[beril]

First of all I'm not really sure what the rules are about making thread about your own stuff. I apologize if this is deemed too much like self pimping, please just lock the thread in that case, but since there is very little info or data available about eShop sales I though people might be interested in a bit of sales comparison. I considered posting it on my badly neglected blog but GAF is really the place for sales discussions so I thought I might as well post it here directly.

It's been a month since the game released on the European eShop and just 2.5 weeks since the American release. The smartphone version launched in April last year, and the PC version in May, and the Mac version a few months later. Below is a graph of first 2 months for the relevant markets. Day 15 for the 3DS is when the American version launched. The massive increase for Android at day 45 is when the game got featured by Google and the other bump a week later is when the game went on sale for both Android and iOS.



Yesterday the 3DS sales passed the iOS LTD, though the Android version is still a long way off but as you can see the legs are still really good and there's a good chance it will catch it eventually. Below is a chart of the LTD for all markets.



Other markets

On PC it's available on Gamersgate and Desura and some other place not even worth mentioning. On both stores combined the sales are < 200 copies and I haven't even reached the $150 payment threshold on desura. The PC version was also part of the first Greenlight Bundle and that's the only actual money I've seeen from that version; the bundle sales are not included in the chart though. As for Steam Greenlight itself, it looks like a lost cause, and the whole process mostly made me rather bitter.

I've heard a lot of talk about Amazon Appstore supposedly overtaking Google Play and being more profitable for devs, but that really not my experience at all. Even without the massive sales peak on Google Play the Amazon sales would still be pitiful in comparison. My games didn't really sell anything at first; only after being in their Free App of the Day promotion did I start seeing some sales, but fell down to irrelevant levels quite fast. Still it's a bit of extra cash. There's also a bunch of other appstores for Android, I've tried a few but it's not really worth bothering with. I don't even remember which stores I've released it in anymore.

I did the mac version mostly beacuse it was needed for the Greenlight Bundle and then tried releasing it on the Mac Appstore as well. I didn't really have any expectations, but compared to the PC version it did considerably better. It got a few hundred sales a week for a while but then fell down to pretty much nothing after a while.

In-store promotions

A massive factor is how much visibility you get in the store, and you can't really compare the sales without going into the types of promotions I got from the platform holders. I owe about 85% of the Android sales to being featured by google, which is of course awesome but not something I can count on for every game so that has to be taken into account when evaluating the platform.

For Google PLAY, I got contacted after a few weeks about getting it featured. There were a few issues I had to fix first and (they also asked me to add the easy mode). After I had upladed the new version it got featured in the top spot in the games section for a week and then a slightly lower spot the second week. Sales went up some 10 000% and it sold about 75% of it's LTD during those two weeks (this also coincided with the Because We May-indie sale, so for the second week it was for half the price). This also pushed it up on the charts and sales were considerably higher than before for some time afterwards.

In iTunes it was added to the New & Noteworthy list after a few days, but not in a very good spot and not in every country. I believe it was there for two weeks, and after that the sales stared to decline.

On the Amazon appstore it was Free App of the Day (which I believe is one of their bigger promotions) once, it got over 100k download when it was free and it was only after that that it started selling at all but quickly fell down to just a handful sales a week.

On 3DS it did not get a spot on the eShop front page in either market. It did get a full description in the NOA press release though. In Europe it's been included in some of the lists on the front page since then (not sure about the US). Last week there was a "5 star software" category where Gunman clive was included (only in countries were it had a 5 star agerage rating), and this week it's in the Winter Highlights category.

Charts

In the eShop it's been in the top 20 in pretty much every european country since release. It's currently #7 in the UK and #2 in Sweden, not sure about the US but I heard it had a pretty good spot a few days ago.

On iOS it did crack the top 25 in a bunch of countries in some categories during the first few days, but in the all games list in the US it peaked at #160 and not even in the top 400 for all apps.

