Application and Profitability

One of the most commonly touted examples of app success stories is that of the Angry Birds franchise. The game first appeared on the market near the end of 2009 and in the last few years, its developer Rovio has released multiple manifestations to excited fans. The latest version, Angry Birds Space, was downloaded a whopping 10 million times in just three days. The franchise aims to continue their successful run with the much anticipated Bad Piggies. This newest manifestation of the game promises to tell the pigs side of the story.

You can create a profitable app

Everyone from kids learning Scratch to seasoned game developers has one end goal — to create an app that turns a profit. Many experts are able to boil down the profitable process to three easy steps:

1. Know your market
2. Develop a killer kink-free user interface
3. Market the heck out of your app

These three steps are not as straightforward and easy to follow as they seem. It can be impossible for many developers to fine tune these steps and create a profitable app.

The market: Specific solutions to real problems

The most successful apps provide value for their users. In some cases, this value is found in something simple like how Streamzoo helps its users to share photos with their friends. In other cases, the value is less obvious and the app may simply offer much-needed entertainment to its users. When creating an app, developers should think carefully about what their target audience needs or wants and they should strive to fill that gap. Developers cannot control all aspects of their game’s development and release, but they can control the most crucial aspects. They can control the quality of their game, how they pitch it and how visible it is to the public upon its release.

A killer interface: Getting by with a little help from my friends

According to independent developer Andy Moore, most gamers make $1,000 or less on their first game. In fact, many gamers make absolutely nothing on their first attempts. Luckily, an entire industry has grown up around the need to guide developers toward the success they deserve, including game design courses, game development seminars and multiple websites that promise to help burgeoning game creators. There are even networks like DevNet that offer their users all of the tools they need to succeed from software to hardware to global marketing connections. Eager developers should remember to use as many of these resources as possible.

Marketing on the road to success

When independent game studio Vlambeer created Radical Fishing, for example, they made exactly $10,001 on an entertaining app that took them only a few weeks from inception to release. However, the road to success is not always easy. When the notorious Pusenjak brothers released Doodle Jump, they expected it to sell as well as many of their other apps had sold. They had developed a killer game and knew it. The brothers were stunned when Doodle Jump sold a mortifying 21 copies on its first day on the market. Rather than give up, the brothers focused on the third and arguably the most critical step of creating a profitable app: marketing.

Using a wide range of social media, giveaways and companion releases, game developers can court success and see their efforts pay off. Doodle Jump, at the height of its success, was selling more than 25,000 copies each day. Given Rovio’s success with the Angry Birds franchise, Bad Piggies will ideally be another solid link in the chain.


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