Indie Ranting

Greetings all, I am going to make an active effort to keep this blog up to date. I am going to include download updates of the game on Google Play, reviews and feedback, and progress on the iOS release and new things coming for the Android version:

Install update on Burgal's Bounty:
Total Installs as of 6/24: 663
Total Current Installs as of 6/24: 254
Daily Active Users ~ 20 to 30
Total Production Revenue to Date since June 5th (Ads only): $5.59

Plans for new features and enhancements for iOS release and Android version:
1. Better tutorials and reorganizing of level
- This is to help new users stay engaged
2. Social Media - You will be able to share your scores on Facebook and Twitter!
3. Certain UX changes to improve the experience for the Android and iOS versions.

Progress on iOS version (It has been a little slow):
1. All code that related to updating game save data has been ported from Java successfully.
2. Screen will scale to appropriate resolution and you can interact with the UI components on the title screen so far.
3. All Android Assets have been imported and set up to be used in Unity (XML, pngs, etc).

Other random stuff:
I attended an event put on by Playcrafting about User Acquisition. Unfortunately it did not help a lot with advice for indie developers without a UA budget. The best advice we received was to organically get downloads without a budget. So far, Phat Games has spent approximately $600 on UA which is peanuts compared to industry studios. Advertising with the game trailer on Chartboost has provided us with about 400 downloads, but low retention. Organic is slowest, but has the highest retention. Paid UA has very low retention rates. After about a month, 70% of your users have uninstalled your app if your app is freemium. It sounds daunting, but it is what it is. Ultimately, as an Indie developer if you want to make it, you simply need to keep trying to find dynamics that work, and keep plugging away. It is exceedingly difficult, but also very rewarding. The indie game community is also getting very large. There is a lot of saturation in the market space, but there is there is huge projected growth in the mobile space and game space overall. Quality of the game is important. If you do not have a good game in the app store, then making it at all is pretty much impossible. Wish Phat Games luck as we keep plugging away!

Blair