How did I reached 46,000 downloads in less than two months full details [Android]

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Yoav Franco, Aug 9, 2014.

  1. Yoav Franco

    Yoav Franco Member

    Jun 3, 2014
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    #1 Yoav Franco, Aug 9, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 9, 2014
    It's was very hard and almost impossible if you don't have at least a small marketing budget. I am making this thread to help developers learn.
    I want to stress that all my marketing was free. I didn't use paid advertisement.

    Deciding what I am going to make

    1) I decided to make a platform game that had very simple controls, anyone can understand how to play it without instructions.

    2) I decided to use some cartoon images that, almost all I made myself. There is no some "Complicated graphics".

    3) I made the game easy enough so that a gamer can play it without instructions.


    Before Launch

    1) After I finished the game I didn't release it to the google play store , that would equal a fail. I opened a small community in Google+ and collected some people that want to hear when I release the game to production.

    2) I posted on facebook groups screenshots about my game that going to be published. I did it in 5-6 groups and I spend on it 3 days.

    3) I went to some games forums and also a create a post and trying to make people waiting for this game to be published.


    Launch

    1) Launched my app on Google Play , posted on facebook and on Google+ that its finally arrived. And here comes the numbers:

    After one week my app got more than 10,000 installs!

    And now my game has 46,000 downloads at Google Play!

    And I am still fighting to get more downloads. Hopefully I can reach higher but for last couple of days the downloads just decreasing Any questions ask away.

    Game Link (Game called Greg Adventures, You can also search it on Google Play):
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.platform.game

    Please tell me if this thread help you :)
     
  2. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
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    I don't think you got the downloads for the reason you think. I am unsure what you did, but almost 800 ratings is good.

    congrats on your successful launch.
     
  3. Yoav Franco

    Yoav Franco Member

    Jun 3, 2014
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    Can I ask, Why do you think I got all the downloads?
    And thank you :)
     
  4. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
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    Honestly I don't know, but obviously luck has some part, but that is a lot of downloads for that type of game.
     
  5. Yoav Franco

    Yoav Franco Member

    Jun 3, 2014
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    You are right, ofcourse that there is a lot of luck, but I think the things that I did at first also give some downloads.
     
  6. mr.Ugly

    mr.Ugly Well-Known Member

    Dec 1, 2009
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    Berlin, Germany
    Since when are 50k downloads for a free game on android a success?
     
  7. Yoav Franco

    Yoav Franco Member

    Jun 3, 2014
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    #7 Yoav Franco, Aug 10, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2014
    Have you published a game to google play that you can say that?
     
  8. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
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    From an indie point of view 50K people playing your game is a success. Not a financial one, but in terms of people playing.

    Yes you need 100 times that (or 10 times and lots of replay) to be able to make anything significant from ads but that isn't always how people measure success.
     
  9. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
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    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    Congrats. Keep building on it! It took 3-4 weeks for my first (iOS though) game to reach that mark.

    Your launch seems very much the same as the rest of the 'indie with no budget' launches that get posted.

    You're obviously new.:rolleyes:
     
  10. Yoav Franco

    Yoav Franco Member

    Jun 3, 2014
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    Thanks! :)

    And, yes I'm new :rolleyes:
     
  11. andrebirnfeld

    andrebirnfeld Member

    Aug 25, 2014
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    Amazing, 46k downloads in two months, and then, after almost 1 month you didnt reach 4k downloads... I think someone saw that 10k-50k in playstore page downloads and think "hmm, they can't know if i lie ;)"
     
  12. MBowman

    MBowman Well-Known Member

    Aug 14, 2014
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    Awesome job on so many downloads. Dont listen to the haters telling you it ain't that many. :D
     
  13. fanling3

    fanling3 Active Member

    Jun 11, 2014
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    Hi, could you suggest me some Google+ groups and Facebook Groups to gain attention for a game? Thanks.

    I have promotion budget, but still got less than 2k downloads in a month. I don't know what to do!
     
  14. sudo981

    sudo981 New Member

    How can you do that? It is impossible.
    _______________________________
     
  15. Pixelosis

    Pixelosis Well-Known Member

    Jan 28, 2013
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    Money or not it doesn't matter. As a free game, unless you break the 100,000 barrier within a couple months, you have failed, that's all. Just imagine that the game had no ads, no IAP, no reward for coins, etc., and you might see.
    The way you turn a profit on it, for a free game, only comes second. Your monetization could be the best in the world, but if you're not getting the downloads, you have failed to "sell" your game to people. You haven't a large enough audience. Now if you have said audience but no good monetization system, that's another problem entirely, one that can be solved with thinking and an update.
    A free game that only reaches an audience barely greater than the plebe you can cram in a medium sized football stadium, despite being available on an international store, is definitely a failure, no matter how you look at it.
    Especially since the first 10K were gotten in one week, meaning that the remaining 36K are to be spread over 7 weeks and I wouldn't be surprised if the second month's weeks stagnated at something like 1000 downloads per week, only to keep going down.
    Besides, it's even worse because it's on Android, which generally gets about 8 to 10 times more downloads than iOS, due to market share.
     
  16. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
    978
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    16
    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    Pixelosis' explaination is in line with my own experience too.

    Except for this line:

    I see it more like equivalent numbers (iOS had maybe fewer downloads but in general more sticky players, in the long run the two platforms are equal). Perhaps our audiences differ greatly, but I don't see Android ever making it to 8-10 times more than iOS.
     
  17. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
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    All of my apps have more downloads on iOS than android. The museum I work for, all of it's apps have more downloads on iOS than android.

    I don't believe you generally get more than 8-10 times more downloads on android.
     
  18. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
    978
    0
    16
    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    It's possible, perhaps their apps get routinely featured on Android but not iOS or are being promoted as Android apps first. Or maybe they're only releasing in countries where Android are more prevalent by far.

    But I certainly don't think it comes down to global market share.
     
  19. Pixelosis

    Pixelosis Well-Known Member

    Jan 28, 2013
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    Good catch, I should reread myself. Geez. I was thinking of smaller market portals versus big ones (and in fact the figure tends to be very conservative as well in some cases). Sorry. Still, Android's greater number of devices is bound to give it a slight edge, but I tend to treat it as an extra, since I'd rather debut on iOS. However, going straight for Android can save you some xCode related headaches, depending on the tools you use. It's just a habit to take I guess...
    As to who pays more in games with IAPs, you hear different stories so I think you can only know by trying. Each case probably turns out to be different.

    Non-games apps are a different beast because it's more complicated to cater to all different machines with devices that run Android and their multiples varying bits of technology, while there's not such a problem with iOS, so with serious apps, I'd clearly go with iOS.
     
  20. Pixelosis

    Pixelosis Well-Known Member

    Jan 28, 2013
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    Extra note: wouldn't the market distribution be a tad different than the global one, depending on which country you're looking at? So if your app is big in the US market, it might look balanced between iOS and Android, but some countries really have iOS way behind. Localization of content and oversea distribution might really change numbers a lot. That's not to make things easier to read. Take a look at (yet dated) numbers which already hinted at how the market would split.

    Is it me or the featuring systems in Google Play are a bit... meh?
    I mean, for instance, there's that 500 best new free apps... what's the point, really? Most people don't push beyond the first page or the equivalent in length scroll. Especially with, what? more than a thousand new apps a day (didn't check, wouldn't be far from truth though).
    Also, evolution in the ranking on Google Play is stiffer in comparison to Apple's portal. At Apple, it seems to be tougher to get in (and I've read that with iOS8, review queues have increased), and if you get exposure, it's a short time affair, but generally it really makes such a difference, it's night and day.
     

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