Hi everyone. I was wondering what you think about launching a game before Christmas/New Year's Eve versus after. On one side, there is the xmas craze where everyone downloads games and apps. However: A lot of big developers do discounts A lot of big publishers spend insane amounts to stay on the top charts In our case (me and my partner) it is a freemium game but I am interested in your thought for both paid/free. And no, we don't have any cross promotion partners to compensate for that "1 million new players per day" budget that we don't have
Bump! I've got ZERO DATA to back this up, but you got me wondering if after would be a good time, since perhaps the holidays put lots of new devices into the hands of soon-to-be consumers, who will then begin their frantic quest to fill their gaming libraries... ? I look forward to hearing more about this as well.
I'm just thinking that a lot of premium games will be launching so smaller chance of getting featured + during Xmas iTunes freezes so no changes in the charts. However, I have no data regarding user patterns, especially the new ones. Do they search for games/apps, do they just ask friends, do they go to the top free and download. There is also the "People also downloaded this..." section to consider. If you launch after, no more craze and crazy downloads, but if you are a free game and high enough quality to get mentioned or even featured, it might count for a lot more after the holidays(people have less cash because they spent it all in the past weeks, much lower competition) - or... they might just not download because they are still playing the first wave of installs...
Hey _Max_, thanks for the reply. Is this based on experience with your games/apps or other games that you know of? Thanks!
With indie devs like us, better don't release any game on from Nov to Dec (better avoid if possible), cause lot of big companies like Gameloft, Chillingo, Halfbrick, ... will give all their big promotions, all games in store will go crazy. Actually, not just winter holiday, all big holiday in year like Haloween, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, ... (for US) happened too.
Hi there, So I don't have any stats/data to back it up plus I'm still a newbie but for me personally, I would release it before xmas period rather than wait it out until after. I feel it'll be good to make your game available for people to download and play during xmas, since its the holidays and people have more time - plus doesn't iTunes Connect "close down" (in terms of app submission and updates)? If you have little to no budget for marketing/promotion, I doubt waiting until Jan will increase your chance of greater exposure anyway... For whats it worth, i tend to just release my apps anyway as soon as with no pr push or fanfare so read my reply with a pince of salt! Good luck!
My games are kinda small time but each year I get 500% increase of sales during christmas week. I would recommend releasing the game in November and have it ready and working for Christmas, it is potentially lots of money that you could lose
Thanks @SushiMan for your input (Your...umh..you're not really made of sushi, right?). @ChaoticBox - Is the answer from experience or apps/games that you know of? I also found this article that takes on this topic - Want to get your game noticed during the holidays? Forget it...
As the AppStore does no changes after Dec 21st to Dec 27th, I am assuming that if you do get a game out on the 20th, it could be staying in the "Free" or "Paid" section of its category for that whole week. Not sure how many other people will try this, my guess is a lot. But it might give a bit of a boost to sales. On the down side, the competition to be featured will be much higher.
Experience (and from what I've heard from other devs). I've been at this since 2008 with a few releases in Nov-Dec. It's difficult to get noticed at any time of the year, but there's just so much going on in these months that even if you do get coverage it'll likely get buried the same day. Getting a decent App Store feature with dozens of big-budget games out at the same time is also next to nil. First week of November is the cutoff date I recommend, but by that point you might do better releasing first or second week of January. TA just posted a relevant article today: http://toucharcade.com/2013/11/18/the-app-stores-holiday-shutdown-set-for-december-21st-thru-december-27th/ Pay attention to the last paragraph
I must agree with what has been said here. Don't try to compete with the big guys before Xmas. Of course we'll all read about great numbers (downloads, revenue, etc) after Xmas. From my experience it's better to wait and release the game after Xmas. There will be plenty of new devices after new year (not just during Xmas .
I was also considering launching in the third/fourth week. In many companies that i know of or where my friends work, usually they get the salary on the 25th or around that date. Just curious if this applies to most of the companies or i just got the wrong data ) The strategy being to launch when they have money. In the first weeks of January, no money ) unless you have a free game. Then you have a slight advantage
For big games, BEFORE. They'll probably get featured and be stuck on the feature list for the full week during shutdown. For small games, probably after. Since everyone would be tired of all the big games by now, and all the companies throw out what they've got just before lock out, so the following weeks should be pretty bare..unless some big companies just missed the cut off date.. So your small app could get more exposure since it won't be up next to the big boys the following week, giving it a better chance at being featured. However, it's now known that the following week is bare, so it wouldn't surprise me if some of the big companies have a trick up their sleeve and an extra title waiting to release after the lock out period, publishers especially.
For big publishers I don't think they will keep any big attractive game for after the holidays unless they actually don't have budget allocated for it (which I doubt). The only reason would be that the game actually launches in January. Otherwise, I see no reason why they would not push with all their games for the Christmas Iced Apple Week. Hey, we have an Acronym now ) - CIAP/CAP (Christmas Iced Apple Week) )
I recommend releasing the game before the Holidays. Cause many people got iDevice as a gift during holidays and the first App/Games they download are the free ones. Goodluck!
Here is an interesting article http://mobiledevmemo.com/memo/fiksu-october-index-predicts-large-mobile-marketing-push-this-holiday/?d=e which basically says everyone wants to be at top during the holidays..
Assuming you are not a massive company with an amazing game and a huge funding... My advice: after the war will be better. The competition on the store is ENORMOUS all the year around. But for Xmas, it is even worst, so personally, I just don't even try to compete with a fresh game. Anyway, it is extremely hard to get visibility even outside the holiday season. So, in reality, it doesn't matter witch day you'll get out. It will still be extremely hard and you still have to promote your games for a long period of time. So the initial launch day is just like any other day, it doesn't matter. JC
