Hits App Store and the harsh reality
What projects are the most successful on the App Store and why, why you need a feature, and what a jackpot game is about all of this in our new material.
UPD: You can listen to the article as a podcast here.
We continue to publish the most curious excerpts from the article of Emeric Toa, creative director and co-founder of The Game Bakers independent studio. In his bulk material, Emerick shares his observations about the market of mobile applications on iOS.
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“The App Store is far from being a goldmine, but it’s still possible to make a living as an indie developer. So let's take a look at which games are successful on the iOS platform.
Blockbusters
Just like on consoles, there are games in the mobile industry that simply won't let you fail: too much money has been invested in them. Despite the fact that they are usually made by small teams, they are very actively helped by large publishers. The latter are very actively promoting the game, provide the project with the attention of the press, which, ultimately, leads to a feature from Apple. Here are the brightest representatives:
Infinity blade
The game was developed by Chair, Epic was involved in publishing and promotion. Over the 7 months since its release, the project earned $ 10 million, of which 40% came from in-game purchases. The franchise's earnings (as we wrote quite recently, App2Top editors) at the beginning of 2012 amounted to $ 30 million.
Cut the rope
The game is developed by Zeptolab with the support of Chillingo. Both did their best to create the real killer of Angry Birds (in fact, their game is even better), but they didn’t succeed. For the first six weeks, the game was bought "just" 3 million times.
Order & Chaos
The creation of MMO games involved Gameloft (as a source of inspiration they made WoW). The project earned a staggering $ 1 million in just the first 20 days after release at a price of $ 6.99. True, that's bad luck, since then the company Gameloft has not boasted more figures.
Looking at the blockbusters and the loud numbers that developers and publishers publish them, many are beginning to think that in the case of creating a cool game, it will definitely bring a lot of money. But even in the case of these blockbusters, things are not so simple. Of course, there is no doubt that these games are cost-effective, but even considering that $ 1 million in 20 days is crazy money, the development of the same Order & Chaos cost the company more.
The bottom line is that blockbusters don't bring that much money, given their gigantic budgets.
However, among them come across real indie, who received recognition without multimillion-dollar funding and active promotion by publishers. Such games became blockbusters for one simple reason: it was possible to say that they would become successful even before their release.
World of goo
The iPad version appeared two years after the critically acclaimed release of the PC and WiiWare versions. Initially, the price of the game was 10 dollars; after it was cut in half, revenue increased.
The game almost immediately after the release received a feature from Apple. So in the very first month of sales only on the iPad it was downloaded 127 thousand times. For comparison, in its best month on WiiWare, the project sold 68 thousand copies, on Steam the maximum number of downloads per month was 97 thousand. By the way, most recently the project has overcome the mark of 1 million downloads.
Tiny tower
Freemium game from the lucky brothers who created Pocket Frogs. In the first four days, the project was downloaded about 1 million times. Of all users who downloaded the game, 2.6% buy in-game content.
So, yes, the conclusion involuntarily suggests itself: you can make money on the App Store. But it must be remembered that if you start your business from scratch, then your chances are close to zero. Greater chance of success is given to those who are far from developing their first project.
Jackpot games
The real winners of the lottery, whose name is App Store, are the “jackpot” games. These are projects that could hope for some success, but instead, broke the bank. Angry Birds, of course, is the most vivid example, but projects such as Doodle Jump and Fruit Ninja also sparkle with supernovae in the sky of gaming applications.
Among the examples I really want to highlight Tiny Wings. Being a real indie dream come true (one developer, seven months of hard work), the project held for two weeks in the first place in the American top. The number of paid downloads exceeded the mark of 3 million times. Another thing is that despite the success, the project’s “high point” lasted not so long.
Jackpot giants like Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and Doodle Jump for the second year have not left the tops. In turn, the new “jackpot games” even occasionally appear on the market, but they, unlike the old-timers, do not stay there for a long time. So we can safely assume that the main brands on the App Store market are already formed and will not go anywhere in the foreseeable future. So it’s not worth waiting for new really big names at least until Apple introduces any revolutionary gadget or technology.
Perhaps the new super-successful application will use Siri, who knows.
Harsh reality
Most decent projects earn much less.
Hard lines
In the first week 14 reviews were written on the project - all benevolent. The number of ratings has reached 22, all five-star. As a result, 452 downloads in 8 days, on which the team earned 292 dollars. After that, the project received a feature from Apple (not Game of the Week, but simply New & Noteworthy). Sales immediately increased: in the next 10 days, the project was bought 6,500 times.
On the very first day of the free promotion, the game received the Free App A Day medal and 82,000 downloads. After the end of the 5-day promotion, the number of daily downloads dropped to 500 per day.
In Christmas, the game Hard Lines scored 258,000 downloads, including free.
Portaball
From September 2010 to August 2011, the application was purchased only 4,000 times at a price of 99 cents. The largest number of downloads was on the launch day of the project - 160. For the “free” period, the game was downloaded 56 thousand times.
Flower garden
From April 2009 to January 2010, the game earned 21 thousand dollars. The inclusion of paid in-game content and the release of the free version allowed developers to earn 30 thousand dollars in just one month of sales. As of May 2010, the estimated project income was $ 1,500 per week.
This is a quality, made by professionals of the game. No millions. Only bread and butter.
So remember a very important figure: 80% of developers get only 3% of the total profit of applications on the App Store. This is the figure of our harsh reality with you. ”
According to the materials of the portal App2Top.ru
UPD: You can listen to the article as a podcast here.
