well-known titles but not necessarily as effective when it comes to new titles, particularly from unknown developers. I would say that the onus in that case would be on the dev to try publicise the price drop too & hopefully get the word out. Love your games BTW :)
nattylux
03-05-2010, 01:33 PM
Yeah, I guess that true. For pretty much any marketing or exposure you get, if people have heard of the game before, it's going to be that much more effective.

And thanks! Just picked up Ground Effect to check out on the flight to GDC :)
Ler
03-05-2010, 03:01 PM
Oh.. thanx for replies...intereting how will statistics change in 2 days )
Ler
03-06-2010, 10:23 AM
Updated statistics for Secret of Lost Pyramid (http://vkgames.wordpress.com/2010/03/06/statistics-for-secret-of-lost-pyramid/)
goldglover411
03-06-2010, 10:34 AM
apps like pandora box and app sniper are used by a lot of people
steelfires
03-06-2010, 10:37 AM
Well there are sites that show a free app each day like freeappaday.com or freegameoftheday.com and also freeappcalendar which isn't out yet.

Note: Pamx, seeing as you put ground effect on freeappaday.com, did that help?
brock
03-06-2010, 10:53 AM
We experimented with going free on our first game. We were the OpenFeint Free Game of the Day and experienced 140,000 downloads in two days while it was free.......we were getting around 20 or downloads a day before that. You can read all the details in a recent blog post. The Costs and Benefits of Being Free on the App Store. (http://www.crawlspacegames.com/blog/the-costs-and-benefits-of-being-free-on-the-app-store/)
Ler
03-07-2010, 06:13 AM
We experimented with going free on our first game. We were the OpenFeint Free Game of the Day and experienced 140,000 downloads in two days while it was free.......we were getting around 20 or downloads a day before that. You can read all the details in a recent blog post. The Costs and Benefits of Being Free on the App Store. (http://www.crawlspacegames.com/blog/the-costs-and-benefits-of-being-free-on-the-app-store/)

usefull article!!
Pamx
03-17-2010, 07:21 PM
Well there are sites that show a free app each day like freeappaday.com or freegameoftheday.com and also freeappcalendar which isn't out yet.

Note: Pamx, seeing as you put ground effect on freeappaday.com, did that help?

Just posted an overview of our results on the main Ground Effect thread, which you may find interesting. Thanks for asking :)

http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=32093&page=70

:)
design219
03-17-2010, 07:42 PM
Thanks for sharing that article Brock. Very insightful. I was considering making my next app free for the first day, but now I'm having second thoughts.
Mondae
03-17-2010, 08:41 PM
Actually, price drops get picked up by a lot of app tracking sites, AppShopper probably being the biggest one:

http://appshopper.com/all/games/prices

These price drops scroll by on the front page of TouchArcade (Newest iPhone Games and Price Drops), as well as other sites. A lot of users watch for these, which is why the first day of a price drop you may get a lot of downloads from people seeing them in these sources.

That's a great website.