作者：Kyle Kulyk

你和团队成员无偿投入4-9个月时间，最终完成自己的应用，打算在手机领域中发行。不久之后你就会得出和我一样的结论。游戏受到操纵，平台过于拥堵。你几乎没有什么胜出机会。

就算独立开发者不是因缺乏经验而举步维艰，应用市场的残酷现状也会淘汰更多颇有热情的独立开发者。这并不是要阻止独立开发者投身其中，他们完全可以选择这一行业，只是他们得清楚这场游戏的本质。

现在你已完成一款作品，但这只成功了一半，你还要面临很多挑战。这些是独立开发者需要把握的现实情况。

发行失败

发行对于独立开发者来说至关重要，这里你的最大敌人是自己。若你想要在苹果市场上引起广泛关注，你需要全心投入运营工作中，也就是确保你的游戏准备就绪。进行测试，测试，再测试。

做出细微调整？再次完整体验游戏。若你无法进行强势发行，那么应用很快就会沉没其中。你完全能够在此重振旗鼓，但这会令你处于不利地位。你需要确保所有工作井井有条，竭尽全力做好发行工作（游戏邦注：若你的游戏尚未准备就绪，你就无法做到这点）。

Itzy3D from free-press-release.com

我们1月份推出《Itzy3D》时，游戏就进展得非常顺利。我们在等待App Store审核的过程中，于Android Marketplace推出游戏。在等待过程中，我们从Android用户那里获得颇有价值的反馈信息，由于苹果版本尚未确定，我们做出若干调整。

当游戏最终在App store推出时，我们发现，一个看似细微的调整给各层面的玩法带来严重损害，除游戏指南外。这不是什么大问题，是吧？只是修复、更新，然后继续前进。完全没这么快。待到我们的更新版本通过苹果审核，游戏瑕疵版本已在App Store推出3个月。

当游戏顺利修复后，我们在App Store的曝光度几乎为0。我们在初期发行时就没有什么优势，因此游戏完全无法挤入苹果的任何榜单。所以要测试，测试，再测试，确保自己准备就绪。

接着就是图标。最先引起用户注意的元素就是图标。这是用户最先看到的东西。你的游戏也许数一数二，但若无人点击，你也无法从中获得任何收益。今天2月，据148apps（游戏邦注：应用测评网站）预测，苹果市场平均每天新增823款新应用。你要怎么从中脱颖而出？

营销、评论和收益

所以你要怎么得到用户的关注？你可以通过花费些许资金。是否考虑过刊登广告？这需要花钱。是否希望他人评价游戏？评论者很忙，他们手头有很多游戏都和你的作品一样想要获得曝光度。所以他们常常会忽略你，几个月后才和你联系，或者你可以付费让他们快速评论你的应用，这得耗费你一定资金。

是否想要进行新闻发布？这里也有免费的渠道选择，但若你想要获得关注，呈现作品的图片，想要借助更多媒体渠道？这些都需要花钱。

若你没有足够的资金，那你就处在不利地位，因为大型公司在产品推广经费上完全没有任何问题。他们将通过自己的既有广告网络及合作伙伴获得广泛关注。而你多半无法做到这点。

苹果榜单受到操纵

我此前曾和某杰出手机游戏开发者交谈，他告诉我一些令我沮丧不已的消息。“若你的游戏无法凭借自己获得成功，你可以付费找人帮忙。这是你唯一的希望。若游戏在这之后无法继续发展，那么就暂停运作。”

资金雄厚的工作室可以掏钱操纵游戏排行榜。在排行榜位置靠钱购买的环境中，独立开发者如何同他人进行抗衡？他们也许能够胜出，但希望不大。

苹果榜单被开发者操纵的情况近来被Touch Arcade曝光，某开发者在此论坛表示，有家提供这类服务的公司曾联系过他。该公司表示，位列前25名的游戏中，有8款游戏的排名是靠花钱获得的。

苹果发表声明称，这些服务应坚决取缔，这会导致你的开发帐号遭到封锁；这迫使有些开发者得掏钱开设新帐号。

但在我看来，若这些公司不在意花费巨额资金获得榜单排名，那么掏钱开设新帐号对他们来说也不是什么大问题。

Android缺少曝光渠道

我认识的开发者都试图进军Android市场，但即便他们在此表现不错，所获得成绩相比苹果App store依然逊色很多。他们很多都逐渐放弃Android平台，或者不再优先选择这一平台。

