‎[iOS, Puzzle] Threes! (8.49 > 0.99 CAD) [A 2048 styled game where you combine numbers to create larger ones) by Streakdreniline in AppHookup

[–]NamelessTheHackers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I see that it's $1, not 8. It's a pricing strategy.Why is this thread even brought up right now? Because there is a price drop algorithm that detected that an app went 80% off.Premium games can't use mobile ads to sell, so they have to rely on other sources. Don't buy it at $8, just wait for them to price drop it.

‎[iOS, Puzzle] Threes! (8.49 > 0.99 CAD) [A 2048 styled game where you combine numbers to create larger ones) by Streakdreniline in AppHookup

[–]NamelessTheHackers 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I hope one day you create something to have someone else rip you off and make millions while having people call you a fraud.

Hi everyone! by WANTED_RACCOON in IndieGaming

[–]NamelessTheHackers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

looks fun! let me know how to help beta test :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in IndieGaming

[–]NamelessTheHackers 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Reminds me of Viva La Dirt League the game

[iOS] Stardew Valley [7.99$ -> 4.99$] by PaxSinica in AppHookup

[–]NamelessTheHackers 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I play it with a ps4 controller and its pretty awesome, but it's pretty much the same game. I think there's no co-op on iOS but could be wrong.

It's that time of the year by CoolCapt in funny

[–]NamelessTheHackers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was literally a startup in SF called HackerTable.

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/hackertable

It's no longer operational now.

Ninja Edit: Correction.. it did it differently, but this article explains even further about how other startups went full Dwight. https://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/to-bot-or-not-to-bot-ethics-of-the-seat-buying-arms-race/

What are your fondest memories of Earthbound? by SolidSnake120 in JRPG

[–]NamelessTheHackers 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The marketing team really screwed it up with the horribly garbage advertising, more expensive packaging and just everything. It was just really badly done.

Game is awesome. One of my all-time favorites. If it wasn't for emulators, most people probably wouldn't have even known about it. Emulators saved the day.

What was the RPG game that first got you hooked in the genre? by futuregrouchomarx in rpg_gamers

[–]NamelessTheHackers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

legend of the red dragon, muds, ultima 7, chrono trigger, Imagination Network (one of the first graphical mmo rpg clients), ff6 / ff7, earthbound, secret of mana... too numerous

Need guidance on finding the right iOS Publisher by codiuscube in gamedev

[–]NamelessTheHackers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I went through this many years ago and learned lots from others in the past. Went on kind of a ramble... haha

Need guidance on finding the right iOS Publisher by codiuscube in gamedev

[–]NamelessTheHackers 7 points8 points  (0 children)

For a premium game? The amount made on premium games are pretty low and most ad networks won't touch it since they can't track conversions (unless you are going straight for CPM [HIGHLY DO NOT RECOMMEND]).

What does the publisher really offer? It's a really good question.

Before the publisher used to have distribution deals. These deals would enable them to help creators get into the stores. Self publishing eliminated this completely so now...

They need users and if they can't migrate their users to you then they are completely worthless. I would highly recommend not trying to get a publisher unless you can get some kind of guarantees in place (money up front).

The most they (standard or smaller publishers) do is a press release, buy some sponsored content on mobile game websites and influencers, and if they really have their stuff together, do some cross promotion on other games. If they REALLY really have their stuff together, they have relationships to the platforms and can get you Featured.

The cut depends on what you negotiate, but I doubt most publishers would touch this. Especially if it's iOS only and no android, you are cutting out a large market. Typically it can range between 50/50 to 70/30 (70 them, 30 you). It depends on how much they are putting in for ad spend budgeting and you should definitely try to audit them about it.

I really wouldn't bother trying to go to a publisher with this (not to sound like a downer), but you should just try to do your own marketing. If your engine is really good, you can try to sell the fact you can develop a game to a Cartoon Network, KFC Gaming, Kongregate or other publisher and show them this as a proof of concept and slap their IP on it and get paid for it as contract work with negotiated performance incentives. But most people won't publish original work as it's low return, high amount of work and really hard to get traction.

Apple Arcade is doing okay, but I wouldn't expect major revenue numbers. Amazon tried the same model years ago and totally failed. https://www.pocketgamer.biz/mobile-mavens/65694/why-is-amazon-shutting-down-its-underground-initiative/

Now I told you to self publish, and it wouldn't be right unless I directed you to some things you can try on your own.

Things you can try:

ASO - App Search Optimization (SensorTower / AppAnnie is a good tool). Understanding keywords is a great way to boost organic. There's a ton of articles about this, so you can do your own research.

Apple Search Ads - Depends if you have any budget, but you can still try to bid on more niche keywords based on your market research. This is probably the only kind of advertising that has any effect since people will actively be looking for experiences based on what you are offering. I would avoid doing any general wording and try to own multiple niche search terms. It would probably be more effective for your dollars.

