Kuyi Mobile: Without advertising revenue, we would have given up on iPhone

When it comes to iPhone development, there's a real sense of community with independent studios keen to give each other a helping hand.

Following Venan Entertainment's lead designer Brandon Curiel's blog post detailing the struggles the developer had endured getting its apps noticed, independent outfit Kuyi Mobile has similarly laid out its first year experiences with the App Store in an equally candid entry.

The Phillipines-based developer has two games on iPhone nine month old Card Drop, with sales of 4,543 to date, and SOW, which has sold 323 units in its five months on sale.

Selling the sale

The two games have been sold in a variety of ways and, by Kuyi's own admission, taught the studio a number of lessons it has also seen fit to detail.

Indeed, Card Drop initially launched at 99c, but its price was quickly bumped up to $1.99, with the studio concluding that "it's more advantageous to sell your apps above 99c because that way, you can get more serious customers and still have enough to buffer to conduct discounted promos".

Kuyi certainly hasn't been backward in trying out various sales techniques.

Both games are, somewhat controversially, available on Cydia the marketplace for jailbroken iPhones. Each game has also been released in Lite form, with revenue generated from advertising via AdMob and Google Adwords.

Advertising for all

Without such advertising, in fact, Kuyi admits it would "probably be waving a white flag by now", with more profit - $5,426 in total having been generated by such ads than from game sales themselves, which have brought in around $4,415.

Promotion, however, is what leads to downloads in any shape or form according to the developer's blog entry.

"Producing a top-notch high quality title is just half the battle. The other half is getting your new product discovered and spreading the word," it advises.

"Collaborate and contribute to the community. Join forums. Get to know your players/fans. Be open to constructive criticisms. Blog. Tweet. Follow veteran developers on Twitter, Facebook and learn advanced techniques."

All points highlight just how much extra work has to go on outside the actual development of a title to ensure it is a success.

Nonetheless, the studio currently has two new projects on the go, concluding that both outsourced projects and iPad might both offer riches in the coming months and years.

[source: Kuyi Mobile]