Hello fellow strugglers, These questions have probably already been asked a thousand times but I couldn't find the answer so here it goes Is releasing a game on iOS and Android on the same day a good idea? What are the advantages/ disadvantages? Why do some developers release on iOS first? Is it purely because of development/ testing time? David | @DakidoMedia
Hi RareSloth, I've heard that before but is that actually true? Is there any evidence to support this?
No one knows exactly how much Apple weighs what in their decisions... But I've seen this written in many blog posts if you do some searching. Furdemption is iOS exclusive and we were featured, but that's anecdotal. Think of Apple as a business and ask yourself what you feel they're most likely to do. If they see a really awesome game that is iOS exclusive, it makes sense to highlight these products! Their goal is to make money and sell iPhones that have access to these "exclusive" apps.
I know this is unrelated to my original question but have you written any post-mortem articles about Furdemption's success? I bought your game when it was just released and loved it! Did Apple contact you before featuring your game? What kind of impact did it have on your overall sales? I'd love to know more about your release! Congrats on making a great game btw!
Thank you for the kind words! We don't have a post-mortem, but here are some sales statistics: http://www.raresloth.com/business/premium-app-sales-statistics/ They don't contact you unless you get a big feature that needs special art assets. Features are "THE" impact on sales. Cheers, Brian
Thank you! I just had a look at your stats. It's great to see an Indie Dev doing so well. Now that you have been featured already, why don't you build an Android version?
Its a big time commitment to port over to Unity from Cocos2D... Right now we're working on the level editor for Furdemption and its going to be awesomesauce!
Just my two cents... I think becos Apple are more globally standardised where as Android have to be dependant on countries. For e.g. you will probably need a publisher for your Android game for countries like China and Japan as Google play don't really work there and they have their own appstores... Secondly, like most of the comments, GooglePlay is still a little messy now and don't have feature for new games and top downloads... lastly it will take more time to debug for Android due to the number of phone types and OS available.. can be quite a headache!
My contact in apple advised me this isn't the case and they don't even check. I imagine this only works for blockbuster games which they think can move phone sales like when star wars commander released. Totes agree on android, it is impossible to get enough test devices to make it 100% bug free on a wide range of devices. My shelf is full of devices and I still struggle.
Thanks for your input. I'd love to get some stats from other featured indie devs if possible. It makes sense that Apple would feature IOS only apps but I want evidence of this I'm using Unity 3D atm and it seems fairly straightforward to swap from iOS to Android. I've done it a couple of times. However, the game that I am working on is performance heavy and I do worry about cheap android phones struggling and then our game getting 1 star ratings as a result. Android is still a massive pain in the arse but it is too big a market to pass up
Android also gets pirated quickly, so you need find different ways to make money. I can't see what advantages there is for Apple for a small indie to be exclusive (since they can immediately just release on android if popular). Nobody is signing contracts for features which puzzles me why anyone would think that. If they wanted an exclusive there would be an agreement.
I released my first game on Android initially (as I didn't have an iOS device or a Mac at the time) and so far it has been far more successful on Google Play than iOS. Having said that, piracy was rampant on Android devices. Getting featured does seem key (at at least a major part) of having success on iOS, so I don't think there would be harm in exclusively releasing on iOS first (maybe a few weeks head start). I imagine it could only help your chances of getting featured. Google Play is far more forgiving with new releases, the 'Top New Paid' charts are constantly being updated and games over 30 days old are flushed out giving everyone a chance. When my game hit the "top new paid" and "top new puzzle" charts I was selling 40-60 a day.
I think I read somewhere that iOS users tend to spend more than Android, so if that's the case then perhaps it's a good way to determine if it's worth expanding to other platforms
AFAIK, it seems like it could go either way... And has more piracy, but iOS is sooo saturated that you're just a drop of a drop in a bucket.
** SPOILER: Harsh reality The chances of being featured by Apple are probably as bad as winning the lottery so I wouldn't delay an Android release in favour of getting the iOS version out first. Also, Android is where its at, especially for free games, iOS paid is absolutely dead and iOS free is not as good as Android from my experience. That said, this all changes if you have a decent marketing budget or some extreme lotto type luck and you get featured by a popular Youtuber such as PewDiePie
This was so helpful!! I also took a look at your blog, and am very inspired/relieved. A friend of mine is currently working on a game; and, in a few months I will be joining him in order to help on the marketing/business side. Because I am unable to code, I feel like I can't contribute a whole lot at the moment. Thus, reading your posts makes me very excited to get started helping him.
This was so helpful!! I also took a look at your blog, and am very inspired/relieved. A friend of mine is currently working on a game; and, in a few months I will be joining him in order to help on the marketing/business side. Because I am unable to code, I feel like I can't contribute a whole lot at the moment. Thus, reading your posts makes me very excited to get started helping him.