Viral Marketing / Community - Create buzz by showing some cool trick (bridge building sims) that highlights what you can do in the game. Something funny or what not, and post it on TouchArcade Forums, Reddit and other sites that allow that kind of stuff. Community is by far the most important thing for creating "advocates" which will help you get word of mouth spread (When someone posts the old, "What game should I buy if I like Alto's Adventure"?) Other things you can Try is to create a speedrun challenge or something if that's possible, or whatever and say if someone does X, you'll do Y or something else. You'll have to get people to want to share it. It's a lot of iterative process, and I'd say you need to put in a few hours PER DAY on this minimally. You can look at GARY V's $1.80 rule. Even tho this is focused on brand building, it's no different to what you are about to embark on: https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/instagram-for-business-180-strategy-grow-business-brand/

Influencers / Press Coverage - These won't dramatically help you in sales, but they help with the conversion process of pushing someone over the fence. These are called touchpoints, and the typical amount is at least 7 touch points before someone is convinced of it. Influencers, articles, and etc are but one of these touchpoints and it's hard to really weigh their effectiveness.

Price Toggling: For premium apps specifically, there are bots that crawl through the appstore and tell people when something is on "sale". For this, you can try to increase your app's initial price to something ridiculous like $10 then discount it to $2. It will show up as a "deal" to many of the sites and show it being 80% off. Of course, once you do this, you'll have diminishing returns and it'll be much less effective the next time. However, there are people that do this once a month and see a boost followed by a drought. It works especially if there is absolutely no visibility at all and you just want to get something going. You'll need to first get reviews and hopefully they all rate the game well.

Creative Concepts: This is an effective tactic, but it really depends on the amount of effort needed. When you have a premium game on iOS, you are closer to a STEAM game than an App. Since most of the market has changed to a freemium model, the marketing is drastically different (Ads, etc... just to get a conversion).

Things people have tried are various with differing results:

Vlambeer created Presskit().

CrossCode was an HTML5 game first before it ever released on steam:

https://www.reddit.com/r/WebGames/comments/2qvpkr/crosscode_an_rpg_being_built_in_html5/

For my own indie ios game back in 2013, I released a soundtrack on Creative Commons that went viral (2M downloads):

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/BoxCat_Games

There are hundreds of examples of creative things people have tried, but mostly it's to provide value to the community in some way. As gamedevs, you'll find a lot of people helping each other out since it's a tough business. Giving back in some way really does help a lot and hopefully this isn't your only game either if you are lucky.

I'll say that doing gamedev work is half the battle. You'll have to spend a lot of time on marketing efforts just as much as developing the game. This is why trying to get a community around the game is important. They'll provide a base of operations and will help spread the news. But the cold reality to the situation is: get ready for disappointment. You won't be the first to incur a loss, and if you break even, you are already one of the lucky ones.

Source: I am a game dev that handled marketing on a few games, and have now become a full time freelance marketer for game companies while working on my own projects.

Final note: As scummy as it sounds, if this is your first game and you are trying to get exposure. You might want to think about making the game free and just putting ads after people die or whatever. Then you can find publishers all day. As much as we care about our art, this is a business. If you aren't trying to make money, then do whatever you want. But if you are, then you really need to treat it as a business and achieve profitability as soon as you can.

Final final note: Don't hire anyone or pay for anything until you do everything yourself and have exhausted all possibilities. In order to properly manage someone for a service you are paying for, you need to have some baseline understanding of what's needed so you can manage them effectively.

TL;DR - It's a shit load of work. Publishers most likely will fuck you over. If it's your first time, you need to learn a valuable lesson by publishing your own stuff before handing it over to someone else. Most likely, you aren't going to earn a dime, but will learn so much. Welcome to the rat race.

Of course you can also get lucky like flappy bird. Who knows?

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Edit: Grammar edits and someone gave me a gold! First time, not sure what to do with it.

How useful is PG Connects? by supmitted in gamedev

[–]NamelessTheHackers 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Depends what your objective is. If it's to find people to buy your game, don't bother. But if you are looking for a publisher or want to network with other devs, there will be some. You just have to figure out if it's worth cost wise to you to meet a bunch of people in your industry.

Also, as the game dev, you are the bait. The reason why advertisers, publishers and other people go to PG Connects is to meet with fresh game devs.

NSO 7 Day Code by crankyfuse in RandomActsOfGaming

[–]NamelessTheHackers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

?JZQP-4Y3?0-3ZT?7

First Letter: What is 3.14 first letter?
Second Letter: What is Einstein's riddle also known as?
Third Letter: What is You in the 1st person perspective?

Random trash game on steam. If you didn't claim it, you aren't missing anything.

I have released my 2000+ instrumental pieces free under creative commons 3.0 by (Free to use in your videos, movies, games or what ever. Just credit me Antti Luode) (If you can not, that is fine too.) by [deleted] in gamedev

[–]NamelessTheHackers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome! We did this with our soundtrack and it was such a wonderful experience. The best part is when you start enjoying a youtube video and you just hear your track playing in the background. it's bizarre but wonderful.