The Slashdot Effect
To all of you who visited yesterday during the Slashdot rush and are back again to read this follow-up, thank you for coming back to have a look.
Wow. Yesterday was one Hell of a day! Here’s what happened…
I wrote up my Numbers Post two days ago and it went around the Twitter-sphere and my RSS feed. A friend of mine sent me an IM saying “Nice post, you should submit it to Slashdot.” That sounded like a good idea, even though I was convinced there was no way they would pick it up. I would submit it, and it would quietly get rejected. Except that they didn’t reject it, they posted it yesterday morning to the front page of Slashdot.
Since I had assumed that Slashdot would ignore the article, I wasn’t ready for the dreaded “Slashdot Effect”. By the time I woke up yesterday morning and checked my site, it had slowed to a crawl under the pressure it was receiving. I immediately contacted my webhost and they noticed one of my web services was running slow so they rebooted my server. What they also did was accidentally change the permissions on my blog directory so that no one could see the blog anymore. Another call to tech support to figure out what was wrong and I was back in business (this is 2 hrs after my first call). Who knows how many people tried to hit the site between 9:00am and 11:00 EDT while it was down. Finally got the issue resolved, but now the site was running slow again, as my database desperately tried to keep up with the demand. My friend Noel from Games from Within send me a tweet recommending a caching plugin for WordPress called wp-cache. I installed that and the load on my databases immediately freed up and the site remained responsive for the rest of the day. Hooray!
So, some number, since I had dozens of emails/tweets/comments asking about this:
Page Views:
Day prior: 626
Slashdot day: 25,307!
Traffic increase: ~40x
Sales of Dapple:
Day prior: 4
Slashdot day: 17
Sales increase: ~4x
Clearly the Slashdot post did have an effect on sales, although it was a small one.
Some Thoughts On Yesterday’s Events
When I wrote the post presenting my sales numbers, I was hesitant to post it. I wasn’t sure that it was a good idea to share sales data that didn’t show the company as invincible. I’m even less sure about my having posted it now.
The backlash I received from the post was shocking to me. I wrote the post mostly as a way of sharing my experiences with other iPhone developers. However, as soon as I posted it to Slashdot, I had a very different audience. The reaction from the public was very different from other developers. Other developers thanked me for sharing my data and many told me that it made them feel better to know that other people were trying to find their way in the App Store too.
However, I received a lot of really nasty emails and comments from people that surprised me. I received so much mail that I don’t have time to respond to each one individually, so I wanted to address the most common threads that came up here.
Perception of whining or quitting
Many people perceived my post as whining about my sales, or that I was giving up on the game. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The post was meant purely as informational. I thought it would help people to see that selling an app on the App Store is just like selling any other product: it takes a lot of work and you shouldn’t expect to be an overnight success. I am also not giving up on Dapple; far from it. I’m only just getting started with it. That post was only a single data point on what I hope is a long upward trend for the game. Every game, every company starts somewhere, and I wanted to document where that was for me.
Instant millionaire
I also received a lot of mail telling me that I was misguided (although much of the mail I received was far from this polite) in my assumption that I would become rich as soon as I released my game. Again, I never made this assumption. When I started this company, I knew that I would have to put a lot of work into it to make it successful. I never assumed that my first game would sell millions of copies. My goal has always been to gradually build a sustainable business by producing high-quality games and apps. My hope is that over time the company will develop a reputation for quality and that people will see that.
Pricing
This was the biggest thing I got feedback on. A lot of people asked me if I had considered lowering the price of the game. The short answer is: yes, I’ve thought about it a lot. Like I said in my Numbers Post, I have a lot of plans for ways to promote Dapple in the coming weeks and months. I’ll leave it at that for now. 
You shouldn’t have spend so much money
You may be right, I may be crazy. However, people also misinterpreted the $32K figured. That figure includes the cost of my time. The number is significantly lower if you look only at cash that I paid out. That being said, I’m happy with the amount I spent on Dapple, as it resulted in a high quality title. Much higher quality than if I had tried to do everything myself.
You could have saved money doing it yourself
Again, there was a misconception that when I said I paid contractors that I didn’t do anything. I did all of the game design, all of the programming, all of the project management, and all of the marketing for Dapple. I hired people on contract to do the artwork, the sound design, and music for the game. Perhaps my only mistake here was not hiring marketing experts to handle that aspect of the game cycle for Dapple. However, I’m learning a lot, so I’m not sure that it qualifies as a complete mistake.
