Comments on: Making A Living (Comfortably) On The App Store (aka The Numbers Post #2)

By: Keith Lang

Keith Lang — Thu, 20 May 2010 02:58:19 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing all this data Noel. It’s really valuable to us, and apparently you as well (more hits = more sales).

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Wed, 19 May 2010 22:13:07 +0000

Hi Noel,

As a new indie game developer myself (and a former Californian – I think I have more of a chance of meeting living expenses by relocating to Oregon) I am really grateful that you’ve been so open about your experience. You’re setting a wonderful example for me for sharing one’s experience – successes and learning processes – as we venture into this new frontier.

I look forward to reading your third installment. Also, I must admit that I didn’t expect to be as emotionally taken as I was when I saw a video of Flower Garden. Beautiful and respectable work. I wish you the best with this and other apps.

By: Ted

Ted — Tue, 18 May 2010 00:51:37 +0000

Noel, your posts are always very insightful to read. As someone who dabbles in iPhone development but has never put in the time to have a hit on the app store, it is very helpful to read about the efforts you’ve put in and what you’ve gotten out of it. Thank you for sharing your data with the community!

By: jafar

jafar — Mon, 17 May 2010 22:44:51 +0000

Very nice article Noel, I’ve been debating with myself whether to start developing my project for iphone and your article encourages and enlightens me

By: Noel

Noel — Mon, 17 May 2010 22:10:56 +0000

Rob, check out the last plot again. The blue area are profits from selling the app. Orange and green are IAPs from the two versions of the game. So yes, I’d say they’re popular!

I think as gamers/power users/geeks, we tend to hate IAPs (I’m not a fan, personally), so we end up not using them. But more casual users don’t mind them at all and even appreciate them. The fertilizer IAP, it’s all my wife’s idea. Seriously

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 17 May 2010 22:07:56 +0000

Thanks for sharing these numbers again. It’s really encouraging to see some real figures.
Just one quick question, are the in-app purchases very popular? Personally, I’m not a big fan so I’ve been reluctant to include any in my apps. How are they working out for you as a percentage of revenue?
Congrats again on the app and good luck with continued success.

By: FreakyZoid

FreakyZoid — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:46:18 +0000

Brilliant post again. Thanks for continuing to share and analyse your sales for everyone to see. And congratulations on the steady income!

By: Noel

Noel — Sun, 16 May 2010 02:01:53 +0000

Thanks! I’m afraid I won’t be at WWDC this year though. I have no project to show at the moment, so I can’t really justify the cost. Next year hopefully!

By: Gary Watson

Gary Watson — Sun, 16 May 2010 01:59:31 +0000

I’m very pleased to see you doing so well with Flower Garden! Are you going up to WWDC this year?

By: mrfungfung

mrfungfung — Sat, 15 May 2010 17:50:25 +0000

Congrats on those meaty numbers. Flower Garden is a top idea and I think you’ve really maxed out on getting it onto people’s consciousness, and getting every opportunity to tie in with Real World Events really well – something to learn for everyone. You must have some serious work rate too!

BTW Great tutorialss on the OpenGL and UIKit mashup – been really helpful to me as I try and munge bits of UITextField together with GL stuff )

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 15 May 2010 00:55:50 +0000

I think the best part of all your success is that you’ve been able to keep up with your goal of non violent games, and now are making a living on it. I’m sure this proves some point!

By: Frederic Tessier

Frederic Tessier — Fri, 14 May 2010 23:58:59 +0000

Congrats Noel!!!

I am pleased to see that Flower Garden is becoming a success and will help you continue in this great journey of being an indie game developer. You have been working very hard and continue to improve Flower Garden for a while now that its great to see this happening.

And as usual thank you so much for sharing very valuable information/insight on the life of an apps on the AppStore for the rest of us so we can learn and improve ourself.

Wish you to continue have more success with Flower Garden and your upcoming project.

By: Johannes

Johannes — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:43:57 +0000

Excellent article posted here Noel. Thanks to you we Indie devs have some benchmarks to go by. Keep up the good work.

By: Frederic

Frederic — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:40:38 +0000

You like cliffhangers, don’t you?

By: Fabio de Miranda

Fabio de Miranda — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:36:46 +0000

Congratulations!

You’ve been always so open with your numbers and nice in sharing great technical information that I’ve been rooting for your business.

I hope you succeed even more in the future