A year on and my experiences

So, here in the UK the financial year has ended and that marks a year that I've had a game out on the App store Google Play.

Both formats have totalled 25,515 copies sold. iOS 16,677 vs 8,838 on Google Play.

Now these figures may not be a lot compared to the sales figures of other games but for my first game made in a month by just myself, I'm very happy with the sales.

Development has been pretty smooth for both platforms, however I do have a couple of things that I have noted.

• Even though it was released a month after the Android version, the iOS version sold more copies.
• If you released an update and screw it up (i forgot to enable an on screen joystick!) then Apple has a fast track route you can use to submit an emergency update.
• Lots of pirated copies of the Android version came out within a month of release. I've not found an iOS pirated copy yet.
• I get emails from Android owners having various issues ranging from the app not installing properly to the controls not working.
• When I released the iOS version, my company game got picked up on websites like Gamespot, they must use the App Store for their data gathering.

Well that's what I've learned so far, hopefully it might be of use to other devs who've not yet released a game.

One thing I am trying to decide is if the Android version is worth the hassle. Apparently my game has sold well by Android standards so I'm not sure the piracy and many issues would be worth it for a future game. One thing I did do though as a result of these sales is switch from developing Android first on Windows to developing iOS first on a Mac. I think developing for the better platform first makes sound business sense and if an Android version of the game was to be released it should be a few months after the iOS version to give it maximum exposure.

 

Congrats! That's not too shabby.

Do you have Google Play link, Appstore link?

 

Yeah, I'd be absolutely stoked with those figures for a game made in a month. Congrats!

If I may ask, what did you do to get those sales figures? Did you do any marketing or advertising, or was that from just putting your game out there and seeing what happened?

 

Thanks.

I don't really like to post links to my apps cause I know other developers can be over critical. lol

Here you go:

App Store

Google Play

 

I think, in all honesty I filled a gap in the market. My app isn't a game exactly, it's a flight sim for a quadcopter I developed it because I bought a real quadcopter crashed it, looked for a simulator there wasn't one. I'd dabbled with Unity a few times in the past but couldn't figure it out. Then Unity had that free iOS and Android licences offer on, I got those and just kept at it until it worked.

 

I'd give a crap what other developers say. What matters is what your buyers say.
And your app gets really good ratings on both stores. Plus such decent sales. Be proud of that

 

Thanks, I am very proud of it.

 

Cool to see your success, thanks for the inspiration.

 

25k * $2 (and continuing) is nothing to sneeze at for a month's work. Some people don't make that in a year as a developer.

Congratulations!

 

Thank you for sharing your experience.

How did you advertise your game ?

 

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks, I never advertised it other than post about it on a quadcopter forum upload a video to Youtube.

 

Hell, I don't make that a year doing anything.... I really need a new job

Anyway, congrats on the game!!

 

Game looks good! Congrats on your sales. And thanks for sharing the number.
But I got a question - how did you get away with using Parrot's AR.Drone trademark in your game? I thought this is potential trademark infringement especially considering Parrot also has their own app in the App Store. I just think this is a potential liability and you need to be careful with this.

 

Thanks. Parrot allows the use of their trademarks etc in development for software to be used with the AR.Drone. They offer an SDK for developers wishing to program apps to control it. They actually like the app and featured it in a facebook post.

 

wow thats really cool
I bow to your nichefinding abilities ! I'm always amazed by success stories like that.
I always thought that chemical derby game in your signature was your first game on the store since you mentioned it quite often.
Great job on that app and congratulations on havng found that totally positive experience

 

really interesting info derkoi, congrats so far pretty dam insperational stuff

 

That's probably a significant success factor right there. Combined with the app looking like what I'd expect from a simulator and filling a gap it seems like you've hit on a winner - the app has value to users, you found a way to make the right people aware of it so they can buy it, and you picked a niche that has little if any competition.

To be honest, nailing those three things as well as you did is probably far more important than anything people might be able to nitpick with the quality of your app (which must be pretty reasonable anyway).

 

Great wirk, derkoi. I like seeing great things like this. That's great work for the first month, BTW.

 

Good job mate. Well done!

 

Thanks guys. Hope it inspires some of you who may need it, I know it's pretty tough to keep motivated sometimes.

 

Congratulations and thanks for sharing, really well done!

 

You've done well in your first year!

There's one question I need to ask though: What about the other eleven months?

 

Thanks yeah, a good question.

I've made a few other games, mainly for learning purposes like this.

I am at the moment working on a sequel to the Drone sim and several other projects. I find that working on one game for too long stunts my creativity, so I like to swap and change every now and then.

 

Thanks for the transparency and sales figures, this is what the indie community is all about. I think many here will including myself get inspiration from stories of perseverance and success like this!

 

You have just raised my motivation bar to a height triple than before! Thats a gorgeous amount!!