On Google Play it climbed the lists slowly until the massive spike in sales during the promotion, I think it was in the top 5 for Arcade/Action in most large markets. It's currently #41 in Sweden


Obviously iOS is a much larger market and it might not be possible to become an overnight millionaire on the eShop, but for a small game with no marketing and little prerelease hype it does feel like the eShop is a healthier market, and while it's recieved some promotion from Nintendo it doesn't seem to be as reliant on it. It could also be that the word of mouth is helping a bit more on the 3DS because of buttons etc, but overall the response for the smarthpone versions was also very positive. The total sales are still not massive and I'm hardly wealthy yet, but I've been well rewarded for the time put in and it's made a very healthy profit considering how little I've spent on it. There's still no telling where the 3DS sales will end up, and the other versions are still selling, though not at a very impressive pace.

Update
It's now passed the Android version as well. More info in post #301

[Cosmonaut X]

Well-deserved - it's a great little title with a lovely, unique look and it ported really well to the 3DS from what I can tell.

[Grakl]

Thanks for the analysis. It pretty much just shows that if an indie game gets exposure on any platform, then it will sell. Good to see you doing well! I need to get the game, myself. Not sure whether to get it on my 3DS or on my Nexus.

[liger05]

I didn't bother with the Android version but love it on my 3ds. props!!

[fluffydelusions]

I thought people on Android don't buy stuff though?

[Samurai_Heart]

=D Happy for you, I downloaded the game on EU eShop day one ^.^, really love how much the 3D adds to the game.

[cw_sasuke]

Awesome, every Gaffer should have the game installed on their 3DS. Every.

[Hot Coldman]

Haha, I literally just bought it, before seeing this thread. Good for them. :)

That £1.99 price point really stands out on the eShop.

[Oddduck]

Huge congrats on the great 3DS eShop sales! I bought the game and love it.

[brinstar]

I'm actually playing at the moment. It's really fun and I'm glad to see it's doing well

[SovanJedi]

This is interesting. Thanks for sharing! :) Nice to see a game developer not be cagey about game sales once in a while, while also helping lift the curtain on the illusion that iOS development is hugely profitable.

Probably what will happen is that the iOS/Android sales will continue to slow burn for a serious amount of time, possibly outliving the eShop version sales. Still though, it's all good stuff. Well done!

[MikeHaggar]

very cool! glad that you are having some success! it would be great to be able to see some actual numbers though being that i'm currently developing my own indie game and still deciding which platforms to focus on going forward :p

i plan on purchasing the 3ds build at some point soon. i'm just so busy making a game i hardly have time to play any right now :(

[hunnies28]

Dude. I was browsing the eshop yesterday. Not thinking about buying anything and saw this game. Saw the trailer and bought at that moment. So congratulations I guess.

[Samurai_Heart]

Haha, I literally just bought it, before seeing this thread. Good for them. :) That £1.99 price point really stands out on the eShop.

Lol you know you're posting on a thread made by the developer of the game? XD

[vareon]

Thanks for sharing, beril. Glad you found some success with Gunman Clive!

[Dascu]

I guess I'm one of the few who got it on PC, as part of the Greenlight bundle. I hope you manage to get it on Steam. Regardless, great work and good to hear you're getting recognition and sales on other platforms.

[DTKT]

I think that Gunman Clive perfectly illustrates how flawed the Greenlight process is. You have some games that will never be approved simply because they can't win a popularity contest. It not even representative of the game quality.

It's a mess.

[Sammy Samusu]

Apple doomed?

But yeah, 2D games usually sell the most on Nintendo platforms.

[fluffydelusions]

BTW OP, grats on the sales :)

[Chû Totoro]

I thought people on Android don't buy stuff though?

but GAF told me that third parties don't sell on 3DS... :(

I was about to post this.

