Developers who need to promote their games?

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by windrider07, Oct 8, 2012.

  1. windrider07

    windrider07 Well-Known Member

    May 8, 2012
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    I'll be straightforward :) PiPlay is looking for new and exciting games to publish on to the iOS!

    What we prefer:

    - Casual Games (and any other games that is engaging, addicting, and exciting! in other terms: your eyes are glued to the screen so much that someone has to pull you away from your iOS device)
    - 50/50 business model (my boss prefers this....yes we know, it takes money for developers to create games)

    Why PiPlay?

    www.piplay.com

    Our most successful game is Solitaire*, which is in the Top 15 in the iTunes Store under Solitaire games. It has 36 Free Solitaire games in one app. Averaging 700-900 installs per day and around 16,000 daily average users. Is Solitaire* the best game? No, but it's doing very well for a game in its genre.

    Want more info? PM me.
     
  2. Moonjump

    Moonjump Well-Known Member

    May 17, 2010
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    #2 Moonjump, Oct 8, 2012
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2012
    I am looking for a publisher for a shoot-em-up game of mine, so I clicked on your link. I went to the page for the solitaire game. It has an available on the App Store logo, but no clickable link, which seems a very basic thing to do. It makes me a little bit wary about how much you have to offer. EDIT: It seems from the reply below that it is just a technical glitch.

    Yet you are asking for 50%, which is more than well known publishers ask for. What do you offer in return? Guaranteed promotional budget? Advances?
     
  3. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    I'm on Firefox, worked for me, clicked on the link and took me to the game on iTunes
     
  4. Moonjump

    Moonjump Well-Known Member

    May 17, 2010
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    Game designer
    Lincoln, UK
    I was using Safari, which you would think the least likely to have trouble with an App Store link. But the fact you do have a clickable link means it is a technical issue, not a design one, so they aren't being naive.

    Their website won't open at all at the moment, maybe they are updating it.
     
  5. windrider07

    windrider07 Well-Known Member

    May 8, 2012
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    Nope, we aren't updating the site. It's up and running like usual :)

    Anything you ask for, we can negotiate on: customer service, marketing campaigns that will ensure user installations via CPI or CPA, SEO, etc. We know what PR to use and where to promote on. If your game is great, it will go viral.
     
  6. MarkFromBitmenStudios

    MarkFromBitmenStudios Well-Known Member

    Apr 4, 2011
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    IT Architecture, Development Project Manager
    Austria, Europe
    There's two things that I like about this thread. Mostly because they are unwittingly funny.
    Here, I like the empty line between the Why PiPlay? and the referal to the homepage. It may be edited later but at the time of my post it is there and it made me rofl. This means the poster is unable to state why people should choose PiPlay and just adds a link. That already tells a lot.

    Now normally you would stop right there but I followed the link hoping to find more funny stuff over there). Unfortunately, the homepage seems to have connection problems but when you can finally get there, it looks like a typical game developer that has focused on simple card games. They don't even try to look like a publisher on their homepage, it only advertises their own games. Now how funny is that?

    Even the About page says they are "a creative studio specializing in making games for social networks and mobile devices".

    Apparently, they have realized that the dev gold rush is over and that we're now in the middle of the publisher gold rush (see my post on http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=159674&page=2).

    The other comment in this thread is equally funny:
    This is a no brainer but it brings us back to the original question that is unanswered: Why PiPlay?

    Overall, good post, it made my day. :D
     
  7. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
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    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    Aren't you asking about how to increase Facebook likes for a crappy solitaire game in another thread?

    How would you be able to promote my games? By asking in the same forum I would? For 50% of my sales?
     
  8. BazookaTime

    BazookaTime Well-Known Member

    I saw that and thought that was odd as well. I think he refers to the game as boring and uncool. Where do I sign up?
     
  9. windrider07

    windrider07 Well-Known Member

    May 8, 2012
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    The most popular game company on the planet can promote the most boring game on the planet and the results would be the same. Games that are boring would never bring in as many users as games that are fun and exciting. No matter how big you are as a company, games will never attract unless they are engaging, fun, exciting, and the users can develop a relationship and connection with the game. The reason why I am asking how to increase facebook likes is simple...I'm actually just curious to see if other people have a unique strategy they use to generate interest for games similar to Solitaire.

    I would promote your games in the top 3-5 iOS forums.

    What you referring to when you say "where do I sign up?"?
     
  10. HeliApps

    HeliApps Well-Known Member

    Which forums are those ?
     
  11. windrider07

    windrider07 Well-Known Member

    May 8, 2012
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    www.iphoneforums.net
    www.ipadforums.net
    www.iphonedevsdk.com
    forums.macrumors.com
    forums.imore.com
    forums.ilounge.com
    forums.toucharcade.com

    Those are the top forums (in my own opinion) in no specific order for different keywords related to iOS
     
  12. PikPok

    PikPok Well-Known Member

    Nov 26, 2009
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    I continue to be astounded by you asking for a ridiculously high revenue share, while offering very little in return compared to the market, and now you are citing as your prime example of success an average game experiencing mediocre downloads, and the only activity you point to as part of your "plan" is to promote the game on forums which in the scheme of things is virtually worthless for driving sales, in addition to demonstrably talking down the one game you are promoting here and asking for basic advice.