You shouldn’t release less-than-perfect sales data
This one I’m finding hard to argue with. I think that releasing it to the iPhone developer community was still the right thing to do. Whether or not releasing it to the general public was a good idea remains to be seen. I honestly don’t know what the right answer is to this one. After this experience, I’m not sure I’ll do it again. Maybe I’ll set up a mailing list for iPhone devs that I can share this data with in the future. If I figure something out, I’ll be sure to let you know.
Miscellaneous angry emails
Several people wrote Streaming Colour very angry emails to tell us that they were angry with us, or that they disagreed with our strategies or choices in game design. We’re very sorry that you feel that way. We hope that when Dapple Lite comes out that you will try it, and then you can make a decision for yourself about whether the game is worth your money or not. That’s really all we can ask.
Conclusion?
It’s been a crazy couple of days. I wish I could take the next two days and just spend it replying to each individual email or comment I received, but there’s just too much to do right now. I’m getting ready for the Dapple Lite launch, which will hopefully happen late this week or early next week, plus there some stuff I’m working on that I can’t talk about right now.
So I guess I don’t really have a conclusion. I’m still not sure whether posting my sales data was a good idea or not. I suppose that only time will tell. Hopefully I’ll have some success story numbers to post in a month or two.
Owen
I support your having submitted the real numbers; I think the world brightens overall when people are honest with one another.
I understand about your reaction to the backlash. Sometimes I get angry emails for posting stuff in my journal. (not so much anymore, but back in my college days, oh yes)..
Keep posting real numbers; start a trend; educate the world. I think sticking to your ideals will prove more important in the long run.
Dapple onward
– Rob!
A budget of $32k for a professionally produced casual game is completely on par with our experience. I can’t understand why some folks don’t appreciate the investment needed to produce these games. Unless the App Store sales can justify that level of expense we’re going to be stuck with a whole lot of half-baked apps.
Hey Owen
I support your posting numbers as well. As a developer, this is great information to have! We’re hesitant to share numbers with the general public as well and would be very interested in a private community in which we can do this without fear of being slashdotted by an unintended audience.
We went through a similar publicity storm with Whack ‘em All getting pirated and it can be very overwhelming and even distracting. Do what you think is right and learn from each situation!
I was very happy to read through your blog (which I would not have known about had it not been for the Slashdot post). I am also a mobile games developer (well, becoming one) and was interested to hear about someone else’s experience with the SDK and the App Store.
. Argue the price point all you want, but there needs to be more hard data to refute the optimism that people have about developing for the iPhone. Your post helped me temper my expectations.
It’s a real-world example of a independent developer. The major upside is that you’re not likely to get calls from investment people looking for you to invest “your millions” in their funds. 
Seeing the numbers you’ve experienced was extremely insightful. I don’t think that releasing the information about your numbers to date was necessarily a mistake, even to the general world. There are a couple of reasons.
The first is one you mention above – that people think you spend 2 weeks, write a game, make $1 million. Yay you! Except that it’s not like that and indie developers need to have more pragmatism than that. Anecdotes aside, the reality is that there are 25k+ apps in the App Store. That’s a LOT of competition, even for a good game like yours (I do look forward to the Lite version
The second reason is that it’s not a major negative. So you’ve posted your numbers – what kind of damage did it do? As far as I can tell, none. You’re not a public company – your stock isn’t going to drop because of poor sales numbers. You’re not going to have layoffs because of it.
Thanks for having a very readable and compelling blog – it’s been great learning about your experiences and helping those following behind you learn about their roads ahead.
Dapple is really fun and amazingly polished. You did an awesome job. Funny how people don’t consider your own time as a cost. Costs add up really quick if you count people’s time. I think it’s good to do so, even as an indie dev. If you don’t, you’ll never know how far you have to go until you can live off your work.
Keep up the great work and blog posts!
-Keith
I think all developers (including myself) always appreciate post’s like these and considering that they’ll always be people that misunderstand or don’t like what is written for whatever reason, you should continue to your approach.
It’s sad to see that app’s seemed to get hacked so easily and seemingly most of customers seem so unwilling to spend more money then 3 dollars. I think the free lite edition is a wise move.
