Sharing Statistics and insights (Late 2015)

BigDave

So here for those who are interested in revenue and download statistics.

Its kind of weird even tough there are more boot ups and new installs than the early year the revenue remains roughly the same.
I did change to video interstitials which got me to my new high of $250 in one day and didn't seem to effect the amount of boot ups my games get. So my assumptions is that the eCPM is mostly lower right now as it might have been increased due the ongoing success of crossy roads and the related/shared keyword pewdiepug in the early 2015. It was moving from $5 to $50 Dollaras back than and right now remains around $4 to $15.

But here all the Details and Graphs. Hope it give you some insights
https://gamemanifest.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/chartboost-statistics-2015-david-zobrist-indie-mobile-game-developer/

mhedges

Thanks much! I wanted to see some data from others, namely the veteran users.

GameAlchemist

Nice to see you earned $250 one day.

BigDave

@GameAlchemist chartboost only too ;P
There where another 30$ from in-apps and 30$ from banners
so around $310-320 was the top day so far.

But remember the first 6 months and first 4 games I earned around $0.02 a day.
Also I had 40 Apps on all platforms I killed 30 of them 3-4 months ago.
So the portfolio only owns winners hard cut but worth it showing the traffic now flowing towards the apps which monetized better and have better retention.

GameAlchemist

Nice! I guess I'll have to give orcs a try then since I guess it generated the most revenue... Btw have you made all your games with GameSalad?

DigiChain

Good stuff BigDave.
Out of curiosity - was your big earning day the 18th August?
I'm using Chartboost too, and on that particular day I brought in over $300 which was quite unexpected!

BigDave

@DigiChain nice! Yes exactly! Maybe some nice eCPM wave or fresh new interesting ads.
@GameAlchemist yes all made with game salad

RabidParrot

@BigDave said:
So here for those who are interested in revenue and download statistics.
...

Thanks @BigDave

I'm always happy to see how well others are doing. Keep up the good work!

Braydon_SFX

Thanks for sharing! You're an inspiration; to me especially!

jamie_c

Nice work Dave, looks like a pretty steady flow of income.

BigDave

@RabidParrot thanks
@Braydon_SFX thats actually inspiring to read too, so thank you

I like to see all the games I did as a base for even better games in future and I am very blessed that it worked out since I did a total break for 2 months just meditating,sport,good food and catching the last sunshine of the year.

Reloading the energy to go on totally new projects hopefully again connecting to a larger audience. For that keep your Eyes open for something that could resonate with a large amount of the population without washing out into general/nothingness.
You tubers are obviously still a big market to target since they also persist compared to temporary trends Movies,News, Sport events, or even sessions of the year (halloween..).

Maybe there is still a chance to become the classic games to each session of the year.
Difficult. What are your plans?

RabidParrot

@BigDave How did you determine which of your apps you were going to retire? If you don't mind me asking.

BigDave

@RabidParrot
Traffic and Revenue received so what feet me most remained what not had to go.
Since less apps also enable higher focus.

Actually one of my weakest apps right now is Three Points featured by Apple back then.
But monetization wise not strong at all. It still has some 15-20'000 active installs.
Chartboost never worked with it for some mysterious reason same for the game Human Harvest. I just today came up with the idea of creating a custom ad to re-direct users to Orcs so they still have purpose for the overall growth of my Business.

RabidParrot

@BigDave said:
RabidParrot
Traffic and Revenue received so what feet me most remained what not had to go.
Since less apps also enable higher focus.

Actually one of my weakest apps right now is Three Points featured by Apple back then.
But monetization wise not strong at all. It still has some 15-20'000 active installs.
Chartboost never worked with it for some mysterious reason same for the game Human Harvest. I just today came up with the idea of creating a custom ad to re-direct users to Orcs so they still have purpose for the overall growth of my Business.

Thank you!

SLOCM3Z

wow. Nice work!

robertkdale

Thanks for sharing buddy! I wish you continued success!

jorkos

@BigDave thanks for sharing. Can I ask what you use for your analytics dashboard? That looks very clean. Keep up the great work!!

