Hey everyone. I know this has been asked before but its a constantly changing landscape so perhaps there's some new techniques out there. But I really don't know how some developers manage to get tens of thousands of downloads a day and reach the top charts with small simple games. It's crazy. How do games like 2 Cars reach the top of the app stores? Surely the ARPU isn't high enough in a game like that to do a huge paid campaign. Or other games on google play which only have very short descriptions but have a million downloads in just a few weeks. I really don't know how this happens. We have lots of games on iOS and google, and almost all of them make less than 100 downloads a day :s The game quality varies and some of them are good. I even know other developers who have great games which only get 50 downloads a day. So what's the technique? Is it just to pay a huge amount and try to reach the top? Is it bot downloads? Is it to make a game for a famous youtube personality? What's the deal? Just to share some info on our downloads, here's a video I did a couple of months ago. Probably most devs are in the same situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwKA20IFR1Q Thanks for any info guys Martin
I don't know too much about 2 cars or ketchapp (the publisher of 2 cars), but my understanding is that they are a hugely successful publisher that's made their name pushing out a simple addictive game pretty much every day. They've built up a massive user base, and I think they cross promote across their different titles. I think you'll just make yourself depressed comparing yourself to them, because they're basically a money making machine at this point. For the rest of us indies, it's a hard slog. Maybe you ought to try using ketchapp to publish your next game - if you can't beat 'em join 'em .
There are a number of things that can drive high download volumes. Games which experience that might have one or more of the below - platform manufacturer featuring which is one of the most powerful drivers - buying installs assuming they have a high budget - cheating by using download bots/services - mass media promotion/plugs e.g. featured on Ellen, Jimmy Fallon, or a TV show like House of Cards - strong coverage by enthusiast media, Youtube personalities etc - being high in the charts (kind of like being famous for being famous, but if you break into the high ranks, you have a better chance of staying high because more people are seeing it and downloading it on a regular basis) - high volume clickswap cross promotion deals with other developers - intrinsically strong viral drivers for the app which promote a lot of sharing and invites - super high quality and/or experience that promotes strong word of mouth Ultimately, the higher the quality of the game, and the more you build and incentivize ways for people to share that from within the game, the more potential you have for driving significant downloads. Even then, you need a critical mass in order for your game to "catch" and start getting traction and get up the charts. To help make that happen, do as much marketing, PR, and community outreach as you can all packed around launch where your visibility and interest will naturally be at its highest. Hope this helps.
When you'r3 on top of the hill everyone can see you but few know how you struggled to climb that hill.
