作者：Shu Wan Cheng

《监狱生活RPG》最初于2015年2月26日面向iOS平台发行，紧跟着在4月1日又出现在了Google Play上。其定价为3.99美元，并且没有IAP。

用一句话概括这款游戏：作为一百个囚犯中的任何一人，在艰苦的监狱生活中存活下来并想办法逃离这里！

自我介绍：从2008年开始我便开始作为一名全职独立游戏开发者。除了音乐，我所创造的全部游戏都是由我自己独立完成的。《监狱生活RPG》是我最大的项目（这也是一次冒险），我共花了一年多时间去创造这款游戏。

著名的Let’s Player的强大作用

在iOS第一天的销量：416份游戏。它并未在App Store中获得任何推荐。

对于发行时的销量我是很失望的，因为我们都知道第一天通常都是带来最大销量的一天。我认为自己一年多的辛苦工作成为了泡影，而我也不得不去寻找其它工作了。一周后，一位名为fantabobgames的著名法国YouTuber创造了一个Let’s Play系列。

saleFigure_prisonLifeRPG(from gamasutra)

在App Store上发行一个月后，我在4月1日将游戏带到了Google Play。我从未期待过Google Play上的销量会在1个月内超越App Store。

saleFigure_prisonLifeRPG(from gamasutra)

Google Play商店中的付费应用的一些很酷的事实：

在美国排名前3的全新付费应用，排名前2的RPG：每天的下载量是300至400

在法国排名第1的付费应用：每天的下载量是200至400

在法国排名第1的付费应用（苹果）：每天的下载量是200至600多

在澳大利亚排名前2的付费应用：每天的下载量是120以上

在加拿大排名前5的付费应用：每天的下载量是120以上

在英国排名前7的付费应用：每天的下载量是220以上

《我的世界》主导着几乎所有国家的付费应用排行榜单好几个月。

《监狱生活RPG》并未在Google Play或App Store获得任何推荐。

每天我会花至少1个小时去回复并解答电子邮件以及Google Play上的评价。

前10天，每天我都会递交一个更新内容去修改漏洞。

之后《监狱生活》被翻译成法文，并添加了名为Fanta的一个特别角色。

saleFigure_prisonLifeRPG(from gamasutra)

Google Play vs. Apple Store

我是App Store的狂热粉丝，我认为Google Play并不适合付费应用。结果证明我是错的！

用户评论系统：Google Play胜！

Google Play Store：呈现出所有版本和国家的所有评论，让你能够回复每条评论并与愤怒的消费者进行互动。我相信积极的用户评论真的能够带给我的游戏帮助。

苹果App Store：每次新的更新内容的评级都要重置为0。不存在联系用户的方式。如果你生活在一个较小的国家，你便不能看到其他国家的用户评论。

购买与授权：App Store胜！

Google Play Store：因为不能下载游戏，不能购买，不能下载扩展文件，未能授权检查等等Google Play的问题，每天我都会收到至少10封抱怨邮件/评论。

苹果App Store：从未出现任何问题。

游戏更新：Google Play胜！

Google Play Store：每天更新？没问题！

苹果App Store：需要等待2周的应用审查，并且会将用户评级重置为0。

最佳排行榜单和游戏发行：Google Play胜？

Google Play Store：最佳全新付费/免费应用榜单非常适合全新应用（30天以内）。我希望《监狱生活RPG》在30天后也能够维持销量。但是因为没有应用评论，独立开发者几乎不能获得Google Play Store的推荐。

苹果App Store：即使你获得苹果的推荐，它也只会持续一周。我希望苹果能够添加30天最佳全新付费/免费应用排行榜。

为什么Google Play会超越App Store：

在两个平台上，游戏都受益于Let’s Player的粉丝。在App Store上，这种效果只在法国发挥着作用。但在Google Play，多亏了出色的评论系统以及30天的最佳全新应用排行榜，这种效果进一步延伸到了其它国家。

我相信一开始在苹果的App Store发行游戏，然后在看到足够多人等着购买游戏时再面向Google Play发行游戏是最佳选择，这能够将其推上全新付费/免费应用排行榜单。

结论

面向iOS平台发行游戏就像买彩票一样，而花费一年时间去开发游戏则是一次巨大的冒险。我并未获得苹果的推荐，但我得到了fantabobgames的帮助。我所赚到的钱足够支撑我下次的游戏开发。而在开发下一款游戏前我会继续完善《监狱生活RPG》。

我认为《监狱生活RPG》在Google Play Store中取得了很大的成功，在App Store上的表现也超越了预期。然而我却离百万富翁还有非常非常长的距离。从中我们可以看出一款优秀的手机付费应用足以支撑一名独立开发者，但对于一家拥有三人以上成员的手机游戏工作室来说却是远远不够的。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转发，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Prison Life RPG 2 months sales figures, Let’s Player effect and GooglePlay Store VS AppStore

by Shu Wan Cheng

Prison Life RPG was first released on iOS on 26 Feb 2015, follow by GooglePlay Store on 1st April. Priced at $3.99 USD with no IAP.