We continue to publish the most curious excerpts from the article of Emeric Toa, creative director and co-founder of The Game Bakers independent studio. In his bulk material, Emerick shares his observations about the market of mobile applications on iOS.
')
“The App Store is far from being a goldmine, but it’s still possible to make a living as an indie developer. So let's take a look at which games are successful on the iOS platform.
Blockbusters
Just like on consoles, there are games in the mobile industry that simply won't let you fail: too much money has been invested in them. Despite the fact that they are usually made by small teams, they are very actively helped by large publishers. The latter are very actively promoting the game, provide the project with the attention of the press, which, ultimately, leads to a feature from Apple. Here are the brightest representatives:
Infinity blade
The game was developed by Chair, Epic was involved in publishing and promotion. Over the 7 months since its release, the project earned $ 10 million, of which 40% came from in-game purchases. The franchise's earnings (as we wrote quite recently, App2Top editors) at the beginning of 2012 amounted to $ 30 million.
Cut the rope
The game is developed by Zeptolab with the support of Chillingo. Both did their best to create the real killer of Angry Birds (in fact, their game is even better), but they didn’t succeed. For the first six weeks, the game was bought "just" 3 million times.
Order & Chaos
The creation of MMO games involved Gameloft (as a source of inspiration they made WoW). The project earned a staggering $ 1 million in just the first 20 days after release at a price of $ 6.99. True, that's bad luck, since then the company Gameloft has not boasted more figures.
Looking at the blockbusters and the loud numbers that developers and publishers publish them, many are beginning to think that in the case of creating a cool game, it will definitely bring a lot of money. But even in the case of these blockbusters, things are not so simple. Of course, there is no doubt that these games are cost-effective, but even considering that $ 1 million in 20 days is crazy money, the development of the same Order & Chaos cost the company more.
The bottom line is that blockbusters don't bring that much money, given their gigantic budgets.
However, among them come across real indie, who received recognition without multimillion-dollar funding and active promotion by publishers. Such games became blockbusters for one simple reason: it was possible to say that they would become successful even before their release.
World of goo
The iPad version appeared two years after the critically acclaimed release of the PC and WiiWare versions. Initially, the price of the game was 10 dollars; after it was cut in half, revenue increased.
The game almost immediately after the release received a feature from Apple. So in the very first month of sales only on the iPad it was downloaded 127 thousand times. For comparison, in its best month on WiiWare, the project sold 68 thousand copies, on Steam the maximum number of downloads per month was 97 thousand. By the way, most recently the project has overcome the mark of 1 million downloads.
Tiny tower
Freemium game from the lucky brothers who created Pocket Frogs. In the first four days, the project was downloaded about 1 million times. Of all users who downloaded the game, 2.6% buy in-game content.
So, yes, the conclusion involuntarily suggests itself: you can make money on the App Store. But it must be remembered that if you start your business from scratch, then your chances are close to zero. Greater chance of success is given to those who are far from developing their first project.
Jackpot games
The real winners of the lottery, whose name is App Store, are the “jackpot” games. These are projects that could hope for some success, but instead, broke the bank. Angry Birds, of course, is the most vivid example, but projects such as Doodle Jump and Fruit Ninja also sparkle with supernovae in the sky of gaming applications.
Among the examples I really want to highlight Tiny Wings. Being a real indie dream come true (one developer, seven months of hard work), the project held for two weeks in the first place in the American top. The number of paid downloads exceeded the mark of 3 million times. Another thing is that despite the success, the project’s “high point” lasted not so long.
Jackpot giants like Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and Doodle Jump for the second year have not left the tops. In turn, the new “jackpot games” even occasionally appear on the market, but they, unlike the old-timers, do not stay there for a long time. So we can safely assume that the main brands on the App Store market are already formed and will not go anywhere in the foreseeable future. So it’s not worth waiting for new really big names at least until Apple introduces any revolutionary gadget or technology.
Perhaps the new super-successful application will use Siri, who knows.
Harsh reality
Most decent projects earn much less.
Hard lines
In the first week 14 reviews were written on the project - all benevolent. The number of ratings has reached 22, all five-star. As a result, 452 downloads in 8 days, on which the team earned 292 dollars. After that, the project received a feature from Apple (not Game of the Week, but simply New & Noteworthy). Sales immediately increased: in the next 10 days, the project was bought 6,500 times.
On the very first day of the free promotion, the game received the Free App A Day medal and 82,000 downloads. After the end of the 5-day promotion, the number of daily downloads dropped to 500 per day.
In Christmas, the game Hard Lines scored 258,000 downloads, including free.
Portaball
From September 2010 to August 2011, the application was purchased only 4,000 times at a price of 99 cents. The largest number of downloads was on the launch day of the project - 160. For the “free” period, the game was downloaded 56 thousand times.
Flower garden
From April 2009 to January 2010, the game earned 21 thousand dollars. The inclusion of paid in-game content and the release of the free version allowed developers to earn 30 thousand dollars in just one month of sales. As of May 2010, the estimated project income was $ 1,500 per week.
This is a quality, made by professionals of the game. No millions. Only bread and butter.
So remember a very important figure: 80% of developers get only 3% of the total profit of applications on the App Store. This is the figure of our harsh reality with you. ”
According to the materials of the portal App2Top.ru
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/136444/
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