对于独立开发者来说，这里的处境更加艰难。在苹果App Store，你至少能够在发行时获得一小小的曝光窗口（游戏邦注：这要归功于“What’s New”版块）。Android市场连基本的“What’s New”版块都没有。这意味着，若应用的销售成绩尚不足以令其在热门应用类型版块获得推荐，那么用户就很难发现它们，除非用户有针对性地搜索这一应用。

Staff Pick from digitaltweaker.com

当然你有可能幸运地出现在“Staff Pick”中，就像你有机会在App Store的“推荐”版块露面一样。总是会有作品受到推荐，但对于想要创建小型手机游戏工作室的独立开发者来说，指望运气降临并不是什么靠谱的商业计划。

借助独立开发社区

业内的独立开发者不胜枚举。当这一新数字领域开放门户，开发者在App Store迅速获得丰厚营收时，潜在开发者就会蜂拥而至，想要在手机领域一显身手。

如今，瞄准独立领域的出版物都纷纷被寻求曝光度的独立开发者占据。由于时间和资源有限，评论者不得不忽略多数请求。更糟的是，我们的用户每天都被层出不穷的新应用包围。所以面对如此不利的形势，独立开发者要怎么存活下来？

我们可以互相支持，然后持之以恒。我们的首款游戏《Itzy3D》凭借他人的支持而顺利存活。玩家和开发者纷纷给出他们的反馈信息，而独立开发者则通过社交媒介、独立Facebook社区和论坛（游戏邦注：社区人员根据自己的经验积累提供支持和建议）提高作品的辨识度，Reuben Cornell之类的杰出人士还通过Twitter向我们伸出援助之手，这让我们得以有所成就。

独立开发者最不明智的举措就是孤立自己。团结一致，我们才更有希望完善自己的作品，借鉴他人的经验。也许你的首款作品没有什么成绩，但你能够从中获得一定的经验教训。未来你的第二款作品、第三款作品定将越来越好。

和他人，和其他开发者，和发行商沟通。融入自己的同行，你会发现，自己并不是孤军奋战。你也许处在不利地位，你也许觉得非常沮丧，你也许必须应对独立开发者所面临的残酷现实，但不要低估独立开发社区的作用，他们都很愿意给予帮助，你应该积极寻求他们的支援，从而创造出更优秀的作品。

最终，这会让独立作品表现更杰出，通过团结一致，我们将能够改变行业状况。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Opinion: Indie devs, the odds are against you

by Kyle Kulyk

So you’ve done it. You’ve worked for 4-9 months without pay with the rest of your team, and you finally completed your app and are ready to unleash your indie game upon the mobile world. It’s soon after this point you’ll likely come to the same conclusion that I did. The game is rigged. The deck is stacked. The odds are against you.

If things weren’t made complicated enough by your own inexperience, the realities of the app markets surely weed out more than their share of bright-eyed, indie developers. This isn’t meant to discourage indies because you can do it, but you need to be aware of the nature of the game you’re about to start playing.

You now have a completed game, but that’s really only half the battle, and here are some of the challenges that you’ll face. These are the realities that indies need to be aware of.

Failure to Launch

Launch is vital for indie developers, and here you can be your own worst enemy. If you’re trying to make as big a splash as possible on the Apple marketplace, you need to hit the ground running, and that means making sure your game is ready. Test, test, and test some more.

Making a minor change? Play through the game again. If you fail to build momentum off your launch, expect your app to become invisible shortly after. It’s possible to pick it up from that point, but it puts you at a serious disadvantage. You need to have all your ducks in a row and hit your launch with everything you have. You can’t do that if your game isn’t ready.

In January, when we launched Itzy3D, our game was running fine. We launched on the Android Marketplace while waiting for approval on the App Store. While we waited, we received useful feedback from our Android users and, as the Apple binary was pending, we made a few modifications (this will also set you back in Apple’s queue. Beware).

When our game finally launched on the App store, we noticed that a seemingly minor change had borked gameplay in every level but the tutorial. So, no problem, right? Just fix, update and move on. Not so fast. By the time our updated version was approved by Apple, three weeks had passed with a broken version of our game sitting on the App Store.

When the game was fixed, our visibility on the App Store was next to zero. With no momentum from the initial launch, there was no chance for our game to rank in any of Apple’s charts. Test, test, test. Make sure you’re ready.

