Needs more visibility for my app...

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by RodrigoCard, Jun 6, 2012.

  1. RodrigoCard

    RodrigoCard Well-Known Member

    Jan 10, 2012
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    Hello.

    I did make two apps for OS X and published them on mac app store.
    My main App, Joystick Mapper is available since last week.

    I did a Press release, support material, answered everybody kindly, got only 5 and 4 star reviews (in Canada, Brazil, USA) , was in front of my most known competitor for a day, was on top 10 in utilities category in some countries (UK,Canada,Brazil, other small ones), got some satisfied costumers, lots of positive feedback, and so on.... :D :D :D

    Now what? My app downloads are slowly declining, and no Mac Review sites answer back my requests... =/ also most of the review sites, only review mobile titles (they seem to be most kindly, though =)) which gives lots of ambigous search results on Google.
    I am getting a bit paranoid about the possibility of my app falling into the darkness void of the app store depths...

    Any thoughts? :confused:
    Thank you!



    Anyway, the links for both apps, if you are interested:
    Joystick Mapper - Play any game or app with a gamepad
    Joystick Show - A gamepad test and visualization program
     
  2. AppRocketeer

    AppRocketeer Active Member

    May 16, 2012
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    iOS App Marketers
    San Francisco, CA
    That's a cool looking app, and it's awesome you have seen some success with it!

    Have you reached out to the major gaming outlets in addition to the mac review websites? Have you been developing any relationships with the writers on those sites and reached out to them personally? Have you made a promo video and well designed press kit to show off the capabilities of the app and make it look professional? Maybe some tutorial videos showing how quick and easy it is to map keys to the controller?

    Anyway, there's a few ideas for ya to get you started. It's a tough world out there when it comes to marketing apps! :)
     
  3. RodrigoCard

    RodrigoCard Well-Known Member

    Jan 10, 2012
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    =D

    I am contacted the only active mac gaming site I found, not answer yes.
    Not sure if non-mac sites would be insterested in my app.

    personally, hmmm, looks like that "app review forms" are not enough,
    thanks for the tip.

    I made this website with lots of detailed information:
    www.joystickmapper.com
    and this video:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pW9vF5B6sk&feature=g-upl
    But... not sure how to make a proper "press kit". Am I doing it right?

    Well, the app is intuitive enough, but seems like I am not showing this correctly, I will make a Tutorial Video =]

    Thank you for the tips, they are very valuable. :)
     
  4. HTWGames

    HTWGames Well-Known Member

    Oct 10, 2011
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    Game Developer
    Toronto/Vancouver
    Exposure is king, but getting to the point where you even have the choice to be exposed is a massive hurdle.

    Our company sent out hundreds of form requests to any and every website that we saw that had any viewership and really the only people that responded(apart from bots that said sorry we are too busy) was a few editors that were interested and humble enough to speak with us and explain the MASSIVE wave of crap that they are washed with every day. They can only review so much.

    So guess what gets reviewed? Either the ones that are most 'important' (popular large scale devs) or apps that have a story or have some interesting tidbit of info attached to them. It's the nature of the market.

    Quite honestly, and I'm not trying to be mean to anyone, but the amount of crappy software being poured into the market is killing the opportunity for the mid-level developer. Advertising costs as much as you would make on a game/app in half a year...for one ad...one week...it's rough man.

    We're trying to figure out the answer as well. We have regular customers, but not selling to the point where we can construct a company out of it.

    Goodluck my friend! I hope you do well :)
     
  5. nvx

    nvx Well-Known Member

    Jan 7, 2011
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    UK
    Unfortunately the only answer is the one which most developers are not willing to listen to:
    marketing surely does help a game (or app) gain visibility and sales potential, but the end earnings and value of the game (or app) will almost always be dependent upon the quality and presentation of the said game (or app)

    Throwing money into marketing a game (or app) can only take it so far.

    There are many established methods of retaining fairly consistent sales (such as using extensive social media integration like twitter/facebook, or regularly adding new content in updates), but nothing should be taken for granted.

    There are literally thousands of new apps being launched onto appstore each week, and the vast majority of them will never gain a respectable number of downloads over their entire lifetime.

    And since the AAA companies are constantly pushing the boundaries, it is inevitable that indie developers will find it harder and harder to cope in the industry, let alone compete

    Indie devs need to up their game (pun intended) or fall behind into the abyss
     
  6. HTWGames

    HTWGames Well-Known Member

    Oct 10, 2011
    271
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    16
    Game Developer
    Toronto/Vancouver
    Indeed 'upping' your game is a major component to competing... but how can these small devs compete with gigantic media ogres pumping more and more money into monopolized attention.

    They have the money and production to continually over throw anyone else trying to become successful. I really think if they don't back off they we're just going to see all of the wonderful devs that are trying so hard to broaden the platform fall to the wayside because people pay attention to flashy lights rather than quality/experience. And I'm not saying ALL do that, but seriously when you look at any sites, including TouchArcade, they are primarily focusing on the super high end titles that come from the major companies.

    That's business for ya but it's like praising Justin Bieber because he's famous, not because of his talents... meanwhile you have major talents scrounging in the muck, dying off, giving up because no one will give them the time of day because they didn't dance with Usher on the MTV music awards, or have a hoody that says something ridiculous on it or are dating some bubbly putzy girl.

    It's the same wall that everyone seems to come up against... there is no lottery, there is merely selling out and only trying if you have more money than the next person...

    I dunno, it's sad that during the same week that #BecauseWeMay did their promo, EA instantly dropped all of it's titles down to 99 cents. So instead of the indies getting their opportunity to say hey we're part of this culture! They were crushed by the OH BUT I'M BETTER! that EA kinda thrusted upon the market. Good for them for being able to do that... but until we make a billion dollars and can take loss as long as we kill competition, we'll never be able to get out from under the hulking girth that massive companies press upon the market.

    Maybe there should be sections like XBLA where there's the professionals and then the start up store fronts?
     
  7. RodrigoCard

    RodrigoCard Well-Known Member

    Jan 10, 2012
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    True... it is very hard to get over these hurdles.
    Thanks for wishing me luck =]

    Well, not entirely true, see most movie games, they are crappy, but massively exposed... and sell millions!

    Anyway, I am confident about the quality of my app, the problem is about letting people know about it ...

    What EA made makes me sad, crushing the visibility of other apps like a envious guy. They did not need to do this.
     

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