I look forward to seeing future post’s and you have a new follower / subscriber too
[...] Clearly the Slashdot post did have an effect on sales, although it was a small one.Streaming Colour Studios » Blog Archive » The Slashdot Effect [...]
I think letting the Slashdot crowd silence you would be a mistake. The numbers post, while ego wounding, is actually benefical to a lot of people. There are all kinds of people out there who are looking into iPhone development. They need these kinds of numbers to get started or realize they can’t afford to get started.
I seem to remember, not so long ago, similar laments from the founder of Streaming Colour games. Whoever that was.
It’s this kind of unbiased, open discussion about the ups and downs of working in indie games that helps everyone. If a bunch of douchbags don’t understand what you’re trying to do here then fuck’em. They aren’t your audience anyway.
What it really comes down to is a simple question. Are you in it to have fun, or are you in it to make a fortune. If it’s the latter, then, yea, maybe you buggered it with this post. If it’s the first, then, who cares? It might hurt your ego, but it doesn’t hurt your marketing.
This is about building a company. Part of building a company is building trust from your consumers. That trust is better formed through openness and honesty then blocking open discussion. Moving things to a private list just blocks any new developer from that information. You start building a walled garden.
As a games journalist who focuses on the iPhone gaming sphere, i wholeheartedly support the kind of transparency you exhibited in your “Numbers Post.” Many people can’t handle that kind of transparency, but their filter failure is not your responsibility or your fault. I find that a lot of the group of people out on the Slashdots of the ‘net (not slamming slashdot here) tend to be of a wider swath of folks, less willing to encourage than they are to discourage. It says a lot about their own lives, and much less about yours. Please, keep up the amazing work, and the honest posting!
I’ve written two posts on my blog now about your game. I think it’s important that you read my post about 50 million users in two years, specifically watch the video.
Two things make me comment here:
1.) Don’t give up.
2.) Don’t give up.
3.) Don’t give up.
You’re doing fine and best of luck to you.
Communibus Locis
I think a free lite version is a great idea. That will do wonders for your sales but dropping the price a couple dollars combined with the lite version I think is your winning plan.
[...] 360iDev: 3.5 Days of Awesomeness The Slashdot Effect [...]
[...] was surprised to see such a quick followup to Owen’s original post at Streaming Colour Studios regarding his brutally honest sales [...]
You are courageous to post your sales data. How I wish I can be as courageous! And sharing your experience would help many developers. Thanks!
Dropping price means more sales, but not necessarily more revenue. And it is hard to raise back the price. I just feel that apps should sell at the price that they are deserved
Hi Owen, thanks for putting up these two iPhone posts.
All this great press, and still you leave the game at $5? You could have made a killing if you’d dropped it to $2 when you hit slashdot. 17 sales from 25,000 hits? This must be telling you something…
Anyway, thanks for posting the numbers.
FWIW, having come here via the “brutally honest” post via hacker news, if the game was <3 in numeric price (I’m in UK), I might have bought it just to see what the fuss is about. But spending more than the cost of a cup of coffee? That’s a hard sell for an impulse purchase, and I’m at home and not parched.
I think you did the right thing by releasing your sales numbers. Even if they weren’t the best. I’ve talked to other very successful game developers and they said it took 3-4 titles and about a 1 yr before they started seeing real revenue.
As a developer this kind of information is _really_ important to me as i’ve been considering creating an IPhone game for quite a while. As a windows dev the cost to market is even higher for me as i’d have to buy a Mac (shudders). It’s awesome that you released this information as it tempers the “OMG make IPhone games and be rich kinda hype that surrounds the IPhone store a litte”.
Many, many, many thanks. I really appreciate this kind of info and I wish more people released it.
Thank you for writing this post Own. I’d guess a large majority of the developer community really appreciates it. It’s posts like this that help calibrate what to expect.
[...] got posted to Slashdot and now there is a post about what happened after being on Slashdot. Several people wrote Streaming Colour very angry emails to tell us that they were angry with us, [...]
Thanks for posting these, good luck!
Thanks Owen for sharing your thoughts and numbers! I can only agree with you. I released 3 Utilities iPhone apps and experienced the same low sell problems you had. I tried different approaches starting with a price of 4.99$:
1) lowering the price until I could maximize return: this didn’t work very well as the product units x price remained quite constant. Only the price point of 0.99$ seems to make a difference, though not very large and never for long.
