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Explore the journey of a mobile gaming company in the app store over a year. Learn the successes, failures, and strategies employed by the team. Discover insights into revenue streams, distribution, user engagement, and future plans for growth. This case study provides valuable takeaways for developers, advertisers, and users in the dynamic mobile gaming industry.
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(Almost) A Year in the App Store: A 20 minute Case Study Julian Farrior, CEO / Founder
Snapshot: • Casual games for a new breed of mobile gamers • Founded 04/01/09 • Products have been live for 9.5 months • 21,000,000+ installs to date • 4 products peaked in the top 5 overall • 1 product never touched the top 100 • $2,300,000 in net revenue • $1,300,000 app store sales (net) • $1,000,000 mobile ad sales (net) • Raised $145,000 in initial startup capital • 7 full time employees (+8 contractors) • Boulder, CO based
Ragdoll Blaster Paper Toss Harbor Havoc 3D Strike Knight Physics-Ball #3 Paid #1 Free #26 Strategy ? Free ? Free RDB Lite PT: World Tour Dr. Shocker NinJump HH3D Lite ? Free #3 Free #4 Paid #41 Strategy ? Free Dynamite Surfing Cat & Mouse Ragdoll Blaster 2 PT: Ad Free Harbor Havoc 3D #12 Simulation ? Free ? Free ? Paid ? Free Caverns RDB2 Lite PT: Time Traveler ? Free ? Paid ? Free
What we did right: • Assembled a talented (and experienced) team • Focused on distribution • Gave away something of value for free, leveraged heavily • Diversified revenue streams • App store sales (enormous downward pricing pressure) • Mobile advertising • In-app purchases • Kept production cycles short • Designed for the medium • Designed for the audience • Created economies • Met the press • Worked with Apple • Listened to users
RDB House Ads in “Paper Toss” RDB Lite Goes Live Ragdoll Blaster Daily Downloads: Catalysts RDB Lite House Ads in “Paper Toss” Featured by Apple in: “What’s Hot” Heavy house ad rotation in Jan. Price Dropped from $1.99 to $.99 Holiday Lift Featured by Apple in: “What We’re Playing”
What we did wrong: • Harbor Havoc 3D • Launched in an overly saturated market (line drawing games) • Flight Control and 15+ others • Pushed for press coverage too soon • App rejected by Apple - delayed launch, press efforts wasted • Development cycle ran upwards of 3 months • Did not beta test enough • Gameplay was not quite ready (FF button, saving game, etc.) • Botched lite version with wrong free level • Cannibalized sales • Overly reliant on potential PT lift • Designed to be a paid app not a free app • Would have been better as the latter • Have not yet diversified into in-app purchases • Need to scale quicker – window is small
What we want to do now: • Blow out distribution, 2010 focus • 5-10 free apps per quarter • Keep the pipe wide and impressions high • Expand mobile advertising capacity • Explore in-app purchases • Continue to build/expand franchises • Aggressively grow team/output • Scale revenue curve • Push free products to other platforms? • Build our own backend tools? • Explore turn based gaming • License content • Increase social elements in games • Continue to build a brand • Free with $.99 buyouts
Concerns: • Narrow window to truly scale distribution • Power of free is starting to catch on • Zynga / CrowdStar / Playfish / Playdom / DeNA will become serious about the iPhone • What does the Quattro acquisition by Apple mean for developers / advertisers / users? • Why hasn’t the blueprint for virtual goods yet exploded on mobile? • Time to move is now on turn based games • Waiting for Android (or any other comp. platform) to become meaningful • How do I best communicate directly with users? How important is this?
Final Thoughts (Predictions) • Brand will matter (more) • Distribution will matter (more) • Data will matter (more) • Mobile Advertising will change the game • 2010 will be exciting, fallout/rollup has begun • Non-gaming audience will continue to expand • Mitigating volatility in the business is crucial • Applying portfolio theory • Maintaining our footprint is critical • Have fun, it beats working for a living