(note: so far this seems to be a separate issue from EA's buyout of Chillingo) Angry Birds Developer: We Will Not Use Chillingo Again http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/20/angry-birds-chillingo/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Techcrunch+(TechCrunch
It's not really that surprising, especially now that they've established themselves there isn't really a reason for them to be published. Any new game developed by the creators of Angry Birds is going to get press on every relevant media outlet just because of the popularity of the original Angry Birds, so what's the point? For instance, we'll have a post up on the Angry Birds Halloween game the instant it's available in the US App Store, and would have regardless of who is or isn't publishing it.
Ya right. So who knew (outside of maybe TA readers and a few others) about a dev named rovio mobile and their game on the appstore (darkest fear) before angry birds? Its easy to dismiss something as useless once you dont need it anymore for yourself. Publishers definitely help and I wont be surprised if angry birds wouldnt have been this big a success if it wasnt published by chillingo. Lots of great games have shown up on appstore and simply died without even recovering thier costs simply coz no one even knew about its existence. Yes, rovio did all the hard work here but to say the publisher didnt have any role in this success is a really ignorant comment IMO.
Well tbh I don't really think that alo of people had heard of chillingo besides us and some other people. I doubt if you asked the general public who chillingo was, that they would answer that their a publisher for iPhone games.
Well, for one, they published the game. Chillingo's pretty well known in the App Store and a lot of people like the games they publish. So when they see Angry Birds turning up in chillingo search results, they may be more tempted to buy it. Chillingo brought the attention.
The fact that Rovio used to beg on these forums to buy their Darkest Fear ports, before Angry Birds? Or their Undead Infection? I remember quite well that as good as they were on cell phines, Rovio was not a big name in the Appstore before Angry Birds. While they have the Appstore name now, Chillingo were the guys who's brand brought the customers back then.
This is an awesome post. It's hard to say what Chillingo or any publisher will do for a game but I'm learning more everyday. Our indie was approached by Chillingo and other huge and small publishers but after a team discussion we decided to go our own route. We wanted to 'try' it out and see if we can succeed on our own and build our brand name. And if we don't, we might consider them for the next game. ie. Try both ways and see which one performs better. The game has only been out 2 days but let me tell you, it is a tough market out there. The rankings are constantly fluctuating. Also, getting sites to notice and review our game is a challenge. We lucked out with a few reviewers who noticed our game and thought it was unique. We also have some great user reviews on itunes. All this really helps, but in a market where there are tens of thousands of other apps, I'm learning our game can get buried instantly. The only thing I can do is keep talking to people, get our game noticed, and spreading the good news and hopefully Apple will see it and notice it too. Which btw, in Apple Canada, they have! We just got put in New and Noteworthy Arcade and Action section. Hoping that will help in sales but it's only been half a day so its hard to say. The US app store is different story... we're getting buried. It's hard getting noticed since US has the biggest market. Marketing really is a full time job. After being on review sites, social media sites, and emailing press releases 24/7, I sometimes wonder if I should have went with a publisher so I can at least use this time to focus on our second game, which I've been so eager to get on. Since Chilingo and publishers have their 'brand' name already built up and people recognize it, that's essentially what your paying for. I'll be creating a blog soon with our learning experience and stats. Stay tuned.
my thoughts from another thread ahhh... he (Angry Birds developer, after saying "we don't need publishers") is just butthurt from all the $$$$ they have to fork over to Chillingo every day that AB is sitting up there on the chart (and seeing the $20mil that they are getting from EA, particularly because of AB, is pouring salt into the wound) He probably figures that what Chillingo did for them was so minimal compared to what they could have done themselves, and had they known better, they'd've stuck to putting it out themselves straightaway. Truth is, unless you've carefully documented the stream of events somehow, there's just no way to tell in that particular case whether Chillingo being attached to AB made any kind of difference at all. It's definitely likely that the TouchArcade guys were so taken by the initial trailer/etc for AB and the coverage that generated on this very site was it's direct path to success. I don't have any idea if Chillingo even had any part in that (A trailer like that, releasing when it did, from any joe schmoe would probably have got some attention over here at that time) Anyway, pardon my usual long-windedness. The point is, "publishers" as such may not be necessary anymore - but marketing, promotion and networking is absolutely essential for some time now, in spite of whatever is being shown in some product, and what is typically defined as a publisher often has a large amount to do with all of that (as opposed to many devs who just release something on their own, put up a youtube handcam video, email a couple of blogs, and call it a day) You bet Rovio is angry. Seeing Cut The Rope knock their game off the top spot, and not seeing a cent of that, burns them. Knowing the only reason Cut The Rope (another developer's game) and Chillingo itself got super-hooked up is because of their game, burns them. Seeing Chillingo get this $20 million deal which they also don't see a cent of, burns them. And remember, so long at AB is still making money on the platform, they have to keep carving off a slice and giving it over to Chillingo. I don't feel bad for them. Don't sign with a publisher if you don't have faith in your product. I am sure no one, including them, could have seen any of this rollercoaster coming.
It´s good to see more developers want to shine for themselves and not just linger around in the halo of some one else. It´s OK to pay someone to do the marketing! But that should not mean giving up your identity! Publishing houses are dysfunctional in the Appstore.
Loved the demo but never really got around to buying Angry Birds. I wonder if its a smart idea to buy it now considering I suppose there's a chance it may be republished on the app store without Chillingo for future updates? Vector Tanks did this but offered the new version for free for a week so old owners could grab the new app and could keep getting updates.
