Developer Diaries 5
December 9 by John
By request, today I'll be running down profit percentages for each of our titles.
A lot of people have asked us about our profits before, but instead of giving hard numbers, I'm just going to give percentages of revenues by title.
35% - Fastar!
25% - Blue Attack!
16% - Blue Defense!
12% - Blue Defense: Second Wave
12% - Red Conquest!
If you want to push the numbers a bit further, we could look at release dates! How long have each of these titles been out?
Months:
25 - Blue Defense!
22 - Blue Attack!
12 - Red Conquest!
3 - Fastar!
2 - Blue Defense: Second Wave
So from that info, even though Fastar is older than BD:2W, it is earning money at almost twice the rate. Fastar was by far our greatest runaway hit! Similarly, you can see that Red Conquest was a bit of a lemon - Blue Attack was released almost two years ago, but has earned more per-day since it was released than Red Conquest has.
Of course, most of the money for each title is made in the first month or so of sales, so a lifetime rate analysis isn't really the best way to go. ;)
So what was the determining factor in each of these releases? Aside from game quality and reviews, of course - was effective advertising. Every game *except* Red Conquest made it into Apple's New & Noteworthy section, and climbed the ranks pretty high by day 2 or 3 of sales.
Live and learn, I suppose. Red Conquest was released during the busy holiday season last year, and I didn't spend nearly enough time contacting reviewers before the release - and by the time I did, they were too busy writing reviews for the deluge of other titles.
As an app developer, you get a ton of free press for a good game when it's released, and *maybe* for major updates... but if you don't nail your launch in the app store, it's tough to recover!
So there you have it, some data and analysis. Enjoy!
And keep your eyes out for Red Conquest Episodes 3 & 4 early next year! Maybe I'll update sales stats after that launch. :)
A lot of people have asked us about our profits before, but instead of giving hard numbers, I'm just going to give percentages of revenues by title.
35% - Fastar!
25% - Blue Attack!
16% - Blue Defense!
12% - Blue Defense: Second Wave
12% - Red Conquest!
If you want to push the numbers a bit further, we could look at release dates! How long have each of these titles been out?
Months:
25 - Blue Defense!
22 - Blue Attack!
12 - Red Conquest!
3 - Fastar!
2 - Blue Defense: Second Wave
So from that info, even though Fastar is older than BD:2W, it is earning money at almost twice the rate. Fastar was by far our greatest runaway hit! Similarly, you can see that Red Conquest was a bit of a lemon - Blue Attack was released almost two years ago, but has earned more per-day since it was released than Red Conquest has.
Of course, most of the money for each title is made in the first month or so of sales, so a lifetime rate analysis isn't really the best way to go. ;)
So what was the determining factor in each of these releases? Aside from game quality and reviews, of course - was effective advertising. Every game *except* Red Conquest made it into Apple's New & Noteworthy section, and climbed the ranks pretty high by day 2 or 3 of sales.
Live and learn, I suppose. Red Conquest was released during the busy holiday season last year, and I didn't spend nearly enough time contacting reviewers before the release - and by the time I did, they were too busy writing reviews for the deluge of other titles.
As an app developer, you get a ton of free press for a good game when it's released, and *maybe* for major updates... but if you don't nail your launch in the app store, it's tough to recover!
So there you have it, some data and analysis. Enjoy!
And keep your eyes out for Red Conquest Episodes 3 & 4 early next year! Maybe I'll update sales stats after that launch. :)
Comments [10]
You don't happen to have a time machine I could borrow, do you, John? I can't wait for ep. 3 & 4!!
wow! I installed the game again yesterday (after a big exam, just had to take a little time of :P ) And there was a lot of new people online! and not just 2nd Fleet people, (only meet Ving and Leo from 2nd fleet). The only reason I can think of this is due to the that the game is free for now. it's really helping the community prosper again. so thank you catinaboxgames. Now we just need al these people to join 2nd Fleet ^^
Love the little cute cat running, in the top right corner, when the page is loading ^____^
Hey, I am a loyal fan of Red Conquest. I really want to know when can I play the new episodes! Could you be more specific on the date you would like to release ep3 & ep4?
