Eve of Impact Free Period - About the Results and Strategies Used

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by rikschennink, Jan 9, 2013.

  1. rikschennink

    rikschennink Well-Known Member

    Oct 12, 2011
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    Netherlands
    Hi fellow developer!

    Last december I set my game Eve of Impact to free for a couple of days. I've since written an article about the results of this sale period and what methods I used to accomplish those results.

    Eve of Impact Doomsday Sales

    I hope it's useful for you, if you have any questions or are missing something in the article, let me know, I want the article to be as detailed as possible. :)
     
  2. ThreeCubes

    ThreeCubes Well-Known Member

    Oct 13, 2012
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    thanks for the tip about searchman
     
  3. rikschennink

    rikschennink Well-Known Member

    Oct 12, 2011
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    You're welcome! I only recently stumbled upon that service. Since the AppStore does not allow any kind of analytics information to be accessed it's nice a third party is trying to give us some insights.
     
  4. Kafu

    Kafu Well-Known Member

    Thanks for sharing. I found interesting the experience with Twitter integration, it's on my todo list since some time.
     
  5. Balloon Loons

    Balloon Loons Well-Known Member

    Jun 20, 2012
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    Nice post! Thanks for sharing this with us!
     
  6. Great article. Thanks for sharing.
     
  7. Freespirit

    Freespirit Member

    Oct 30, 2012
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    An interesting read, thanks for sharing.
     
  8. djskinner

    djskinner Well-Known Member

    Good read. Thanks for posting it. It's definitely something we will look into doing at some point. I read in another recent forum post on here that 'stepping' the price down to free over a number of weeks is a good way to optimise this strategy.
     
  9. rikschennink

    rikschennink Well-Known Member

    Oct 12, 2011
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    Do you mean lowering the price in stages till it's free?

    About duration, I read you should at least keep your game free for a period of 4 to 5 days.
     
  10. GameHopping

    GameHopping Active Member

    Reading your article actually helped me considerably. Thanks!
     
  11. djskinner

    djskinner Well-Known Member

    Yeah, see this post by @Tannorexic. What we'll probably do is lower the price in stages, holding in there for a week at a time until it becomes free - and leave it free for another week.
     
  12. rikschennink

    rikschennink Well-Known Member

    Oct 12, 2011
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    Aha! Thanks, very interesting post!
     
  13. batgirl717111

    batgirl717111 Well-Known Member

    Jul 9, 2012
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    app developer & artist
    brooklyn, ny
    great article, thanks for posting! bookmarked searchman.com- great resource :)
     
  14. LairdGames

    LairdGames Well-Known Member

    Mar 25, 2012
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    Hello,

    Great stuff! I am on the same boat with Space Command (also an asteroids/Missile Command) game. I was on the fence mostly because for potential increases of negative ratings...as you said, heck is free so what not give 1 star!!) But your great experiment seems to dispute this assumption (I love what you said about assumptions in that article!) Anyway I am very interested about your views on that last paragraph talking about ranking reset:

    "... I feared all chart positions were reset, ouch. After a week of looking at green up pointing arrows, seeing your app racing to the top, an empty page is not a pretty sight..."

    Were you able to recover? If yes, how long did it takes?

    In any event, that was a super experiment and I happy it actually worked out for you. That gives me the courage to try it!

    By the way your game is simply AMAZING! I love the special effects, the beautiful imagery. Simply stunning!

    Cheers.
    Mo (@LairdGames)
     
  15. Thanks for the great post. Lots of helpful tips.
     
  16. LairdGames

    LairdGames Well-Known Member

    Mar 25, 2012
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    #16 LairdGames, Jan 19, 2013
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2013
    @rikschennink

    Thank you. I am making Space Command free for 4-5 days as you suggested. Without your article, I would not had the "courage" to do it! Will post the result of this great experiment here: Wish me luck!

    Mo

    ps: By the way Space Command was made with the Corona SDK (check it out!)
     
  17. rikschennink

    rikschennink Well-Known Member

    Oct 12, 2011
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    Nope did not recover :) But did not expect to, I've got better ranking than before, but it's all in the 150+ range, so I don't think it makes a difference (as in customers won't scroll that far).

    Thanks! I'm glad my article was of help to you!
     
  18. LairdGames

    LairdGames Well-Known Member

    Mar 25, 2012
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    No thank you! Your post was very informative. By the way so far the download for Space Command went from around 10 a day to 900 per day! not getting any cash but is nice to see that jump. I can also see that I went in ranks on many keywords which is great. I am sure this won't last but it was a very good experiment. Thanks again for giving me the urge to experiment!

    Mo
    LairdGames,

    ps: I hope some of you will check it out while it is free (few more days) If you like it please leave a review or a rate! THANKS! The link to the app is my signature.
     
  19. LairdGames

    LairdGames Well-Known Member

    Mar 25, 2012
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    [​IMG]



    Hello guys,

    I wanted to let you know a super news for Space Command. It got featured today on the App Store (ipad) in the "What's hot section! (Action & Adventure categories)


    @rikschennink, THANKS so much for giving me the courage to switch my app to free for a while! I am convince that what made this feature on the app store possible.

    I know it won't last but I have to admit it is a nice feeling to have right now:)

    Thanks guys.

    Mo
    @LairdGames.
     
  20. rikschennink

    rikschennink Well-Known Member

    Oct 12, 2011
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    #20 rikschennink, Feb 4, 2013
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2013

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