BigDave

@jorkos thats the statistics delivered by chartboost directly

AngryBoi

BigDave living the life

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Looks like you are building a solid brand there Dave! @RP and I are using the strategy of building games we feel are timeless. Our game puck it which is about two years old still does solid downloads each quarter. We have three other games nearly ready to add to our collection. Each is different and unique in their own way but the game/concept isn't trendy but we feel are solid and timeless. Some games have a shelf life. We always ask ourselves, would this game still be relevant if we released it two years from now? Your game three points to me is timeless.

BigDave

@Lost_Oasis_Games yes thanks very inisght full.
looking how it will stand on the long run makes a lot of sense but isn't the first way to look at it when you start out. But learned the hard way. Its essential to be happy with what you represent. Thats why I also keep updating right now instead adding more games. I really have to get enough reason/passion together before creating a new product. Else I rather add more Quests to Brofist Legend or Orcs.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

@BigDave said:
Lost_Oasis_Games yes thanks very inisght full.
looking how it will stand on the long run makes a lot of sense but isn't the first way to look at it when you start out. But learned the hard way. Its essential to be happy with what you represent. Thats why I also keep updating right now instead adding more games. I really have to get enough reason/passion together before creating a new product. Else I rather add more Quests to Brofist Legend or Orcs.

Yeah Dane and I work off the Disney,Pixar creative process/philosophy. There are some great lectures out there from John Lassiter (Pixar creative head) and Ed Catmull (Pixar tech head). I've read every Walt Disney biography and studied his creative approach. Disney has more creative success than anyone and in a multitude of venues and genres. This is where the base of our business model comes from. John Lassiter also follows the Disney Model which he credits for his success as he studied at cal arts the school founded by Walt.

Walt truly believed in quality over quantity.

Moik

@Lost_Oasis_Games Links pls?

BigDave

@Moik to the disney / pixar docu right?
Also interested.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Ed Catmull

John Lasseter

Pixar

Pixar Book: The Pixar Touch by: David A Price

Walt Disney

if you have onDemand look under PBS and find the American Experience documentary on Walt. I highly recommend it for a complete look at the man.

Books on walt.

Walt Disney: by Bob Thomas

Walt Disney: Triumph of the American Imagination by Neil Gabler

Walt Disney's Way: A book Published by New World City

There are tons more here is a short list. I own all those books.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

I should also add. A base understanding of the cinematic and television process as it exists helps. Dane and I are both from those backgrounds before Game Making. We apply those techniques to our game making. Including thee three act structure concept. You might ask. "What do film and games have in common?" The are bold supposed to entertain people. Same goal just different mediums. Some elements are perfectly suited. For Example, Sound. Sound is the most overlooked element in game design. yet is critical in communicating emotion,feel and setting the mood. I poured over the sound experience in our Game puck it to try to make the player feel they were in a live arena. I can't tell you how many messages we got on the sound in that game. It's what stuck out to people. Just watch Iron Man with the sound off and tell me the movie has the same enegry and impact?

BigDave

watching all of it now

very insightful thanks dude

BigDave

Greatest motivators for me

+Disney + Pixar / now and than = Emotional Experiences
+Apple / Steve Jobs times = Quality centred focus and passion
+Blizzard / now and than = Exciting Gameplay based on simplicity connected to great depth

dgackey

This is really great stuff, Dave. Thanks for having the courage to share this with everyone, good, bad and ugly.

Merkin

@BigDave I'm a little late to this thread, but interested if you switched completely to video interstitials? And do you limit how often they are shown?
I'm just worried about annoying people, set my interstitials to 1 every minute and max 2 videos per hour. Interested in your insight.
Cheers!

BigDave

@Merkin you can't control your interstitials apart of your popups
Videos have the highest priority but I also have regular pop ups with lower priority set in case there is no video to be shown. And I show the first interstitial after 2.5 minutes
and then after 1.5 minutes but they are triggered through upgrading/buying something within the game as I don't have to much screen transitions.

I definitely annoy them with the videos - But thats what the in-app is for. If they like/love the game and are annoyed - buy.