I have submitted my game (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shapes-a-colorful-challenge/id687054001?ls=1&mt=8) to a number of review sites, and I get a few upbeat responses. But as you read through the reply you see that they want me to pay them to do a review. And I just wonder if anyone has gained anything from paying for a review of their game? Or does this just indicate that the review site is not doing that well so trying to find other sources of income?
Probably, but as far as I know, a good review sites won't ask for a pay to review something. Usually, the dev sent promo code for them, wait for 3-5 days to be reviewed. Remember, give/ provide the code doesn't make a promise if the sites will give a good rate for your app. All the reviewers should be objective with the app which they have reviewed. Good luck with your app
I'm not a developer, but I've been here long enough to know that most developers will tell you never, ever pay for reviews. All of the biggest and best websites will do the job for free, at most, some might appreciate a promo code, but anybody who charges is likely not going to make a big enough impact on your sales for it to be worthwhile.
Really not worth paying for reviews, it just means the review site does not earn enough money from adverts as there site visits are so low. Non of the popular sites ask for money. I did play you game an thought it was great. Got to level 30 so far and I think I will play more. I will leave a review in the uk store. Are youth first person todo this style of game. If so it's a great idea. My only comment is that you seem to have a lot of jagged edges on the shapes through aliasing of the sides and curves. It a shame to see that rough edge as the look of the games is very clean. Other than that its a great idea and simple to use. I love the fact you can undo a move to.
Professional web reviews are great, but they pale in comparison to the power and usefulness of good reviews on the App Store in terms of driving downloads. As such, you should never pay for them. You are far better off spending the time and energy adding prompts for reviews in your game for engaged players. You'll end up with genuine reviews which provide better feedback, reviews regardless of what updates you put out, and a lot more than you could ever pay for over time.
Marketing is getting noticed I would disagree with other statements, your objective in marketing is putting your product in as many hands as possible, to let people know you exist. Now while you have to be savvy on what sites you approach to pay for reviews, putting all your eggs in the 'free/I hope they review me' basket can be dangerous in itself. If a review site charges say $100 for a confirmed review, and their audience is 10000 for the week of your posted review, is it worth it? At those numbers, depending on the price of your app, it probably is. If their audience is 10 people a week and they charge $300 a review, its probably not. Do your homework. Your marketing strategy should include advertising, PR launches, submission for free reviews, and even a number of secured paid reviews to get your name out there. As with your game, you should have a marketing budget, your strategy should be planned and implemented as your game is being built, app stores are too busy now to just build a good game, you need to reach out to people also.
No, definitely not worth it. The number of downloads you'll get compared to what you're spending is usually very low. You're better off running a little promo here on TA and having others review your app for a chance to win a gift card. Better ROI, IMO.
I'm pretty sure TA's numbers are above that, and developers will occasionally report low sales even after positive articles on the front page. Good thing they weren't charged for the privilege. 10,000 is still a risky number, particularly as there's no guarantee the reviewer will even recommend your game. That, and I can't name a single reputable website that charges for reviews. Also... I don't mean to be rude, but aren't you yet to release your first game? It might be an idea to pay close attention to the guys who have had more hands on experience with paid reviews. A lot of good people have wasted money this way.
I never quoted TA's numbers, its was a generic risk vs reward number. TA's numbers are much much higher, doing homework on the subject would make you say "I know" instead of "I'm pretty sure" which can be very dangerous, assumption is the mother of all f**k ups after all. Much better example of doing homework, thank-you for looking at my website, yes I have yet to release my first game, which is in heavy development, and yet to be released, and as a first timer I need to do everything possible to get my name out there. I have budgeted for advertising, reviews, both free & paid, PR releases and also competition giveaways (stay tuned on that last one, as one of the giveaways is an Ipad 4 Retina) All I'm saying is that putting all your eggs in the free reviews/I hope they do! basket is very dangerous regarding advertising/marketing. You want to reach as many people as possible and pining all your hopes on someone's mood at the moment that may not even OPEN your email as they receive hundreds on submissions weekly is dangerous. I say do your homework & spread your time around to more than just a couple of big websites. That being said, getting a review on TA for example is awesome, and great for business.