Now it's the perfect time for : thisisneogafdude.gif :D

Edit : and OP, I'll look for your game on the eShop. Maybe +1 sale :p

[Snowden's Secret]

The game was solid until I unlocked the bonus mode after the credits, and then it was amazing.

[davonaytor]

What caused the spike in 3DS sales from day 14 onwards?

[Hot Coldman]

Lol you know you're posting on a thread made by the developer of the game? XD

Oh really? Good for you, then, Beril! :D

[Oddduck]

I think that Gunman Clive perfectly illustrates how flawed the Greenlight process is. You have some games that will never be approved simply because they can't win a popularity contest. It not even representative of the game quality. It's a mess.

Yeah, Greenlight is a mess.

Look at that Armillo game.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...s/?id=92958244

The developers of this game got approved as official Wii U developers. They had an easier time going through Nintendo than Steam Greenlight.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/201...he_wii_u_eshop

Same goes for Mutant Mudds.

[Sammy Samusu]

What caused the spike in 3DS sales from day 14 onwards?

Read the thread?

Day 15 for the 3DS is when the American version launched.

[Zeer0id]

Glad to see the eShop release paid off for you :)

It's honestly one of the best third party games on there

[StatsChu]

Awesome, I hope to see more games for the 3DS (and Vita too!)

[beril]

This is interesting. Thanks for sharing! :) Nice to see a game developer not be cagey about game sales once in a while, while also helping lift the curtain on the illusion that iOS development is hugely profitable. Probably what will happen is that the iOS/Android sales will continue to slow burn for a serious amount of time, possibly outliving the eShop version sales. Still though, it's all good stuff. Well done!

It's too early to tell, but I think there's a decent chance of it having better legs and stabilizing on a higher level on the 3DS, simply because of the much slower pace of new releases on the eShop. Unless we're talking really long term, but even then Nintendo usually has BC at least one generation.

[thomasmahler]

I think that Gunman Clive perfectly illustrates how flawed the Greenlight process is. You have some games that will never be approved simply because they can't win a popularity contest. It not even representative of the game quality. It's a mess.

Agreed.

Imagine we'd do that with bigger games. Would Demon Souls have won a popularity contest before people understood it? No. It took time for people to get what From was doing and look at it now.

Greenlight is an inherently flawed concept. This quote sums it up:

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.
- Henry Ford

People always want the same shit and have to be forced to enjoy something new.

[Jacobs]

Oh this has made me interested in the game, gonna download it when I'm home.

[grimshawish]

eshop versions steady sales are great.
Also good to hear the Play store working; featured games no doubt are what a lot of people almost only ever buy. Rayman must have done great for Ubi :o

3DS eshop is a tricky one to really show off games just because of screen size limitations; WiiU seems to do a good job of featuring indies from what I've heard but. I suppose the big gain on the eshop is its release schedule is reasonably spread; iOS not so much.

As well ofc that the eshop people are you know - mostly interested in continuing their gaming hobby. Usersize is more concentrated around gaming.

Hopefully all these percentages mean good solid revenue for you though.


On a side note: If Google can work with developers, why is Steam unable to run a functioning store?
Mac Store VS Desura is very interesting though, Steam is basically the Windows game store whether MS and Steam like it or not.

[big_z]

I thought people on Android don't buy stuff though?

piracy is worse and overall sales potential is less on android for sure. getting the game promoted by google is what got him those sales.

it's all about the promotional advertising. there's a reason why a vast majority of phone games fail to turn a profit... too much garbage to dig through to get noticed.

[GhostTrick]

Congratulations ! I hope it will show the way to other developpers !
Also, I don't know if it's too personnal, but did the eShop version did sold enough to break even the port cost ?

[Aostia]

I've heard that the game is actually good. is it true?
btw, good news for the eshop

[ArtHands]

That's a good news. Hopefully it will lead to more 3DS support :D

Edit: Just read the OP in full

[Joseph Flemming]

I had this game for iOS, loved everything about it except for the virtual buttons, after playing it on my iPhone my son purchased the eshop version on his 3DS and I tried it... Well now I'm going to purchase another copy for mine!!

