Android: Google Play Store: What kind of feedback, if any, are you receiving?

Hi this is Ray of Trys10Studios. I have been developing for awhile now (roughly 2 years steady, 5 years overall) I have made a few games and decided to get into mobile development. I have a project I am currently working on (a Star Fox clone) and am curious if launching to the Google play store has yielded any real feedback for other Unity devs overall. Btw it will be Free to Play.

I know marketing is important. I just wonder has anyone seen any real feedback from just posting it "dry" with little to no marketing. I don't expect it to blow up. I am considering game testers if necessary for a small fee. I desperately need constructive criticism. Thanks.

 

You mean from reviews on Google Play? It's not exactly "feedback".

 

Honestly any criticism is helpful to me. Still begs the question, have you had any response on Google Play?

Feedback such as star ratings may not be insightful but it is still technically feedback. Most reviewers like to be heard and post comments especially if they DON'T like something

 

I'm not sure if the reviews section is the best place to get usable feedback.

I mean you might get some, but a lot of the reviews are like

"best game ever" 5/5
"Great game but it doesn't have feature X, will change rating after it is added" 1/5
"Developers should be ashamed and die" 1/5

And also, I'm not sure if actually launching your game on a platform is good for getting feedback. Needing feedback means your game is not finished, right? And if it's not finished, what is it doing released on some platform?

 

Well most artists never really feel anything is finished. Though I agree you should not publish something that has not been tested. I am trying to find the end user feedback after testing. If I have to pay for testers so be it.

I guess Im suggesting that players like early access. Have you seen a similar trait in Android games? Like posting an Alpha or beta version. Or are you suggesting you only release once and never update? I planned on updating via player feedback.

 

How do you as a developer receive useful feedback after launch?

 

It's kinda hard, actually. One's favourite feature/aspect, is another's most hated one, so often the feedback is conflicting and not very useful and it usually comes back to what you want to do.

There are exceptions. Sometimes all the feedback you get (from users e-mailing/store reviews/actual reviews from websites) have points that are common. Those are things that you should potentially look into.

 

Fair enough. I'm still new at marketing games and i appreciate the responses. I am always learning

 

The term/technique for early access on mobile is called soft launch. Google that and you'll come up with a ton of strategies for testing and gaining user feedback in smaller regions.
Also check alpha/beta testing on this site. Full disclosure I have never used that site.
https://forum.unity.com/threads/alpha-beta-testing.481436/

 

most of review for me are like people complaining that the game run slow on their 15 years old devices, or that they cant connect to server without internet. i had only 2 or 3 constructive reviews. then i used a mailchimp hook when player create an account to collect my players emails. over time im asking question about the updates/game. got much more feedback this way, lot of people answered me but the email need to look very indie, not like sent by a bot.

 

Interesting. Is this for a online multiplayer game? Is that how they are 'creating' an account?

 

its a solo game, they create a "profile" and there is a toggle [x] send me occasional feedback and beta test invitation !
so far only 28% of player untick it

 

That's interesting, kind of combining affiliate marketing strategies with games. I'm very familiar with online marketing for affiliate marketing and overall product marketing. Wasn't sure about how to approach games as it's not a "perishable purchase" (like food) or "instant gratification buy" (like a t-shirt). I like that idea.​

 

i decided to give it a try after reading this: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/Chr...You_Need_to_Build_An_Email_List_This_Year.php

so far its very effective to me, i don't need server, just use different free service.
when i release a new game i can instantly notify most of previous user that played my previous games