Apple is killing the Indie developer

RocketBrain

Look in iTunes....wheres the new release column? yes ladies and gentlemen its not there anymore.

My latest game failed miserably thanks to this, it "tanked" 2 months of hardcore programming and testing for 4 downloads (and those 4 are probably people i know)

so essentially if you dont already have a following and/or dont have the money to pay for advertising you're screwed.

I'm severely ticked off.

Hunnenkoenig

There are reports of many little things not working right.

I think they mess around with an update, but they are unprofessional as usual.

I wouldn't freak out right now...

LAdrian

Sorry to hear about your experience, mine wasn't much better but I had only 2 weeks of development and we always need that is going to be a slow start and that we are going to grow from updating the game.

Regarding the appstore... actually the first tab on the device is New and then there's What's Hot and under this tab there's Hot New Games and Staff Favourites and then under Categories/Games you have also Release Date so I guess there's a fair change for the indie devs.
Christmas is just a hard time to release a game. I'll wait with Silly Sheep update until the beginning of next year.

You are right, the big companies are spending a lot of money on advertising but I still think that a really good game will succeed no matter where it came from. Also I think that the big companies will stop investing so much in the appstore, the developing cost for them is just too big and the revenue too little. On the other hand I think that a lot of small-medium size companies will arrive on the marked and those companies are going to make it quite difficult for the small indie dev.

Have faith and work harder, it's a tough market to break but so is any place where you want to have success..

inception

Got a link to your game, RabidWeasel?

Orochi

I'm always hunting for new apps, and the best way has always been categories>games>all games>release date. Maybe I'm in the nerd minority, but that's how I keep up on releases. Also AppMiner.

CodeCode

I am not quite sure, i looked in the appstore and i think this is your game
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/assault-force-bravo/id406339671?mt=8

if i am right maybe the reason for the low sales is that the presentation of your game is not that good, you have 5 pics there and for me they look all the same, actually 3 of them are the same just with different text, a text that no one is going to read cause all the pictures are on the wrong side. the other 2 pictures are pretty much the same too you can see the title screen and at the other one you see the title screen again and some text again that no one is going to read.

It's probably a good game but no one will appreciate that with that presentation you did.

Another point is the Icon you did for you game, its all gray, that i think that icon is not going to take the attention of anyone the next time try to do something that take the attention of the people, something that the people will see when they are just scrolling fast the apps and looking fast whats new on the store.

I hope i could help you, and sorry for my bad english, good luck for your next games don't give up^^

JohnPapiomitis

Prodigio said:
I am not quite sure, i looked in the appstore and i think this is your game
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/assault-force-bravo/id406339671?mt=8

if i am right maybe the reason for the low sales is that the presentation of your game is not that good, you have 5 pics there and for me they look all the same, actually 3 of them are the same just with different text, a text that no one is going to read cause all the pictures are on the wrong side. the other 2 pictures are pretty much the same too you can see the title screen and at the other one you see the title screen again and some text again that no one is going to read.

It's probably a good game but no one will appreciate that with that presentation you did.

Another point is the Icon you did for you game, its all gray, that i think that icon is not going to take the attention of anyone the next time try to do something that take the attention of the people, something that the people will see when they are just scrolling fast the apps and looking fast whats new on the store.

I hope i could help you, and sorry for my bad english, good luck for your next games don't give up^^

This, No offense but based on your screenshots and icon i wouldnt buy the app. The screenshots make it look like the games exactly the same the whole time and the icon doesnt catch your attention at all. And also the appstore acting bugging all the tabs are still there just disapearing at some times

JohnPapiomitis

To add to this what were saying about presentation is really important. Also i noticed that the 99cent price is a sale price, which probably means its usealyl 1.99. You have to think of all the crazy apps and games coming out. If your games 1.99 and buyers can spend like 3 more bucks and get a crazy full 3d game like infinity blade, what would make them buy your app. again im not saying your games bad by any means, im sure its alot of fun. Im just saying you have to look at it from a buyers view, and presentation is EVERYTHING

simo103

have to agree with the general input from other GSers. Since I have been here I have been willing to support others games by purchasing them if they look decent and to see what I might learn graphically and gameplay wise. I looked at you game earlier when it was announced but passed based on the images you have in iTunes.

So you would have had a purchase from me it it looked good ... don't know how many others were like me .. perhaps quite a few.

scitunes

If I were you I would buy Ian's war graphic pack and use that for your game. Then look at what the top games use for icons and screenshots and try to hold yourself to that standard.

