My one year adventure on the AppStore

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Rudy, Mar 30, 2010.

  1. Rudy

    Rudy Well-Known Member

    Mar 30, 2009
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    Well today marks the first year since Tangled has been approved and I must say it's been quite an adventure. Now I know what everyone wants to see, they want to know how many sales I had and my marketing techniques. Well let's get one thing over with and here's the summary of the sales for Tangled:

    As you can see there's no way I'm going to quit my day job ;) To be honest I never planned to anyway. The summary doesn't really give out the whole picture though, the sales weren't steady for the whole year, this graph will paint a better picture:

    More text and the pictures at:

    http://billylavoie.blogspot.com/2010/03/wild-apple-appstore-adventure-year-into.html

    It's been a long year, some excitement and some disapointments.... Do you have anything to share about your AppStore experience?
     
  2. Gadm

    Gadm Well-Known Member

    Jun 28, 2009
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    great way to promote an app
     
  3. Rudy

    Rudy Well-Known Member

    Mar 30, 2009
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    I had been thinking about ever since I entered the AppStore, I posted my sales after the first week too. I have read a lot of other developers' blog when they post sales and I really enjoyed it and I'm sure some people will enjoy mine too.

    I agree the timing is not the best but I swear it wasn't planned. I don't ask anyone to buy my app I just posted my sales.
     
  4. All-Eyez-On-Me

    All-Eyez-On-Me Well-Known Member

    Mar 27, 2010
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    I am developing an iPhone app right now for my website, and I gotta tell you, it has been a very fun time. There have been many challenges that I have faced, especially the coding part, but with a few days of research and watching some videos, it was easy and a very memorable thing to do.
     
  5. Coldar

    Coldar Well-Known Member

    Dec 26, 2008
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    I read your blog and found it to be a rather interesting insight on the progression and decline and how Tangled 2 evolved and now for the iPad. I like your perseverance with the apps. Great read!
     
  6. Rudy

    Rudy Well-Known Member

    Mar 30, 2009
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    Thanks :) Hopefully things should start going a bit faster now since I'm not dealing with the publisher anymore
     
  7. lazypeon

    lazypeon Well-Known Member
    Patreon Bronze

    Great read. I keep bouncing back and forth between "make a lot of so-so apps and see what sticks" and "spend time making a really good game that you enjoy". I'm inclined to think the former is better for a quick buck, but it's not as fun as the latter.

    My sales for Ski Champ have been almost exactly the same. I don't have a nice graph, but if I did, I'm pretty sure the curve would look the same. I'm an "okay" artist, so I've pretty much sworn off contracting out the art, unless I have a really big hit. I've been trying out stock art/sound sites instead, and have found some pretty good success. Spending hundreds or thousands of dollars out of pocket with no guarantee of return is pretty risky.

    Like you mentioned, not enough sales to quit my day job, but I really enjoy doing it. Getting up every morning and checking the sales report, especially when you're on New & Noteworthy is really exciting. Just renewed my dev license a few months ago and will be putting out some more games soon.
     
  8. Rudy

    Rudy Well-Known Member

    Mar 30, 2009
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    Hahah I'm guilty of that...every morning I check :)
     
  9. Stan

    Stan Well-Known Member

    Feb 15, 2010
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    Great post, enjoyable to read.
     
  10. Rudy

    Rudy Well-Known Member

    Mar 30, 2009
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    Thanks :) I got a little scared after the first post but I had a feeling some people would enjoy it.... I know I LOVE reading stats from other devs :)
     
  11. ultimo

    ultimo Well-Known Member

    May 5, 2009
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    Thank you Rudy....
    It surely does help us all potential devs. to do it bettr on our 1st attempt :)

    EDIT : Tangled 2 looks Snazzier thn Tangle 1... Good job on pickin tht artist :)
     
  12. Zallman

    Zallman Well-Known Member

    Aug 2, 2009
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    To the OP, thanks for sharing.. I appreciate it!
     
  13. Rudy

    Rudy Well-Known Member

    Mar 30, 2009
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    Thanks :)

    I'm not embarrassed to admit I did make some mistakes when I released my first game and I just hope other devs can learn from them :D
     
  14. JoshCM

    JoshCM Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2009
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    this should probably move into the developer section of the forum, but its an interesting read. good luck with the iPad version!
     
  15. Rudy

    Rudy Well-Known Member

    Mar 30, 2009
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    Looks like someone agrees with you since it was just moved ;)
    I wasn't 100% sure where to put it but now I see itmakes sense here
     
  16. mobile1up

    mobile1up Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
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    i think the key point of success on the app store are:

    - branding
    - publicity / getting known
    - having a unique concept / niche

    you really need all three of these items - if you have any of them on their own, you may get lucky. we had all three in january of 2009 - and we saw sales of $1000 PER DAY. when you only have one? you end up with $5 a day. the niche/unique part dwindles very fast - however, if you have a brand, it fuels getting publicity. if you can, license an idea!

    it is a tough market :)
     
  17. Rudy

    Rudy Well-Known Member

    Mar 30, 2009
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    Branding: a little bithard for an indie developer :(

    Publicity: I tried ads with Tangled 1 and the success was very limited. Social networking didn't seem to work as well either

    Niche: well it can be a goo and a bad thing... I think it's one of my problem, the regular mode for Tangled 2 isn't for everyone, I have some people complain that it's too hard. That's why I worked so hard on coming up with a new concept I thought would work for everyone (the Action mode). In the end the bigger your audience the higher your chances to make itbig
     
  18. steelfires

    steelfires Well-Known Member

    Feb 17, 2010
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    Candy Mountain, Charlie!
    If one of the problems for every game is crashing, why not beta test? BTW, I really like your game.
     
  19. Rudy

    Rudy Well-Known Member

    Mar 30, 2009
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    I agree more testing could have been done. I had already tested the game with an iPod touch 1st gen but the artist made a small change close to the time I was submitting and I don't own the iPod I use for testing ( I usually use my iPhone 3gs) an I didn't have time to borrow it.... Big mistake it looks like ;)

    thanks for the feedback on the game too :)
     
  20. steelfires

    steelfires Well-Known Member

    Feb 17, 2010
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    Candy Mountain, Charlie!
    Well, many developers ask for help on these forums. Most people are extremely willing to help as long as they get a promo code.
     

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