A new report today from Distimo (via Re/code), tells us that being a featured app in Apple’s App Store is a very good thing for an app. Well, unless they put you in the “Indie” category…
Apps appearing in the category “Amazing Puzzlers for 99¢,” for example, saw downloads quintuple and revenue quadruple.
However, appearing in “10 Incredible Indie Games” or the new “Indie Game Showcase” produced a whole lotta nothing.
Popular app “Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery” saw a nice bump in downloads and a huge jump in revenue when Apple featured it in a category named “Spectacular Stories.” However, a few weeks later, when it appeared in the “10 Incredible Indie Games” feature, it barely registered a blip on either metric.
The report doesn’t attempt to explain why “indie” games don’t get much love when featured as such, maybe users’ definition of “indie” makes them think of hipsters in horn-rimmed glassed and scarfs? (Yeah, doesn’t make me want to buy anything either. Well, maybe a cup of coffee…)
Whatever the reason, the report shows how hard it can be for a small developer to break through on the App Store, and should stress to developers that they can’t rely on promotion from Apple alone to push their wares.
