Power of Logic Post Mortem
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Post Mortem of first Flow Studio title for iOS covering first three months after the game launch. Lot of facts&figures shared plus some great recommendations for other developers.
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Power of Logic Post Mortem
- 1. POST MORTEM 16/7/2012
- 2. “We didn’t know anything about game development and technology. Anything at all!” Flow Studio was founded by two enthusiasts, Richard Horin and Petr Fodor, who shifted their “flow” with zest from the communication business to the world of mobile games development in January 2011, being attracted by its real creativity and fun. Their first game, Power of Logic, is a remake of classic mastermind. It was launched for iPhone and iPad on 22nd November 2011 after 5 months of night and weekend shifts with hired graphic designer and programmer. The game got very positive feedback from reviewers and players with 4.5 stars out of 5 in the App Store. Logic was also awarded the FWA. This is the story covering the experience we’ve gained. www.poweroflogic.net • www.flowstudiogames.com • blog.flowstudiogames.com• www.twitter.com/Flow_Studio • www.facebook.com/FlowStudioGames
- 3. The game
- 4. The game - released November 22, 2011 - iOS games / board & puzzle & - respawn of Mastermind - iPhone paid, iPhone lite, iPad paid $0.99 $1.99
- 5. Key Facts & Figures 530 000 downloads 521 000 free 66% iPhone, 34% iPad 2 free promotions ...and a lot of interesting lessons from the first months after the launch.
- 6. November ’11 • 19. - 23.11. Press Release sent to 360 contacts from 9 countries using our own media lists (US, UK, GE, FR, CHN, PL, HU, RU, CR) • 21.11. Press Release distribution by prMac Extended service, 674 media agencies, prScore 97.8., no real reviews coming from prMac • 22.11. iPhone version official launch date, paid review published at HotMacApps • 23. - 24.11. Direct mail package with old board game “Logik” distributed by “snail mail” to 11 journalists in Germany and Poland, only 2 feedbacks. • 27.11. paid video review published at CrazyMikesApps (251 views) • 28.11. iPad version launch date after major bug fix we discovered after Apple approval • 29.11. review at MójMac.pl (2 units sold in Poland) and paid video review at DailyAppShow (311 views, 50 units sold) • Overall publicity output: 3 paid reviews, 2 regular reviews, many aggregations of video reviews and press release => good for PageRank, useless for sales Overall feedback: game looks very nice, but it's too difficult and only for hardcore puzzle games lovers. Launch 2011 November December January
- 7. December ’11 • 1.12. Infinity Blade 2 launched in the App Store (everybody is thrilled) • 1.12. review and promocode giveaway at AppAdvice (73 comments/requests for promocodes below the review), sales went up to $400 that day! • 2.12. promo codes offered to 180 game sites, 15 wrote back • 3.12. guerilla stickers in Prague metro, 500 stickers, (no sales effect) • 4.12. Logic appeared on design portal iOSpirations (minor sales effect) • 5.12. presentation at AppParade contest in Prague, 29 views of recorded presentation on Youtube (no sales effect) • 8.12. Giga.de published article about logic games and mentioned PoL (1 unit sold), video review at iPhoneiPadReviews (250 views +111 giveaway episode views, minor sale effect) • 12.12. presentation at IndieGames in Prague (no sales effect, presentation downloaded 24 times) • 14.12. iPad version on $1 sale (no sales effect) • 22.12. successful partnership deal with T-Mobile Czech Republic sponsoring Logic for one month on the local market. • Don’t expect any sales from reviews unless you are at TouchArcade or AppAdvice. Always have plan B :) Launch 2011 November December January
- 8. January ’12 • 11.1. reminder to 17 Czech journalists, 1 review published (10 units sold) • 14.1. review at AppZone.cz (7 units sold) • 18.1. email to 20 board games clubs, 2 feedbacks and reviews • 19.1. Logic appeared at Design Hack (5 units sold), review at Doupe.cz (50 units sold) • 31.1. Power of Logic T-Mobile rebranded and ready for sale exclusively on the Czech market • Don’t waste your energy at promoting on your local market, only US/UK/Germany and China matters. • Working with communities can bring some results but you need big one. Not just couple of old chaps playing weird board games. Launch 2011 November December January 2012
- 9. Activities Resume • Friends spamming bring no results. • Relationship with key journalists is essential for getting reviews. • prMac is good for link building but not worth paying for Expedited service. • Paid reviews are good only for mentioning in App Store description. • Classic stickers promoting game “offline” are a waste of money. • Direct mail is reasonable only for major international game servers and only with cheap execution/postage expenses. • Trailer has to show main gameplay and needs to be short. • Lowering the price doesn't bring any attention, the game must be free to be noticed by bots and “Free Apps Sites”. • Making the game free isn’t enough until you haven’t some partner who helps to communicate your sale. • Translation of App name and app description can help your sales.
