Do Lite version hurt sales often?

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by micah, Aug 26, 2009.

  1. micah

    micah Well-Known Member

    Aug 24, 2009
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    game developer
    San Francisco
    So I just released my first game, Skeleton Key. So far I've gotten nothing but good feedback, but one thing I've noticed is a bunch of people say things like "I've been playing for 40 minutes and I'm only on level 12." I think since I made the game and was playing it constantly during development, I was thinking it was easier than it actually is.

    I already made a Lite version and submitted it to the App Store, and it includes the first 15 levels of the game (the full game has 100 levels). I'm hoping my game is good enough that those who beat the Lite version will want more and buy the full version, but do you think I might actually be hurting my sales by giving too much away for free? Has anyone else had this problem with Lite versions?
     
  2. guggug

    guggug Well-Known Member

    Jul 9, 2009
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    I might lower 15 levels to 5 or 10 levels. 15 is too much!
     
  3. NomaD

    NomaD Well-Known Member

    Jun 29, 2009
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    California
    maybe 10 levels with limited features. the point of lite versions is to give a taste of what the full game is like. then, end the lite version as soon as it gets really good. hope this helps :)
     
  4. micah

    micah Well-Known Member

    Aug 24, 2009
    362
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    game developer
    San Francisco
    Hmm, yeah I was thinking of reducing it to 10 levels. The thing is though I feel a little cheap posting an update to Skeleton Key Lite that only takes away levels and doesn't add anything, just so I can increase my sales of Skeleton Key... maybe I'll just wait til it's in the App Store and see if it hurts sales, and do something like that if it does.
     
  5. DaveMc99

    DaveMc99 Well-Known Member

    Mar 1, 2009
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    Seattle, WA USA
    #5 DaveMc99, Aug 27, 2009
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2009
    15 out of 100 is about right.
    Ragdoll Blaster (100 Levels) is the #7 Top Paid Game. The lite has 18 levels and is #24 Top Free Game.
    Unblock Me (2400 puzzles) is the #66 Top Paid Game. Unblock Me lite has 600 puzzles and is #31 Top Free Game.
     
  6. jerrodputman

    jerrodputman New Member

    Feb 5, 2009
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    Development Director @ Tiny Tim Games
    Orange County, CA
    #6 jerrodputman, Aug 27, 2009
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2009
    I know we had a tough time determining exactly where to cut off the lite version of Sheepstacker. We stopped at 40 sheep stacked, though in hindsight that might have been too much. However, I'd like to point out that the lite version did improve our sales, so you can't really go wrong, I suppose.

    I think 10 levels would be a good stopping point for your game. You probably don't want to be put into the position of removing levels from an app that people have already downloaded, so I'd suggest changing it sooner rather than later.
     
  7. fwish

    fwish Well-Known Member

    shark's treasure has 120 levels, 18 in lite,(20 in 1.2 update)but lite did nothing:(

    if the same thing happen to you,or even worse

    just hide the lite by change the date till the update come out
     
  8. markx2

    markx2 Well-Known Member

    Dec 28, 2008
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    I would also look at which levels.

    Maybe have the first 10 and then a couple from later levels to give more idea of the challenge?
     
  9. ivanovich

    ivanovich Well-Known Member

    yes! in idonutconnect i did it.
    Include 10 levels of the tutorial and the 3 first levels of the 3 packs.
     
  10. fwish

    fwish Well-Known Member

    in shark's treasure lite1.0,beside 10 levels of the tutorial,2 easy,2 normal,2 hard ,2 crazy

    but the question is hard and crazy really not for beginner

    so. in 1.1 lite,6 easy,2 normal, no hard any crazy,but people will have no idea what to expect

    then in 1.2 lite, 6 easy,2 normal,1 hard and 1 crazy,I think this will be better

    hope can help you
     
  11. Eric5h5

    Eric5h5 Well-Known Member

    Cancel the update now, reduce it to 10 levels, and re-submit.

    --Eric
     
  12. micah

    micah Well-Known Member

    Aug 24, 2009
    362
    0
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    game developer
    San Francisco
    Thanks, I just decided to do that. I canceled the app, made it so there's only 10 levels, but I changed levels 9 and 10 so that they have doors and door switches (a feature that isn't in the earlier levels), and then I reuploaded the binary. So I have more waiting to do, but hopefully this will be better for my Skeleton Key sales.
     

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