2) releasing a free lite version of one of my app looked a great idea, so I did: number of sold units was 3x more, but with a very low conversion rate of less than 1%. Not so great…
3) combining 1) & 2) did not help much.
The only difference I found on a day-to-day comparison is that there is a boost in sell when the apps are still listed on the AppStore, so obviously visibility seems to be the biggest factor. With the exponential growth of the AppStore, getting visibility from there will be even more difficult in the future if Apple does not change anything in this business model.
My personal conclusion is that it is pretty hard to make any money with the iPhone development of niche apps without targeted marketing. This may be different for game apps, but your story supports my feelings. I will nevertheless continue to develop on the iPhone platform because: 1) it is a lot of fun, and 2) it is a great way to promote our business and advertise our flagship desktop software.
Good luck anyway!
Another Canadian developer.
Owen,
IMO, Leave your app at the price it is worth. There are far too many apps of low quality in the .99-1.99 range to play in that space. Dapple is awesome!
I also believe that quality devs needs to start to build a price beach head at a tier above the lower quality apps. It takes a heck of a lot of units to make up for a drop in price. But you shouldn’t take that beach alone. Need other devs to start to hold their prices too.
Your approach of slow and steady, and building a brand, and focusing on quality, is the right one for the long term. You need to be here long after the ./ crowd has left stopped paying attention.
Thanks for the info you have provided and will continue to provide, in whatever form it takes. I’m loving the indie camaraderie.
-David Gregory
Grasshopper Games
If I had an iPhone, I think I would be far more inclined to give Dapple a shot now that I’ve seen your sales figures.
Of course, I don’t have an iPhone (or any cell phone), so the point is moot. Maybe the problem is that the audience you’re appealing to with this honesty isn’t really the audience you’re trying to sell to?
Thanks for sharing your experience. By the sounds of it,you have some very clear steps to take next and I wish you much success in the future.
I’m not a developer, but I’m happy you shared the data. It gives me as an iPhone user a better idea of what the people who make my iPhone valuable to me have to invest to accomplish that.
[...] can be key to remaining in the public eye. It sounds like the guy at Streaming Colour Studios has learned this lesson and will be improving his marketing [...]
I’m not a developer and I didn’t come across this via Slashdot so maybe I’m not the people you’re talking to with this post but after having read your Numbers post and this one I really appreciate your candor. I had no idea development costs were so high for iPhone apps. It gives me a new appreciation for the apps I’ve bought and the ones I’ve picked up for free and certainly will affect my attitudes about buying and about price point from now on.
I’m sorry you’ve had such a negative response from so many people. Try not to let it get you down. Remember, the internet is full of angry people who like to argue but most of them are probably truckers in drag
Don’t worry about the annonymous masses and keep pushing your game. $5 is a good price point for a game of this calibur (especially one that can be played multiplayer). You have a long way to go for sales, but I’m sure you’ll get there in time.
I haven’t an iPhone, so i cant try your app, and only came accross this from another blog. I wish you well in your endeavor, and thank you for being honest with some numbers. I am sure that the data will help a great help to many people (current and potential developers, as well as others).
Quick rule of thumb I have found in my job: for every thank you you receive, there are at least 10 people who are thankful, but didn’t say. Each complaint is only one complaint.
As a small independent iPhone developer, I truly appreciate your openness and candor. I found this not via SlashDot but from MobileOrchard. I am writing an app not for the money (although that would be nice) but to learn something new (I am an enterprise developer by trade) and to have some fun showing off my app. Hopefully, others find it fun. My target audience is admittedly small, and your Numbers post helped me put the time I spend on this back in perspective. Keep us posted on your new trials.
I don’t have an iPhone. Got to your blog from Hacker News. Great story and great post you have here.
- Maintenance Man
http://micro-isv.blogspot.com/
Hey Owen, thank you for being so open with your sales numbers. I appreciate any information about real sales coming out of this community. I do agree with some of the earlier posts that we developers have to put up some resistance to move all the prices down to the 99c mark. This price should be reserved for actual toys. For most larger applications that price does not reflect the cost to create it.
