I have a question. Let's say you just launched your new game. You have submitted copies to every reviewer on your list and you have gotten yourself few good reviews. While waiting for the reviews to come out, you have tweeted, fb'ed, emailed, and done everything in your power to let people know your new shiny game is out on appstore/steam/ and whatnot. Very fortunately, apple/valve likes your game and features it as well. Big congratulation! Your game now ranks high up and sells well! Few weeks, or a couple months later, when your game gradually walks down, what would you do? other than release update, add new level, letting the reviewers know your just released a new update, what would you do? At that point, your game might have already generated enough for your hard work, but has your game truly penetrated the market deep enough for every potential buyer to grab a copy of yours? I don't know exactly how many days AB sitting on that spot. But, it just comes to me clearly that Rovio is doing a fantastic job on penetrating its targeted market after seeing they release AB dolls, AB toys, AB movies, and AB everything. So, enlighten me please. What would you recommend me do when the initial marketing momentum fades away?
Apps that maintain their ranking over long periods of time do it not because of ongoing marketing efforts, but rather because they've settled into a healthy equilibrium where visibility (in AppStore) and demand drive sales sufficient to maintain the curren ranking/visibility. Many apps get an advantage thanks to apple features or coverage by TA staff. But once that advantage disappears, those apps will sink or swim on their own merits. There are things you can do (sales, cross promotion) to try and stimulate rank, but it is hard.
I'd work really hard to release that game I had been working on since I had submitted that first game. Despite Angry Birds, I don't really think that trying to maintain the ranking of one game is a very successful business model to have. I think it's better, and more reasonable, to build the cache of your studio by releasing multiple successful games.
You can do what Lazer says + help your first game stay in the chart with a simple strategy: spin off. You try to build a brand and not a game. Like the "chop chop" brand, or the "Barry Steakfries" stuff. You take a genre, build a game, then take the same context/character, whatever, and release another game that will cross promote your first game. Always focus on quality for all those games and that should help your sales.
