Hey Dan, thanks for the amazing share! Very informative and I appreciate you sharing these details with the forum!
Thanks @dan_counsell, very useful insights! Btw have you ever tried freemium? I know you have mentioned you do not like ads, but maybe with some other models like selling character? Oh and another related question: I have always thought that when you try to guess app downloads of competitors, the basic rule of thumb is to multiply the number of reviews by 1k -- but in your case it looks more like x100 instead. Is there a difference in between paid and freemium in regards to willingness of reviewing the app or I was wrong with that number or this is a highly unreliable way to guessing for downloads?
I have found that the number of game center users x2 is pretty close to what the actual download stats are. Almost Impossible has 5,544 players in game center, x2 = 11,088. That's a little more than Dan says in the article but probably what the game has now. If a game has more than 10million downloads then it mostly is x3 or even x4. Crossy Road has 32,000,000 users and they have more than 100,000,000 downloads.
I stumbled on this interesting article. I would like to hear how people not getting millions of downloads are doing with freemium. My impression of freemium is that on the high end sure it makes the most money. But for those not getting millions of downloads, as Almost Impossible shows its possible to make decent money with paid. I'm interested to hear people's thoughts on this article below. I come from a background of non-game apps, and always did paid. I made a solid $10-$15,000 a month in profit. Making games though might be a different situation. http://autosend.io/blog/should-my-app-be-free-or-paid/
Seeing how other Buildbox games are doing with and without publishers it seems the best way would be to make a free version with ads and a paid one with more levels, more characters, etc. At least when publishing by yourself. With a big publisher the ads are still the best option. When I started with the development of my first game I thought there would be more profit but it really seems that it's a hit or miss. We are probably a little to late to the party, the appstore is just over-saturated. But one still can get lucky that's for sure. It's great to see how Almost Impossible did and I really would like to know how Shadows did regarding the income. And then, I really would like to know how Ball Jump did with Ketchapp. These insights would be very valuable for newcomers like me. But unfortunately no one shares how they are doing. Dan Counsell is the exception.
Hey guys, Was just doing a little comparative research between my latest game Boppity Boo (please support me and download ) and Shadows. Though shadows is in a completely different league than my humble little Boppity Boo, I was surprised to see how our visibility scores weren't very far appart. Just for context, Shadows has been downloaded over 150K times, while Boppity Boo has only been downloaded 7 (yes, that's right, 7! lol). Shadows has over 380 reviews (mostly positive), Boppity Boo has 1 (1 star - they obviously didn't make it passed the golden coffins lol). You would think that the visibility of both of these would have a similar order of magnitude difference. They were both launched about the same time and according to SearchMan, Shadows is hovering at a visibility score of 250, while Boppity Boo is sitting at about 400. If you do the math, there is a difference of roughly 100x when comparing downloads, and 380x in reviews, yet the visibility score isn't even doubled. I don't consider myself an expert by any stretch, but my only conclusion seems to lie in the choice of keywords used. When developed Boppity Boo, it was specifically created as an experiment to test a few marketing ideas, which is why I only spent about 15 hours on developing it (not surprising it's getting 1 star), but I spent considerably more time on research and keywords in particular. Just an example, Boppity Boo is currently ranking 27 for "google plus". Imagine if the game were of the Shadows quality and appeal, and free! I would have added comparison graphs here but I'm not sure if that would violate any forum rules so will leave it at that, but I just wanted to use this comparison to highlight the importance of keyword research, it's HUGE! Alain Grignon zHeroez Founder
Hey Alain, you might wanna have a look here: https://www.buildbox.com/aso-guide-to-master-keywording/ I want to add that Keywords aren't that important anymore as they were some years back. But getting a feature is. Cheers!
Hey @Christoph, thanks for the link. I'm a GSE alumni so I have keyword research burned into my brain. Lol Interesting that you mention how keywords aren't as important now. I wonder then what would account for the higher than anticipated visibility score of Boppity Boo.. Now you've got me thinking... Alain Grignon zHeroez Founder
Good work hopefully someone starts a revenue and launch form this kind of detailed information can really save you time and build confidence keep up the good work.
sooooo.... 2 things... @dan_counsell 1) I didn't know Almost Impossible! existed, and I'm literally working out my first game and realizing it's so very similar to yours...I'm wondering if I should scrap it...where does one cross a line of "copying"? 2) Rapidweaver pretty much got me over... I think my first sites were realmac powered...
Copy = You take a source code and just re-skin it - This is a serious copyright issue Clone = You re-create almost exactly the same as the original - This is not very nice and probably not a good business model either Re-model = You analyze an existing game and make it better. This is what most game makers are doing and the only accepted one by the industry. Angry Birds is a re-model of Crush the Castle and Flappy Birds is a re-model of iCopter...
ok...thx for that... well... i think im in 4... "inspired by the preset world bb2 gives and realizing it's a lot like a game already out there"... however, i downloaded almost impossible to play it and make sure i'm not making the same game.. and although it has a similar play style, my vision for the game is definitely different... so I guess I don't fall under any evil (on purpose anyway).. at least i don't think so... correct me if im wrong please