    Amazing.
     
  13. MarkFromBitmenStudios

    MarkFromBitmenStudios Well-Known Member

    Apr 4, 2011
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    IT Architecture, Development Project Manager
    Austria, Europe
    Guys, can't you see the fun in this? This offer is so ridiculous it's already funny. Can't even answer his own Why question, no references, a dev homepage, no experience, no clue. It's unintentional humor but humor nonetheless.

    Give him a break. You could be mad at him because it qualifies as scam but who cares, nobody with half a brain would fall for this since it's done in such an amateurish and nonprofessional way. And I'd expect every dev to have at least half a brain. So all that remains is a hilarious post. That's RL Dilbert. The daily WTF.

    Guys, where's your sense of humor? Give it a laugh and move on.
     
  14. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
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    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    I'm glad you see the humor in this...

    I still haven't removed my palm from my face.
     
  15. windrider07

    windrider07 Well-Known Member

    May 8, 2012
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    It's not me who is offering it. It's my boss. Who said I was offering "very little return compared to the market"?

    www.piplay.com "no experience"? what gives you the right to claim I have no experience? I'm no master at marketing but I certainly have experience.

    there is always more going on behind-the-scenes. did you ever figure that I have more statistics, more reasoning behind why I do things? A lot of games can do a lot better than how they are currently doing but the dev/publisher team is holding back. you claim that I have "mediocre downloads". Give me a Solitaire game that has a "decent" amount of downloads with a legit source of where your statistics came from.


    Point is....people have reasons to why they do things. I never assume...I always email that person directly asking them for more info because companies never leak everything into the public if they are a small company (correct me if I am wrong). If you guys think the offer is not good, ok that's fine. I'm not forcing you to accept the offer. PiPlay isn't a big company....still developing games.
     
  16. PikPok

    PikPok Well-Known Member

    Nov 26, 2009
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    #16 PikPok, Oct 11, 2012
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2012
    Semantics.


    I am. And so is the rest of the community in the publisher rev split thread you yourself recently participated in where unanimously people said 60/40 was the minimum they should consider even when the publisher was bringing significant resource, support and funding to the table. You are not offering anywhere close to what the market is.


    You haven't given any reason for anybody to believe that. What legitimate reason could you possibly have to badmouth one of the very games you are promoting?


    You should have thousands of downloads a day to be demonstrating any kind of promotional success, and yet "hundreds" is your best example.

    If you think the number you have provided reflects well, then that is just more evidence of a lack of knowledge.
     
  17. windrider07

    windrider07 Well-Known Member

    May 8, 2012
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    I'm just going to say one thing which is that this forum is an attraction ground for a lot of mobile developers and publishers. I've been privately messaged by some users who have told me to ignore those who act pompous and whatnot when it comes to displaying how good they are in publishing games. Honestly, there's competition at all times in the mobile market. Regardless of what position I am in, who I work for, or where I come from...I'm going to keep pushing to do what I do best. For those who have more resources, more money, bigger infrastructure.....good for you and I say that honestly.

    Success can be defined in several ways. Solitaire, in comparison to other casual games, would not generate a high number of downloads. I can't provide proof of this but based on general interest, most people don't play Solitaire that much compared to other games. But it also depends on the age group. A lot of older people play Solitaire...question is...do they have an iOS device?

    Personally, I think successful games should have thousands of downloads per day, however it's also fun and interesting to research what a "successful" DAI should be for average games. Promotional success relies on marketing budget, game quality, and good execution.
     
  18. PikPok

    PikPok Well-Known Member

    Nov 26, 2009
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    Haven't seen anybody make claims about how good a publisher or promoter they are besides you.


    You can't just blame the mediocre downloads on the game being solitaire or a card game. You say yourself there are 14 free solitaire games which are getting more downloads, and checking the App Store in the US there are 140 free games ranked higher than your game in the Games/Card Games category.

    Those games all have the same "problem" that your game does in terms of demographics.


    Getting back to the point, asking for a 50/50 rev share is ridiculous, even if you had a successful track record to point to.
     
  19. Slitherine Iain

    Slitherine Iain Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2011
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    If anyone has any strategy and wargames feel free to contact us instead :)

    We are a developer and publisher with well over 100 games in the catalogue from PC to console, iOS and Android. We work with various license holders such as History TV channel, BBC, Horrible histories and more.

    We are the worlds leading strategy & wargames publisher and have 1/4 million unique users through our sites a month.

    For more info go to

    www.slitherine.com
    www.matrixgames.com

    We only publish games that fit our audience so its deep strategy games we look for. Lighter games just don't appeal and you're better off going it alone as we don't add value in these situations.
     
  20. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
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    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    Exactly this. Why would I pay you as a publisher who costs 20% more than Chillingo, and get a smaller userbase, a less well known portfolio and a salesman who puts down developers and publishers asking for more details on your original sales pitch which hasn't sold us on your service?
     

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