How New & noteworthy works?

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Evilflipper, Jan 19, 2012.

  1. Evilflipper

    Evilflipper Member

    Jan 19, 2012
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    Hi touch arcade! Let me introduce myself.

    I work for a very small indie dev called PhysiczGames as game designer and we released Figaro Wig HD to the app store on november 29 2011 at a price of 0,99$

    Initial sales were good, but then it just stop selling :(

    Just four days ago, we decided to give away the game for free for a whole week to make some buzz and we have delivered 11000 downloads so far with no promotion! So as the app is climbing the charts, i was wondering what would happen if We get lucky and our app gets featured in the New & noteworthy section of the app store... If we change the price from free to 0,99$ could we lose our promotional position in the app store?

    Thanks in advance :)
     
  2. Black Ops

    Black Ops Well-Known Member

    Dec 22, 2011
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    Game Dev, SEM, Analytics
    Philadelphia, Pa
    If you change from free to paid you would only lose any slot you had in the free rankings. I believe both New and What's Hot are a mix of paid and free so you shouldnt lose any slot you earned in those categories.

    On a side note regarding the relative whimsical nature of the What's Hot lists:
    I can proudly say I was the #1 What's Hot Dice app for iphone and ipad in Venezuela for several days(i've sunk to #2).

    And I accomplished that with a grand total of 6 people from Venezuela downloading the app all time. Oh, and no one downloading it or looking at the website in a week before I became the Venezuelan juggernaut that I am. I figure if I get to 10 Venezuelan downloads they will probably erect a statue of me in downtown Caracas.
     
  3. Evilflipper

    Evilflipper Member

    Jan 19, 2012
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    that is so funny! i hope sales in venezuela make you rich xD cause nobody buys anything in my country LOL

    We posted the app for free, and see what happens... i will post the results next week.

    If you want to try our game, search for it on the App Store. It's name is Figaro Wig

    There is an HD version for the iPad.

    Thanks for the answer!
     
  4. Priware

    Priware Active Member

    Oct 20, 2011
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    Madrid
    Yes, if you change from free to paid you loose the positions :/
    (also you have to start from the bottom paid charts)
     
  5. oxyman1974

    oxyman1974 Well-Known Member

    Oct 13, 2011
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    Marketing & Communications
    Italy, Bologna
    Could Happen but I think it will stay there

    I don't believe that you will loose the new & noteworthy featuring.
    I think there is an editorial staff that selects your app for featuring and they
    put it in queue, with priority, when your turn comes than you get featured.
    So I think that if your app disappears from New & Noteworthy it's because someone in the marketing/editorial group has decided to remove it.

    You will be removed from the free chart and get into the paid.
    I think also that if you do the trick paid-free-paid within a range of 4 days you will not loose a lot of positions in the paid ranking ,since it's a weighted average on at least 4 days or more.
     
  6. I can say that I have switched from free to paid while I was already in the top 5 of the new and noteworthy and my game stayed there for a couple weeks after that (in 3 countries; Canada, UK and Australia). I can also say that it made almost no impact on sales :(

    My game also left and went back on the new and noteworthy as well as the what's hot lists, albeit very low on the list, several times afterwards despite very low sales. I'm really not sure what factors are used to choose the list.
     
  7. mehware

    mehware Well-Known Member

    Nov 22, 2008
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    Are you capitalizing on the Free downloads with any IAP or are you hoping the game will catch on when you switch it to paid.

    - Matt
    mehware
     
  8. Trillion

    Trillion New Member

    Jan 26, 2012
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    Was it mere luck that you guys were mentioned in the New and Noteworthy category or is there a secret recipe or contact in Apple? :)
     
  9. layzerboy

    layzerboy Well-Known Member

    Dec 1, 2010
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    Outer Space
    i have been featured new and noteworthy ONLY in my country and that got me close to 3000 downloads in the first day but after we were taken off, of course numbers have been done to 500 a day.
     
  10. Black Ops

    Black Ops Well-Known Member

    Dec 22, 2011
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    Game Dev, SEM, Analytics
    Philadelphia, Pa
    Trillion

    I am trying to figure these itunes ranking related questions out using analytics.

    If were to hazard a guess based on what I have seen so far, I can see two ways to increase the chances of appearing on New & Noteworthy & What's Hot.

    1. Get a rash of positive reviews. Whether legitimate or not, a rash of positive reviews in a short time may be a factor in the New & Noteworthy List.

    2. Have a spurt of downloads over at least a 4 day period. Having a one or two day spurt is not enough. If you can show significant and positive download growth over a minimum of 4 days, it will increase the chance of appearing on What's Hot.

    Again these are guess on my part at this point, but I think they are at least educated guesses. If other developers would share their analytic findings we could probably state more conclusively what triggers the lists.

    Hope this helps someone.
     
  11. Syndicated Puzzles

    Syndicated Puzzles Well-Known Member

    I was told a team sits in a room with coffee and a donut in hand and manual goes through their favourite lists. Then the phone rings and someone upstairs tells them how many slots are left after the big boys get their pass go and collect 200 Dollars features.

    The remaining few spots (left for the small guys) are then decide upon in an open discussion.

    So the only interesting part of the equation is how to create enough interest to get on the the list of the individual decision makers.

    Pretty straight forward.

    The apps that jump up in sales on their own merit definitely move to the front of the list since they will most likely continue that trend once featured.

    If the committee has a few guys or gals that love word games for example, you have a good chance of getting a word game featured.

    I have had a game and a utility app featured and both times they were the last thing I would have ever expected Apple to even consider.

    So I am quite sure the few remaining spots for the small guy are really hard to squeeze into a success formula. Polish and great content are better weapons than a sophisticated algorithm calculating your odds.
     

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