The importance of the updates

I don't think there's one single answer to your question(s) or if there is it would probably "it depends..."

If your game is picked up by a reasonable* amount of people, receives great feedback but don't seem to become the hit it objectively deserved to be, making updates is probably a good strategy. Each update will gain your game a bit more visibility and if you can manage to attract enough new customers on each subsequent update the ball might start rolling...

If however people are more or less indifferent to your game to begin with it might not be worth it from a purely commercial standpoint. But even if the game in question does not hit it big, making improvements will at least convey the fact that you work hard to give good after-sales service to the individuals that actually did buy your game.


*A brilliant term, I know.

 

Updates are useful, but only if they are frequent. Pocket God got its success by making weekly updates, so it was able to keep its position in the Top 25 Apps.

Zen Bound had a major update months after it was launched, and this did practically nothing for sales.

So, if you update, do it often (weekly!) and in a way that engages the community. If your app falls off the charts, it's highly unlikely that anything will bring it back up again. Some apps have had luck with Lite versions, but they're very much hit and miss also.

Most apps see a falloff in sales month after month, and updates are only a way to slow down the dwindling sales. First month is usually the best sales, but this expects sufficient marketing to be done beforehand. If you plan to do no marketing at all, and for the game to "sell itself", you're perhaps able to see a pattern where sales increase over time, but the total volume of sales with this pattern is likely to be low.

 

The effect of updates depends on the app/genre, how visible your app already was, and what has changed in your update. The pattern of an app's sales falling off over time is common, but doesn't occur in all genres. So-called "evergreen" games for example (card games, word games) can actually do better month to month.

Keep in mind that updates to a pay app will temporarily give you a bit more visibility, but they are unlikely in and of themselves to generate more sales.

You won't get another dime directly out of people that have already purchased the app nor will their updates contribute to your app's ranking. The best that'll happen is that those users will keep your app around longer and show their friends. If you're lucky, you'll even get some positive reviews.

The most dramatic effects on sales more often than not come from updates to the 'lite' version of an app. If your lite version is sticky and not simply being "tried and trashed" an update to the lite version gives you a powerful way to reach a lot of eyeballs to try and entice those users to upgrade. If also gives you some very userful stats - you can see how many people have updated in your sales reports.

One major risk with updates that is worth pointing out is the double-edged sword effect it can have on user reviews.

While improvements can help address common user complaints/requests, and theoretically improve your average user review, they also effectively reset_ your user reviews. If your app has built up a large following of positive reviews over time, you risk having some negative reviews sneak in right after the update and having your app be presented with a much lower "average rating for current version" even if your changes were all for the better. This can be devastating, and cause sales to plummet. It's made even worst thanks to tactics that are being increasingly seen, where some folk have are going so low as to buy a competitor's app with the sole intention of attacking it negative reviews.

Phil

 

Trism generated over $250,000 in a couple of months for the developer....I think either case is a win-win situation.