app ready for sale now what?

I'm no expert by any means, but from what I understand it is best to set to tomorrow from the day it got approved.

 

You need not change it. Just wait for several hours.

 

well, im no developer, but im always wondering why you guys jst dont do it exactly like gameloft? its the best strategy in the appstore...
yeah, i know that your games are not as good-known as theirs, but you could just try it...

 

Can you elaborate on what is gameloft's strategy? New and eager to learn.

 

Set it to available like right now... If you don't it'll be half way down the new-releases list as it goes from whichever is earliest out of the approved/ availability date...

 

Indy devs can't just "try it" and make a living like Gameloft because Apple doesn't immediately feature our apps across every page of the app store(s) every time we put up something out.

Gameloft's success, and the success of many many of the larger companies, is completely based on Apple trusting them to put out good stuff and featuring them when they do.

The App Store is now more than ever directly controlled by Apple, and in order to "make it" you have to build up a reputation (as Gameloft has) of building good games that can make a ton of money if featured.

And that's the crux of the issue - big guys will get featured because they have that rep, but they have that rep because they get featured!

Everyone else is put into the "eh, we'll give this random app a shot to see if it'll be good" pile.

You'll notice the same group of companies & indy devs being featured over and over because they have that rep (EA, Ngmoco, Chillingo, Gameloft, Firemint, Nimblebit, Imangi, True Axis, Illusion Labs, etc, etc)

These companies make high quality games that resonate with the App Store community.

You'll also notice that Indy devs that have taken to Gameloft's strategy (freemium) are ones that have been featured in the past and proven that they can get a ton of downloads & be extremely popular (cough Backflip cough). Almost as importantly they need to have a large userbase to sell new and existing upgrades/games to before going freemium so that they can still survive without much Apple love...

Nimblebit is going through that right now and are seeing great success with their Dizzypad app by heavily marketing to the userbase of the Scoops app. None of which would be possible without that large userbase. Which of course wouldn't have been possible (or at least probable) without Apple featured them heavily... which Apple only did cause Nimblebit makes great games and has a good rep... it's like a really weird symbiotic circle of life or something.


Anyway, to make a long answer short - No, not all Indy devs can follow the Gameloft model and survive.(cough myself cough)

You have to consistently put out good, fun, games that Apple and the media enjoy. (which we do)

Then you have to hope to God that Apple features one of these games - so that it'll become popular - which will lead to more media - which leads to more features - and that leads to a much larger userbase - which ultimately leads to being able to make money. (which we haven't)

And after one such hit you'll be recognized by Apple, the media, and existing users every time you put out something new... And life becomes much much easier. (I hope )



Edit : Check out our freemium offering Depict - It's a global multiplayer Open Feint pictionary game that did get featured in the UK and reigned over the top 100 list for a few weeks. Hopefully we've started building our rep with Apple by that small success

 

This is still the case? Does that mean the app I submitted today, is screwed because we don't plan on releasing it until next Thursday?

Doesn't that make it hard to release a game timed with any sort of advertising campaign? I understand Apple not wanting us to game the system, but you would think with the first release of an App, they would favor the developer.

 

Essentially it means that you need to set up all your marketing activity for your game so you can press the button to put it live as soon as your game is approved. This might mean that advertising follows after initial marketing efforts - Twitter/Facebook/press releases/newsletters to your customer base etc. Use the things that you can control to make an immediate splash as soon as the game is live, and then follow it on asap with the other activities that you have less control over - reviews/advertising/promotions etc.

 

Thanks for writing a long email explaining what you see is happening in the App Store. Good read.

Your game Depict is pretty good. It doesn't have the appearance of large company work, but it is nicely done and fun to play. I hope it will make into the top chart and you become a made-it indie

Btw, when I last checked the top 100 paid or free, Gameloft doesn't have much a presence, maybe you guys know something about its success that is not obvious to me.

 

k, thanks for the answer. i always had thought that the featuring with that kind of "slide-show" on the first page would not be selected by apple, but by paying for being featured. at least there.
well, good luck further on, to all of you