- 10. Game Analytics 3 min. average session time, only 1/4 players use the game after 2 weeks. Only 2% of users have both iPhone and iPad version. 4 min. 10 sec. average session time, only 1/5 of players use the game after 2 weeks. Most users HD between 35-54 years, 63% male. 2 min. 54 sec. average session time, 44% of all downloads in the first week after the launch. Only 7% conversion to iPhone Full and 1.47% to iPad. Major user group below 24 years, 68% male.
- 11. Analytics Resume • Main game markets are US, UK and Germany. China is growing fast. • iPad is used for longer play time. • Very fast decline of user interest after few days. • Upsell from lite to full is even smaller then expected. • Lite version is downloaded by youngsters without income. Nothing went wrong when we removed lite from store. • Lot of people tried the game only once (probably bigger expectations and not long lasting fun afterwards).
- 12. • 5,467 requests, 99.95% fill rate, eCPM $0.68 (effective cost per thousand impressions), total revenue $2.76 • We will buy some ice cream for those earnings :) AdMob Resume • Although easy to implement, we didn't even earn money for programmers' salary. Advertising is not a good revenue stream in games that have short sessions and short periods of interest time (2-3 weeks) in general. • Ads weren’t enough disturbing (yes, that was the main reason for implementation :) to upgrade to full version.
- 13. • Chartboost is an advertising platform for free mobile games. • We have offered advertising space in PoL to other developers after AppTurbo promotion from 11/7/2012. • In average 14 000 impressions daily, 2200 clicks, CTR 15% installs 3%, daily revenue around $50 Chartboost Resume • Very easy to implement, possible own free cross-promotions. • High CTR and good installs rate because of one big interstitial advertising format. • Solid revenue stream if you offer it to other developers. Perfect for free games with big user base or for paid games after free promotions.
- 14. Free promotions • February 27 - 28: 48 hours promotion “Eli Hodapp’s birthday”. Eli is TouchArcade Editor-in-Chief who posted an article and tweeted about games free for his birthday. 205 000 downloads, 130 000 iPhone, 75 000 iPad, Earnings in the following week $880. • June 30 - July 1: 48 hours promotion with AppTurbo, French start-up running iPhone apps AppDelGiorno, AppDesTages and AppDelDia with 1mio users. Strong in Italy, Germany, Spain and Mexico. 316 000 downloads, 263 000 iPhone, 53 000 iPad. Earnings in the following week: $670 Free promotions Resume • Always have a good partner who kicks your app downloads. • Earnings after successful promotions are still rather small. • Free promotions are great for building your user base and monetizing it after the launch of your next title.
- 15. OUTPUTS & INSIGHTS • Every game needs one absolutely amazing aspect (gameplay idea, design, touch interface, music, narration…) otherwise it will be perceived as thousands of others. • Developers must invest time and money to better understand journalists business and build relations with them. • You have to build your own community of fans, which will take months and maybe years, but it is extremely important to get some exposure from the day 1 of the launch. • Developers should focus to add viral elements into their games. Their customers need to be motivated to spread the word. They are the key for successful “campaign”. • Try to find different ways to monetize your app. • You can't find success on App Store after publishing your first game, it will take many more to get the "overnight success". Persist!
- 16. Do you agree? Do you have different Opened to share experience? your toughs? Do you have something to add? Do you want to ask? Willing to discuss? Are you eager to find out more? Write us! weare@flowstudiogames.com • www.twitter.com/Flow_Studio • www.facebook.com/FlowStudioGames