The guy’s tips to earn $ 700,000 quit writing game software for the iPhone

On the Reddit forum, Amirrajan said he was the one who developed games like A Dark Room or A Noble Circle for Apple’s App Store. Accordingly, the Dark Room game once reached the top 1 of the App Store with 2.26 million downloads, thereby bringing Amirrajan $ 552,000 in the first year and more than 144,000 USD in the second year. and the Noble Circle game is over $ 5,500.

In total, Amirrajan has earned more than $ 700,000 with just a few game applications that he wrote for the App Store. This technician said he quit his job to work in software writing and wanted to share some tips to help people in the same situation as me.

How did Apple nominate its game?

According to Amirrajan, the competition between game developers and software writers is unfair. Famous game makers or celebrities such as Warner Brothers, King, SquareEnix will always be nominated for the App Store regardless of whether the game is available or not, instead of an app from an unknown person.

Photo of game code that Amirrajan showed off on Twitter

So even if you can develop a good game line, individual software writers need to note the following points to show Apple that you are a professional game developer:

– You should make a video introducing the game application to increase your chances of being nominated by Apple.

– Your game needs to have a nice description and a nice screenshot. If you do not have experience, you can observe other prominent game apps to copy the style.

– Email Apple after the app is approved to assure them that your game is always ready for release by the developers. Apple takes about three weeks to evaluate features, so if you email a few days in advance when the game hits the shelves, you won’t be nominated.

– Or try playing Apple-nominated games to understand your opponents, so that you can assess whether your creative game is competitive or not. Of course you do not need to buy games from famous companies because their reviews are too much, try the games of independent software writers like you to get a more accurate judgment about the market.

– Stay up to date and use new features in Apple to help it pay more attention to your game.

– Please update every 6 weeks because Apple will notice the games are updated regularly. The 6-week period is reasonable so that Apple’s processor team is not overloaded and you are still nominated as a newly updated game.

– Do NOT update the game on vacation because Apple’s staff is limited and only handle requests from large companies. Instead, you should just improve the interface or make minor bugs.

– Do NOT plagiarize famous games because good game will not be nominated.

– Do NOT be discouraged when the first product was not nominated because Apple favored the big companies and the more famous developers However, if your product is good, anything can happen.

Steps taken

– Take a close look at the do’s and don’ts so as not to waste the team time at Apple, otherwise you may be blacklisted. Remember, there’s no fair play among developers, so don’t whine about why your game is not being nominated while a big company’s game doesn’t get favored by Apple.

– Instead of trying to get into big lists like “Editor’s Choice”, “Best New Game” … aim for smaller prizes like “Best Game with Best Background Music”. Being a new game developer makes you susceptible to fatigue and failure against big companies with strong financial resources.

– Summarize and email Apple

Please email early to the Apple team to review first, do not let the new launch date notice. Of course please write everything in English. Below is the email for Amirrajan’s Noble Circle game:

In the intro you can say all that you’ve been doing like regular updates, there’s a multiplayer mode … Apple’s contact is appstorepromotion@apple.com.

– Send another email when it’s almost time to launch the game.

Wait for the results and if that doesn’t work, ask Apple why. Watch and play the games on the nominee list to find out why. SHOULD find a reason to fix it, but don’t cry or get bored.

– Plan for the next update in the next 6 weeks.

– Repeat the formula and continue to improve until successful. Amirrajan himself took up to 4 months to send emails to receive a response to his top 1 game.

What to do when responding?

If Apple simply responds, “We’ve received your email, thank you,” then go ahead with what you’re doing. If you receive a small prize, look towards larger prizes. You will constantly have to compete with stronger opponents, always trying harder to face new challenges.

Cross-promote your games

Apple even encourages this to increase downloads.

Ask players to rate the game

Don’t ask for a review too soon, but schedule a reasonable time.

Guaranteed income

– Set aside a specific amount each month to buy games from nominated independent developers to evaluate the market.

– Write short-term games because players have little free time. They can increase the success rate of your game.

– Mainly writing games for mobile devices because this is the type that many people play video games most today. Consider both writing games for vertical displays and single-handed play.

Consider the simple games that you work part-time for 2-3 months to post on the App Store. Don’t spend a year on a game that can’t make money in the App Store. It’s best to write a test for Apple to review, approve and respond. If that fails and can’t be charged yet, post it to the free App Store with a message like: “Premium version is coming soon, download now while it’s free”. Note do not let Apple know this is only a beta or they will refuse to release.

– Pay attention to updates instead of the malicious comments. It is the player’s feedback that helps you to perfect your game. Also if the comment is offensive, report it to Apple.

– Take care of the introduction image of the game. If your game has no ads or costs extra money to buy in-game items, print it on the advertising screen.

– Send promotional code with email to Apple. Don’t wait until the new feedback is submitted because they won’t pay attention to your game. Please distribute this code like giving promotional candy to Apple.

– Offer the free version to advertise the premium version.

– Shape your own style. Do not copy or ramble. Focus on the genre of the game that you like best to develop.

Finally, Amirrajan emphasizes that developers of mobile game software should do it with passion instead of working hard on the money they make. Because if you don’t, you won’t be able to persevere until you succeed.