I think you miss read what Midian was saying. He was not claiming that you somehow got TA numbers wrong he was just posting a new example about TAs numbers. Also in the UK sometimes we say pretty sure to ironically underplay how sure we actually are. I'm pretty sure that your post comes across more aggressive than you wanted but it looks like after 2 posts and no games releases you are "Schooling" forum members on their homework. I'm assuming this is a language barrier thing and you don't want to come across like that. Are there any sites that have decent numbers but still charge for reviews? A paid review on a website nobody visits is pointless. Also I would avoid big single prize competitions (iPad 4). I have seen them go very bad on here as people will complain constantly if you made just one tiny mistake in the terms or conditions. 20 mini prizes are much better and you can always buy another one if somebody has a genuine complaint.
Do not pay for a review, these sites target developers to make a quick buck and generally have traffic too low to direct users toward your games. The only time it is acceptable to pay for a review in my opinion is buying a reviewer a drink at a bar.
Do people actually pay for reviews because they think anyone beyond the odd ignorant googling fool will read them on those godawful sites and check out their game because of it? I thought they paid for them just so they could have some nice snippets to add to their app description.
I often use review sites like you ,I do really think it works,what important is you need to find a good site .I tried 5 sites ,some of them are not good as expected ,and I picked one ,the reviews are of high quality ,and the good reviews help my app gain a good rank in category , if you don't have a try ,you will not know the result.
what you said is to test an app when an app is released ,I think he is talking about buy reviews for the app.Some developers buy reviews to gain more good feedback.
Hello, I will share my experience with 2 games released in the app store. The 1st one (Surfin'dude: https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/surfin-dude/id438903777?mt=8) was a first try and was not as accomplished as the top games of the app store. But I had the luck to have an article in a french web reviewer (the equivalent of TA in France). And the game climbed to the first position during one day in the racing chart of the app store. The game didn't stay in the first position because it was not made for casual players even if I tried to aim them ^^ and was not enough achieved, missing game center achievements or IA purchase stuffs etc The game get reviewed by other smaller reviewers but didn't have the same impacts on the game's sells than the bigger one. I think paid review can worth it but it's a marketing part which can be expensive as well as a small runner game production (without IA purchase stuffs). But don't forget to target the most influential one !! My second game: Ziggy in messy mansion https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/ziggy-in-messy-mansion/id675624172?mt=8 is a puzzle game more achieved than the first one. At the end of the production, I didn't get enough money to buy myself an article in an influent reviewer preferring spend money for the finishing and polishing part of the game. But if I had had enough money, I would have bought a beautiful review. It would not have guaranteed me success but maybe offer me the opportunity to start a new game production. The app store is very competitive so if you want to get visibility, you have several opportunities: signing with a publisher, paying an influent reviewer, getting lucky or sharing marketing stuffs during all your game production but it's a completely different job ...
What an odd discussion for "developers" to be having in front of potential customers. Does it really not occur to any of you that we look to reviews for unbiased appraisals as opposed to ones that are developer funded? For the record, if you are in this thread admitting to having paid for reviews, my interest in anything you release, ever, has just dropped to roughly zero.
I didn't read all the other responses in here, so I may just be repeating what has already been said - apologies if I am. NO - paid reviews are not worth it. From experience, normal (non-paid) reviews from reputable sites (and print magazines) do very little to drive sales in the mobile market. Paid reviews from small sites stand no chance to improve your sales or visibility. You'll just be throwing your money away. It's harsh to say, but there is very little chance of bringing a game that hasn't succeeded back from the dead. We've been trying for close to two years now with Saturday Morning RPG! You're better off moving on to your next project rather than trying to save an older one. EDIT: For clarity, my experience is with normal reviews and not paid reviews. I've never paid for a review and never will. I'm not a fan of throwing money away.