I have to admit that I can’t stand the whining about the prices on the app store any more.
Thanks for sharing your experiences so far. The development community appreciates them, and the angry “haters” are just out of touch with what’s required on the business side of game development…and aren’t really the correct audience for the story you are trying to share.
$32k is well within reason; I would even argue it’s on the low end of what it takes to make a game that looks as nice as Dapple.
Those that think games are cheaper to make than that are usually not paying themselves/friends/contractors/partners during development. I’m not saying that’s wrong–it’s a viable strategy to create the game “in the basement” and then hope to build a business off of it if it is successful. Going rate for a programmer + artist plus a couple months of time adds up fast these days, especially when overhead costs are considered (office space, etc.).
Anyway, thanks for sharing, and good luck with the next phase of Dapple’s life.
Hey Owen,
Ignore the emails and messages from idiots. They are just jealous that you got on the front page of Slashdot and they haven’t even managed to leave their mom’s basement…
I thought it was great to be able to see some real numbers – I’ve been posting mine, but don’t have anywhere near as much historical data.
Good luck with the app. I think releasing a free version will definitely get you some traction. Don’t give up on it. And make sure you keep everyone informed on your progress.
I think you did a good thing in releasing the “less-than-perfect” sales stats. It’s good as a developer to get a story from the other side of the coin (or at least one spinning on the to at the moment) instead of all the cinderella-stories about iphone dev out there. Thanks a lot!
Your business plan focused on software development, not on marketing. Therefore, it isn’t really surprising that you ended up with a good product that sold only a few copies. I suspect your conflict in future will be whether to invest money in marketing because the expected “return on investment” is unclear. Throwing money down the drain or speculating to accumulate? The results could make another interest article in a couple of months time
Hi Owen, good job despite the current figures. I am of the opinion that iphone games are not like retail games which has a window to sell the most copies around the launch date. So don’t give up yet. Given that, it is not too late to work on the marketing. However I believe that the best marketing strategy is one which is incorporate into the game design from the start. Of course this is more easily said than done. The Kotaku review talked about the game been color-blind friendly. However the Kotaku readership is too narrow. However this feature of the game gives it an unique talking point for some wider press, which could lead to more exposure.
Good Luck.
First off, I want to say that I respect your honesty Owen. It takes a big man to look at himself critically. However I do take umbrage with two points here and feel like you need a good hard shot of (non-developer) truth:
1. Your product is simply not good enough, for the reasons stated above. At 0.99 a casual iphone user may be willing to purchase your app but Im not sure your sales will increase dramatically even if you lowered it to that price point. Thats not going to change no matter how much marketing you do or how many Lite versions you release. Really take a look at what $4.99 (or your sale price of $2.99) will get you in the App store. For instance I just bought Labrynth for $2.99 and Lets Golf for $5.99. Do you really think Dapple can stand up to either title?? Remember you are not programming or pricing in a vacuum. To that end, start over and really become innovative and think outside the box. What are people missing??
2. Don’t quit your day job. $32,000 is a ridiculous expense for producing a game of this quality. If this is your first game, you should be working on it at night and on the weekends. Simply put, successful businesses are not built overnight and are not profitable right away. And you shouldnt be measuring the cost in what you would have made working as a developer on it. Do it because you love it and the money will come. Trying to put a value on what you did simply makes it look like you are over-valuing your time or that you were not efficient with costs and expenses.
I say all of this because I really want you to succeed. The App Store provides a unique business opportunity and I feel like you can make it. GOOD LUCK.
First of all, thanks for taking the time and making the effort to share your information. Developers just getting into this, such as myself, have a lot to learn and data reflecting the results help us to set our expectations realistically.
Being an indie, I was a bit shocked by the $32k price tag (although I know that would otherwise be considered low if funded by a company). But you then noted that you were including your time, which is entirely reasonable. However, I wonder if you can provide figures that excludes your sweat equity stake so as to present a clearer picture of the cash budget considerations. (If you feel comfortable with furnishing that, of course.) Thanks!
Owen, I’ve been in and out of the game industry since 1969 or so and I thought you did well by sharing the background and information.
Wish you well in your future work.
Whatever you do in this world, you will always have critics and supporters.
