When should I launch the browser version of my iOS game?

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by CycloneKick, Sep 12, 2011.

  1. I've been finishing up development of my first iOS game, and since I have been building it in Flash with AIR for iOS, it will be very easy to add a few tweaks to create a browser version of it to submit to Newgrounds, Kongregate, and other portals. However, I'm not sure what time would be best to release this version. I've held off on submitting it so far after reading all of the horror stories of people stealing them like with The Blocks Cometh and others.

    Should I release both the iOS and browser versions on the same day and hope for a popularity spike right away, or should I hold off for a little while and use the browser version to stimulate sales later on? Since I've never released a game before, I'm not completely sure how it all works, sales-wise. I'm going to try sending emails to a bunch of websites, but that is the most marketing I know how to do, so I'm hoping the browser version can help me out.
     
  2. kohjingyu

    kohjingyu Well-Known Member

    Mar 20, 2009
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    Singapore
    My suggestion would be to release the browser version first.

    It might seem weird, but a lot of successful iOS games with Flash counterparts started with the Flash game, then proceeded to make an iOS one when the Flash game got popular.

    Flash would be easier to build a community with as it is free, so I suggest putting out your Flash version to gain fans which would download the paid iOS version when it comes out.
     
  3. tea

    tea Well-Known Member

    Jul 23, 2010
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    Yea... browser first or better, synchronize releases

    Since it's your first game, here's what you can expect...

    Unless your game is awesome or really catching somehow, you probably won't get an answer or a review from a lot of places, I've been through that... (and yea, some people think my first game was awesome, not everybody does, :p )

    We don't do browser based versions (we're kind of Open GL based :rolleyes:)
    I'm not sure how good it is to have a browser based version versus a demo/lite version. Having a lite is a proven recipe to improve your sales, especially if the lite demonstrates that the game is worth buying.
    IMHO a browser based version can't hurt.

    If you synchronize releases, (a) I don't think somebody can steal your game anymore and (b) you should get a little kick on top of the normal release kick, which is good.
     

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