尽管苹果App Store诞生了不少成功的手机游戏，但还是有许多开发商承认，他们在App Store赚到的钱低于自己的期望。Majic Jungle Software工作室的成员David Frampton最近发表的博客指出，App Store手机游戏销售有一个固定的变化规律，那就是游戏发布后每周下载量都会比上一周减半。

chopper2

Frampton以该工作室推出的《Chopper》和《Chopper 2》为例，分析了这两款游戏在App Store发布后的下载量变化情况。

chopper 2

他在博客中表示，“游戏下载量几乎每周都会减半，一两个月后会开始趋于稳定。当然也有一些例外情况会打破这种规律，比如说大量的广告推广、被应用商店重点推荐，或者其他市场营销活动的影响。”

Frampton认为，极少有市场营销活动的成效比得上苹果应用商店“本周推荐游戏”的作用，尽管其他因素也有可能推高游戏下载量，但只能维持一小段时间而已。

据游戏邦了解，虽然一款游戏能否大获成功与其他游戏关系不大，但发布继集版本的游戏，却可以推动原始版本的下载量，《Chopper》和《Chopper 2》的先后问世就出现了这种情况。（见以下曲线图）

chopper vs chopper 2

Frampton写道，“我有点担心，这种现象与用户的下载操作失误有关，但也认为有一部分人是看到《Chopper 2》出炉了，所以想先体验一下原版本的《Chopper》，还有一些用户可能是玩过《Chopper 2》，发现还不错所以又购买了《Chopper》这个版本。”

除此之外，他还指出圣诞节销售热潮可以持续3个月，因为这一时期还有许多用户手中的购物礼券还没用完。

游戏邦获悉，Mac App Store也同样出现了这种趋势，虽然Frampton认为很少人可以通过Mac App Store赚到大笔钱，但这个应用商店刚开业时的运营情况还不错，前景应该会更加乐观。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Majic Jungle’s David Frampton on why day 1 sales halve every week, but launching a sequel bumps the original

We’ve already witnessed developers candidly admit that, despite scores of notable success stories, game sales on the App Store don’t always live up to expectations.

There is, however, a certain level of consistency to be found, even when the downloads aren’t soaring.

A blog post by Majic Jungle Software’s David Frampton helps detail the download patterns studios can expect to both enjoy and endure after they launch an app on the marketplace.

Slip and slide

In almost every case, Frampton draws conclusions from the surges and troughs that his games – Chopper and Chopper 2 – have amassed since they launched on the App Store.

Most notable for those new to the marketplace is that they should expect downloads of their title to halve roughly once a week every week after launch.

“Even though the temptation is overwhelming, don’t bother multiplying launch day sales by 365,” Frampton says in an entry on his blog.

“Sales tend to halve every week or so, then after a month or two it starts to level out. There are exceptions to this rule, which I think can mostly be chalked up to a large amount of post-launch hype or a feature or other marketing.”

Marketing might

Marketing is, of course, a major force in its own right.

Frampton notes that little can compare to being featured as one of Apple’s ‘game of the week’, though other factors can also see downloads rise, if only for a short period.

He notes that, while the success of one title doesn’t necessarily bleed over to another, launching a direct sequel can see downloads of the original game rise accordingly – a trend he observed with Chopper, when it’s sequel – Chopper 2 – hit the App Store last July.

“I worry a little that this is partly due to people downloading the wrong app,” Frampton states.

“But I also expect that there is a certain number of people who bought Chopper 1 first, wanting to experience that before Chopper 2, as well as those who after having played Chopper 2 then bought the original.”

Aside from that, Frampton notes that the post-Christmas boost can last anything up to three months, citing customers utilising gift vouchers as the possible cause behind the length of the tail.

Most of such trends are, to an extent, also visible on the Mac App Store, though Frampton does claim that it’s unlikely that many people are “making huge amounts of money on the Mac App Store, but it’s off to a healthy start, and will only get better from here”.（source:pocketgamer）