Snow

After having played games on the iPhone and iPod - I've come to realize that it really isn't a gaming platform. You can play games on it, but it will never compare to playing games on a PC or console. It might be best not too put a lot of time into a project as most customers are looking for a 2 minute time waster while waiting at the bus stop and stuff like that. Not to say, make some low quality crap game or anything, but if you want to make games, don't pour your heart and soul into an iPhone app as it can easily disappear in the bloated app market.

butterbean

@Snow: Agreed, Console games and iphone games are completely different. Although there are a few hardcore games ported over to the iphone like Need for Speed, the Cave Shooters, and some RPG's like Final Fantasy, the majority market is "casual". A pick up and play, easy, no-nonsense game is what the iphone market is all about. If you can't capture someone's attention within the first minute, it's a no go

Console games have cut screens, fancy frills, and deeper content, 2 very different markets.

QbAnYtO

Can't say I agree. I think you are speaking out of anger. I played great and deep serious games with cutscenes on iOS. I saw your game and it looks very childish and you should fix your screenshot and update your graphics. No offense.

peachpellen

QbAnYtO - how many "deep serious" apps have you PERSONALLY published? Or for that matter, how many apps, total, have you published that you feel comfortable in critiquing others work?

I'm not saying that you can't have an opinion, but I'd suggest thinking twice about how you world things. I understand that this could be a language barrier (I imagine English isn't your first language?) but it does come across as being rude.

The reality is that it is better to have more good, short-to-medium length apps up than a huge "deep and serious" app for most developers. If a large app gets popular then AWESOME. Great. Lots of money to be had. But for every app that does get picked up there are hundreds that do not.

The benefit of having multiple smaller apps is to keep your stream of income diverse. If you rely on one app and it drops in earnings, you're f'ked. If you have many small apps making a few bucks each day then you have options.

Also, a huge app takes 3 months plus to make - a small app can be done in one week.

I don't believe anyone here is speaking out of anger; I don't know Snow well enough to comment on him personally, but I can tell you that Butterbean is a voice of experience, as are many others here.

Anyway - maybe you have several apps up and have some idea what you are talking about, but if not, then really your opinion isn't one based on experience, knowledge and time spent observing an ever evolving market and thus, I'm sorry to say, does not hold any real weight.

/endrant

xarmian

Snow said:
After having played games on the iPhone and iPod - I've come to realize that it really isn't a gaming platform. You can play games on it, but it will never compare to playing games on a PC or console. It might be best not too put a lot of time into a project as most customers are looking for a 2 minute time waster while waiting at the bus stop and stuff like that. Not to say, make some low quality crap game or anything, but if you want to make games, don't pour your heart and soul into an iPhone app as it can easily disappear in the bloated app market.

You've captured my exact theory on "breaking in" to game development on the iPhone. I've started developing several small time-waster games, one to five minutes of game play at a time. The challenge is not making the game end too quickly (if it lasts only 10 seconds then users will play it a few times and remove it) but not go on too long that someone needs to be concentrated and sure they'll be uninterrupted to play. A game with frequent saving points should work well also, since it becomes multiple games that all combine to an eventual goal. Something like Angry Birds works well because you could play it for a minute, or for an hour, and feel satisfied both ways.

But a game with multiple levels takes time to develop, and the last thing a new developer needs to do is spend 3 months on an app that simply doesn't get recognition. So I've stuck to the time waster philosophy for now, and if I can build a decent base then I'll venture into some more time consuming areas.

RocketBrain

ouch, a lot of good information on presentation (sorry its my second app release). I've been flying by the seat of my pants...but childish? that was a bit harsh.

honestly yes, the game should probably have been released as a free game with appvertising...but i didnt have the pro version and i'm saving for the legacy stuff.

simo103

Hi RabidWeasel ... not sure QbAnYtO was posting to you as it seems the response was related to butterbeans point on cutscenes etc. Regardless don't let any one particular post get to you personally as it is hard to determine much from someone's typed words.

I think the take away from this is that your game may be very good but the icon and images in iTunes appear to be part of (and maybe the main) reason your app has low downloads ... not Apple's itunes lists. Luckily those can be fixed.

Additionally I have taken some of the points made here to re-evaluate the games I am working on so there is valuable things to be learned from your efforts.

andrewm2211

yeah it's hard to hear sometimes, I work in a commercial art industry were a lot is subjective. And sometimes it's hard to tell when you're stuff is good or not, what I do just for good measure is I stop, stop thinking about deadlines, and stop thinking about pressure and say to myself.
'just find one more thing you can do to make it better'

Even if I think it's looking good already, if I sit back for a minute maybe there's one more thing I can do to really take it over the top.

FranzKeller

"killing" might be too harsh a word, considering the app store seems to be the best way to sell indie games in years.

things will always get slowly more corporate, and good places to be get filled and overpopulated...

best to enjoy the situation as is NOW! there will never be any LESS competitive apps out there than at this moment ;-)

QbAnYtO

Wow. Lol. I forgot I posted on this thread.