I for one thank you for posting your experience, as it takes away the hype in the marketplace. Hype can never be good. 500,000 developers jumping-in, getting frustrated, and jumping-out cannot be good for any platform. Your article probably changed the mind of another 200,000 developers, 100,000 entrepreneurs, etc.
I think that 2009 will be a shake-up period in the iPhone developer community, where the strongest will survive: those who have solid-selling applications, and those who have very low operational costs.
Don’t get discouraged by slashdotters! I’m glad to hear your sales got a little boost, and I think in the end the publicity will help your company. I do, however, think you’re on the ball with keeping your sales figures between you and other iPhone devs.
Most people don’t understand the effort and sacrifice that goes into something like this. I’m a programmer (though not for the iPhone; I’m a G1 guy!), and while I have not gone through the entire development cycle on an indie game (HUGE congrats to you on making it work), I can appreciate the time and intellectual elbow grease that goes into it.
Don’t doubt your decision to post those numbers; you upheld your integrity, if nothing else, and brought in a lot of traffic from interested people who didn’t know how interested they were.
Great work!
[...] discussion around the pros and cons of Owen’s marketing strategy but check out the full story here if you are interested (also check out Owen’s awesome slides on his experience with Dapple [...]
I hear you brother! Our app, Hot Radar, just hit the store and we are holding our collective breath. I think it is great to share numbers, unless you don’t want the gov’t to know! I have been trying to figure out how to promote, giving out promo codes etc. I have learned a lot in a short period of time and I am still not sure which way is best. All I know is that if Apple likes you it helps and don’t over spend in development so you have something left to advertise with. I love your app and I am a bit discouraged it hasn’t done better but it could be featured somewhere at any time and if you look at my plan, which is “I want to sell this much over the whole year”, then you still have time to make up much of the difference. Good luck… to both of us.
the only people who i think might be upset about you posting your real figures might be Apple, as they are the ones who make money off every sale and need a continuous stream of new apps for impulse buying. i think your post does a service to the dev community for which i applaud you.
i noticed that someone gave figures for their 99c game and their sales were about 4x yours (he said he sold 422 units), so it seems that there is not a nonlinear price-demand curve. i know it’s not comparing apples to apples (if you’ll excuse the pun) but it does reveal something about the effect of pricing on sales.
i’ve had many friends approach me to develop games with them in the belief “there’s gold in them their hills!” i’ve always contended that the people making the money will be the shopkeepers. your post seems to support this suspicion.
i also hope that it might be provide some realization to the cracking community that often they are hurting the little guy.
i hope your experience leads developers to work on projects that are more meaningful/useful, so if they don’t make money they can feel they have made a contribution in some other area. let’s face it, does world need another color matching game. when i see people tapping away at games on their i-blahs what immediately comes to mind are the experiments that B. F. Skinner did with pigeons tapping buttons for food pellets.
I think a lot of geeks are young, living with their parents, idealist slash communists because, 32k for a a game that took 6 months to develop is very, very good.
5$, is also very affordable for a polished game. I’m used to the 10$ for the XBLA price range.
EVERY TIME a developer has talked about some difficulties we always see people who don’t seem to grasp the concept of earning a living and paying bills unsheathe their socialist swords and spill out angry words at the dreaded person who wishes for financial success.
If I have one thing to say: if you feel your game is good enough, consider Steam and XBLA!
Thanks for posting your data. I am a developer myself and, indeed, $32k isn’t a lot of money to produce a quality app. I would have probably invested as much time as you have and I’m sure a lot of independent programmers out there have already done so. The problem is that very few developers publish their sales data so the only thing the public hears about is the iFart millions. Out of the 25,000 apps on the market, how many are profitable? 165 new apps are published every single day. I’d be surprised if even 5% of these allow their developers (individuals or companies) to make a living or a profit. You did nothing wrong. Thanks for sharing.
I think it’s cool you posted your figures to bring some reality to independent game devs. When all everyone hears is the one millionaire, it creates the impression that it’s easy. But it’s not. I’m working as an artist on a game to be released soon, and I want to know the real deal when it comes to sales, even if it isn’t encouraging. It’s a really frustrating market because it seems like very mediocre games can blow up, while good ones get completely ignored.
[...] a small sales spike (”E” on the graph). You can read more details on that in my “The Slashdot Effect” post. Two days later I placed the game on sale for $2.99, which introduced my biggest sales [...]