I must say that red conquest isn't entirely that bad for profits. It's been out for 12 months and earned 12% of the profits. That's 1%/month ratio. Blue defense has been out for 25 months as you say. And earned 16%, that's 0.64%/month. So red conquest isn't your least popular game it's blue defense :P
I'd like to say it'll be out in February. :) Though I make no promises at this point, everything has become exceptionally busy over here.
A personal perspective:
Platforms seem to go through various phases. The early phase is where no users have any experience gaming. They have difficulty understanding the controls, and even the basic gameplay elements. Their tactility and response speed are both very limited, so complex games are no fun. My dad falls into this category. I think the majority of iPod/Phone users do.
However, I think that as they play more games, they become accustomed to more complex elements, and will seek out more dynamic entertainment. Give it time, red conquest isn't a dumb 1-touch response kind of game, so you should't expect wildfire downloads. However, my guess is that it will serve as a much better source of income over time. That's because you can build a small franchise, and it will not lose it's appeal. Rather the simple gamers will eventually convert to more interesting games and series like this one will do well.
My 0.02$.
Platforms seem to go through various phases. The early phase is where no users have any experience gaming. They have difficulty understanding the controls, and even the basic gameplay elements. Their tactility and response speed are both very limited, so complex games are no fun. My dad falls into this category. I think the majority of iPod/Phone users do.
However, I think that as they play more games, they become accustomed to more complex elements, and will seek out more dynamic entertainment. Give it time, red conquest isn't a dumb 1-touch response kind of game, so you should't expect wildfire downloads. However, my guess is that it will serve as a much better source of income over time. That's because you can build a small franchise, and it will not lose it's appeal. Rather the simple gamers will eventually convert to more interesting games and series like this one will do well.
My 0.02$.
Are you ever gonna get retina display support for red conquest?
That would be sweet
That would be sweet
Francis Esmonde-White: A personal perspective:
Platforms seem to go through various phases. The early phase is where no users have any experience gaming. They have difficulty understanding the controls, and even the basic gameplay elements. Their tactility and response speed are both very limited, so complex games are no fun. My dad falls into this category. I think the majority of iPod/Phone users do.
However, I think that as they play more games, they become accustomed to more complex elements, and will seek out more dynamic entertainment. Give it time, red conquest isn't a dumb 1-touch response kind of game, so you should't expect wildfire downloads. However, my guess is that it will serve as a much better source of income over time. That's because you can build a small franchise, and it will not lose it's appeal. Rather the simple gamers will eventually convert to more interesting games and series like this one will do well.
My 0.02$.
Yeah, al that is needed is continued support from dev, making in better and bigger in small steps, like the graffiks, in another 2-(and on) gen of iphones, maybe the graffiks will need some update :pPlatforms seem to go through various phases. The early phase is where no users have any experience gaming. They have difficulty understanding the controls, and even the basic gameplay elements. Their tactility and response speed are both very limited, so complex games are no fun. My dad falls into this category. I think the majority of iPod/Phone users do.
However, I think that as they play more games, they become accustomed to more complex elements, and will seek out more dynamic entertainment. Give it time, red conquest isn't a dumb 1-touch response kind of game, so you should't expect wildfire downloads. However, my guess is that it will serve as a much better source of income over time. That's because you can build a small franchise, and it will not lose it's appeal. Rather the simple gamers will eventually convert to more interesting games and series like this one will do well.
My 0.02$.
Looking at it positively, Fastar! set you a new benchmark and did extremely well. Way to go! Interesting feedback about releasing it during the holiday season - definitely sounds like something to consider.
Nice to hear a developer sharing so much of the inside story, and confirming just how important the launch is :)
Nice to hear a developer sharing so much of the inside story, and confirming just how important the launch is :)
Copyright © 2009 Cat-In-A-Box. All rights reserved.