PS: My Nephew just finished Mega Man from the eshop and wanted something similar, so I'm going to tell him to pick this game up.
3 sells one household.

Gunman Clive is currently #7 on the Recent Releases All charts section in NA

[ActStriker]

what causes the spike in the android sales at day 45 though?

The massive increase for Android at day 45 is when the game got featured by Google and the other bump a week later is when the game went on sale for both Android and iOS.

.

[Mpl90]

What caused the spike in 3DS sales from day 14 onwards?

US sales.
Heck, beril, just a few days ago I asked you some updates about GC's sales /rankings in order to try to understand 3DS eShop environment compared to iOS / Android. And to think you thought the game could have taken some weeks in order to outpace iOS's sales...no, just 9 days after my PM.
Congratulatiosn beril. Great results, and great little game!
Sorry for no response after you sent me the PM, though (and thanks for reading and actually answering to my message :D ).

[Stallion Free]

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. - Henry Ford People always want the same shit and have to be forced to enjoy something new.

Well doesn't that point to it being the creator's responsibility to convince the market to try his something "new" rather than the storefront's responsibility?

[EdgeXL]

Count me in with those who bought your game on 3DS. I think this is a great example of how traditional console makers should work with the mobile games market instead of around or against them.

By the way, Gunman Clive is my favorite of all the eShop games in it's price level. I would have been okay paying $5 for it so at the current price it's a great value.

[Apenheul]

I was looking for it on the European eShop a couple of days ago and couldn't find it so I assumed it hadn't been released yet. Going to try again this evening.

[DaBoss]

That's great news! Could you state the price of the game on all platforms though? I think that would be good information to have. I may make this and Pushmo my first eShop purchase.

[Boney]

That's definately surprising

[nickcv]

Lol you know you're posting on a thread made by the developer of the game? XD

i never heard about this game before, and after watching the trailer i gotta say it looks really cool.
the chosen art style is just fantastic.
i'll probably buy this one for my 3DS tonight.

i know you are not allowed to talk about actual numbers, but how do you consider the eShop as a platform profit-wise?

[lunchwithyuzo]

Bought it day one on 3DS, congrats beril. Are you considering any further ports, like to Vita or consoles?

[Chuckpebble]

Oh hey, I saw your tweet, I was going to ask if you had restrictions on whether you could release exact numbers or not.

Also, does Android have video previews? I definitely think iOS lacks in that regard. The video preview on the eshop is what solidified the impulse buy for me.

[beje]

Nice insight! Somehow I also though iOS would trample all over Android but I guess all that talk about the smartphone future for indie developers is barely nothing more than a mere illusion.

Have you thought about a WiiU version? Well, stupid question, the dev kit is surely a very high wall for a single dev.

[D-e-f-]

This is great to hear!

The Radio Free Nintendo podcasts also keeps pushing the game strongly! It deserves all the attention it can get!

I hope the eShop sales keep on coming!

[nickcv]

Yeah, Greenlight is a mess. Look at that Armillo game. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...s/?id=92958244 The developers of this game got approved as official Wii U developers. They had an easier time going through Nintendo than Steam Greenlight. http://www.nintendolife.com/news/201...he_wii_u_eshop Same goes for Mutant Mudds.

the Armillo game looks fantastic... this thread is becoming a problem for my wallet, damn you guys... totally gonna buy it on the eShop.

and shame on Valve.
if anyone would have told me that was easier to get on a nintendo platform then on steam i'd have laughed for hours... really really sad

[davonaytor]

US sales.

Right, thank you.

It's good to see downloadable titles selling well on the eShop, I've always been a little concerned that a lot of indie developers would switch to iOS as their target platform. I guess with such a high volume of games getting released so often, good titles don't necessarily get the exposure they deserve on the app store.