Then, there’s the icon. Your first chance to make an impression is with your icon. That’s the first thing people see. You can have the best game in the world, but if no one feels compelled to click on it in the first place, you’re not going to make any money. In Feb, 148apps estimates that 823 apps are being added into the Apple marketplace every day. Will you stand out?

Marketing, reviews and money

So what can you do to get noticed? Well, you can spend money. Want to run some ads? That’ll cost you. Want to get reviewed? Reviewers are buried under a ton of games all wanting the same exposure that you want. So they’ll either ignore you, get to you in a few months – or you can always pay them for expedited reviews, and it can cost you.

Want to issue a press release? Oh, there’s free ways to go about this too, but if you want to get noticed, if you want pictures, if you want to hit more media outlets? That’ll cost you.

If you don’t have the money for all these things you’re already at a disadvantage because you can bet the established companies have no issue with spending money on marketing their products. They’ll be noticed with their established advertising networks and partnerships. Most likely, you won’t.

Make sure you have a plan. $1000 to start your marketing at launch couldn’t hurt, and expect to reinvest a percentage to keep the ball rolling after that.

The Apple Fix is In

I had a chat with a successful mobile game developer awhile back, and he told me something that made my stomach knot. “If your game doesn’t take off on its own, you can always pay the Russians. That’s about the only hope you have. And if your game doesn’t stick after that, pull the plug.”

That’s right. If your game doesn’t go viral, his recommendation was to spend between $30-50k for one of these chart-manipulating services to artificially elevate your game to the top of the Apple charts. Once it gets there, see if it stays and if not, move on.

Those with the money can pay others to manipulate their way to the top slots. Can indies compete in an environment where the top slots are bought and paid for? It’s possible, but not probable.

This rigging of the Apple charts came to light recently in the Touch Arcade, forums where a developer explained that he was approached by a company offering these services. The company pointed to 8 of the top 25 games that were at the top due to their machinations.

Apple issued a statement that these types of services were frowned upon and could, potentially result in your developer account being closed; forcing some to potentially pay new Apple fees to open a new account.

Forgive me if I sound a bit cynical, but I’m sure if these companies don’t mind paying tens of thousands on chart manipulation, the fees associated with setting up a new account aren’t much of a concern.

Android hide and seek

I’ve touched on this a bit in the past, but the Android Marketplace certainly isn’t the answer either. Developers I’ve talked to have all tried to crack the Android market, but even when they have a measure of success, it usually pales compared to what they’re able to achieve on the Apple App store. Many I’ve spoken to have simply given up on the Android platform or weren’t interested in the first place.

For indies, it’s even harder. On the Apple App Store, you can at least expect a small window of visibility at launch due to the “What’s New” section. The Android marketplace no longer has even a basic “What’s New” section. This means that if your app, god forbid, doesn’t instantly sell enough to be featured in a Top category, no one will ever find you unless they’re specifically looking for you.

Of course, you could always win the “Staff Pick” lottery just as you could win the App Store’s “Featured” lottery. Someone has to win, but for an indie looking to seriously start a small business revolving around making mobile games, hoping for a lottery win isn’t usually considered a sound business plan.

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake

There are tens of thousands of indie developers out there just like you and me. When the new, digital frontier opened up and suddenly developers were striking gold in the App Store, it opened the floodgates for every would-be developer out there to take a crack at the mobile market.

Now, publications that would like to take us seriously are swarmed by indies looking for exposure. Reviewers have to simply ignore the large majority of requests due to time and resource constraints. And worse, our customers are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of new applications being added to the application marketplaces daily. So what can indies do to survive when the odds are clearly against us?

We can support each other and persevere. Our first game, Itzy3D exists due to the support we’ve received from others. Gamers and developers offering their feedback, indie developers raising awareness of our product via social media, indie Facebook groups and forums who were always there to offer support and advice based on their own hard learned lessons, and talented folks like Reuben Cornell who reached out to us via Twitter to offer his musical talents to help get us off the ground.

The worst thing an indie developer can do is isolate themselves. United, we have a better chance at improving our products and learning from the experiences of others. Maybe your first game doesn’t take off, but you learn. Then your second does a bit better. Then your third does better still.

Talk to people, talk to other developers, talk to publishers. Engage your peers and you’ll find that you don’t have to do this alone. The odds might be against you, it can be discouraging, and you need to be aware of the realities indie developers face, but don’t discount the support of the indie community nor their willingness to help. Use them and let them help you make better products.

In the end, this makes all indie titles look better, and together we can change the game.（Source：gamasutra）