Prison in 1 sentence: Play as any one of the 100 prisoners, survive harsh prison life and escape!

About me: I am a full-time indie game dev since 2008. For all games I did everything myself except music. Prison Life RPG is my biggest project(gamble) which took over 1 year full time to make.

APP STORE
GOOGLEPLAY STORE

Powerful Effect of Famous Let’s Player

First day iOS sale: 416 copies. It was not featured anywhere on AppStore.

I was disappointed by the launch sale as we all know first day is usually the biggest sales day. I thought my 1 year+ of hard work was doomed and I had to look for jobs. 1 week after the game was released, a popular French Youtuber fantabobgames made a Let’s Play series.

FantaBobGames: Let’s Play Prison Life RPG youtube series in French

Release on GooglePlay

I released the game on 1st April, 1 month after AppStore. I never expected GooglePlay sales to surpass AppStore within 1 month!

Some cool facts of GooglePlay Store Paid App:

Top 3 New Paid, 24 Overall paid, Top 2 RPG in US: 300 ~ 400 downloads per day

Top 1 Paid App in France: 200~400+ downloads per day

Top 1 Paid App in France(Apple): 250~600+ downloads per day

Top 2 Paid App in Australia: 120+ downloads per day

Top 5 Paid App in Canada: 120+ downloads per day

Top 7 Paid App in UK: 220+ downloads per day

Minecraft dominates Paid Chart of almost all countries for many months.

Prison Life RPG is NOT featured anywhere on GooglePlay or AppStore.

I spent at least 1 hour per day to reply and troubleshoot emails and reviews on GooglePlay.

I submitted an update to fix bugs everyday for the first 10 days.

Prison Life RPG was translated to French, and a special character Fanta was added.

I reached legend on Hearthstone with secret mech paladin.

GooglePlay vs Apple AppStore

I was a big App Store supporter, and I thought GooglePlay Store is bad for Paid Apps. I was wrong!

User Review system: GooglePlay Wins!

GooglePlay Store: shows all reviews of all versions and countries, able to reply to each review and interact with angry customers. I believe the positive user reviews really helped my game.

Apple AppStore: each new update reset to 0 ratings. No way to contact users. Life sucks if you(buyer) live in small country as you can’t view user review of other countries.

Purchase and Licensing: Apple AppStore Wins!

GooglePlay Store: Everyday I recieved at least 10 angry emails/reviews due to GooglePlay problems such as failed to download game, failed purchase, failed to download expansion file, failed licensing check etc

Apple AppStore: Never have any problem.

Updating Game: GooglePlay Wins!

GooglePlay Store: Daily update? No problem!

Apple AppStore: Wait 2 weeks for App Review, and reset user ratings to 0.

Top Charts and Game Discovery: GooglePlay Wins….?

GooglePlay Store: Top New Paid/Free chart is great for new apps(less than 30 days). I hope Prison Life RPG can maintain the sales after 30 days. But without App Review, indie devs have almost zero chance being featured on GooglePlay Store.

Apple AppStore: Even if you are being featured by Apple, it only lasts for 1 week. I hope Apple can add a 30 days Top New Paid/Free chart.

Why GooglePlay out-sell AppStore:

The game benifits from Let’s Player fans on both platform. On App Store, the effect stays in France. But on GooglePlay, thanks to the good review system and 30 days New Top Charts, it has spreaded to other countries.

I believe it is better to release on Apple AppStore first, then release on GooglePlay only when you have enough people waiting to buy your game, and boost it up the New Paid/Free chart.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Releasing game for iOS is like lottery, and to invest 1 year into development is a huge gamble. I didn’t won the top prize(Apple Feature), but I got the 2nd prize(fantabobgames). The money has covered my last year’s expense. I will be improving further on the game before moving to the next.

I consider Prison Life RPG as very successful on GooglePlay Store and above average on App Store. Yet I am still far from becoming a millionaire:( This shows a Top Paid mobile app is enough to support an indie dev, but probably not enough for a 3+ headcount mobile game studio. (source:gamasutra)