2. Survive in iPhone App Store --A Chinese Indie Story Wesley Bao Coconut Island Studio

3.  Independent game studio  Founded 18 months ago  Gamer & dreamer Background

5. Facts  Shipped on: 2009-7-13  Total downloads: 7 million  Peak downloads: 290,000/day  Ranked No.1 on top overall free apps

7. Facts  Ranked top 10 in US, UK and DE  Paid version  Ranked No.1 in UK, DE, HK  Free version

8. Agenda DevelopmentMarketing The hit formula

9. Development  Innovation

10. SShipped on: 2009-12-05 FFeatured on “Hot New Games” TTotal revenue: $3,000 Band Band Jump

11. Copy Doesn’t Work  Shipped on: 2009-12-05  Featured on “Hot New Games”  Total revenue: $3,000

12. Copy doesn’t work  Simply copied Doodle Jump  App Store is full of ideas  Clones have no future  Fabulous artwork won’t save you

13. Innovation To The Rescue

14.  On App Store “Featured”  Original gameplay  Unique art style  Top 10 on U.S. chart  In less than 48 hrs Innovation To The Rescue

15. The Importance of Innovation  Apple wants innovation  Users want innovation

16. Development  Innovation  Polishing

17. Polishing  Demo version  Programmer arts

18. Polishing  First version, metal style

19. Polishing  First version, metal style  Disposed completely

20. Polishing  Preview version for press

21. Polishing  Preview version for press  Retro style  18 levels

22. Polishing  1.0 Release  30 Levels

23. Result  Sales - 3 days after release

24. Inflection Point  Sales - 14 days after release  The reason

25. Development  Innovation  Polishing  Feedback-driven development

26. Voices From Customers  Average rating = 2.5  Take care of 1 star rating  Steep learning curve “I was enjoying this app for about 6 minutes, then it jumped to a ridiculous hard level...”

27. Feedback-driven development  Update  Casual mode -- for light users  Reverse mode -- for hardcores  Levels ×3

28. Result  Average rating from 2.5 to 4

29. Development  Innovation  Polishing  Feedback-driven development

30. Marketing  Free version

31. BeforeAfter Free Version  Promotion for paid version

32. Free Version  Promotion for paid version  Incoming from ads  Stable revenue

33. Free Version  Promotion for paid version  Incoming from ads  Large amount of users

34. Large Amount Of Users  User is the most important resource in the market Bulletin way too long Title needs refactoring

35. Marketing  Free version  Ad Campaign

36. Ad Campaign  Invest mobile ad  Ad for free version  Burst campaign

37. Burst Campaign  Buying clicks or downloads  In a large amount  In a short period

38. Burst Campaign  Target  No.1 top overall free app  Boost paid version to top 10  Ad source  House ads  House ads exchange  Purchase

39. Campaign for FB  4 days  180k clicks

40. Result  Ranked No.1 in UK, DE, HK  Free version  Ranked top 10 in UK, DE,HK  Paid version

41. Marketing  Free version  Ad campaign  User community

42. User Community  Social methods  Facebook  Twitter  Youtube  Email  Export from game

43. User community  Closer to users  Community events  Accumulate users for new games

44. Development Marketing  Innovation  PolishingFeedback-driven  Free version  Ad campaignUser community Summary

45. = × The hit formula (Innovation × Polishing - Average) Marketing Sales Production ||

46. Takeaway  Tips for Chinese developers  Embrace western culture  Long term strategy

47. Thank You  wesley.bao@CoconutIslandStudio.com wesley.bao@CoconutIslandStudio.com  twitter.com/Coconut_Island twitter.com/Coconut_Island