Yes I had to delete and reinstall when the latest update went through.
1 Like
I submitted a fix for the crashing bug yesterday. I’m optimistic that Apple will approve and release the fix today.
2 Likes
The crashing bug should be fixed in the Hosted Games app v1.6.1. It’s live now in the App Store.
3 Likes
Yay, mine works now! Also I only just noticed the detailed vs. compact view, super cool! Great work as always!
1 Like
option 3: people buying cch1 after getting hooked with 2 to get to full experience
2 Likes
Can an update adding a link/directions at the end of CCH1 help with this? Or is that there already?
4 Likes
I’ve been playing with the App Store search button and discovered something that will increase the visibility of the Hosted Games games (and likewise for CoG games).
If the name of the game is in the update description it can be searched for on the App Store. For example, if you search for Nuclear Powered Toaster, it brings up the Hosted Games app. However, for any games that are not listed in the update, they can’t be searched for. For example, if you search for The Kepler Colony, nothing comes up.
The answer? Add the full library of hosted games to every update. Have it as a footnote to the update. This will increase hot results for searches and also make the Hosted Games app itself more visible.
12 Likes
As someone who’s been waiting for this game app just about since the first one was released, I’m more than happy to say it exceeded my expectations!
1 Like
So I’m just throwing this out there, but the Omnibus app has actually increased sales of my games, Trial of the Demon Hunter, Captive of Fortune, and Foundation of Nightmares, because those three are now being bought on both the omnibus and their individual apps.
The Magician’s Burden is also selling comparitively well on the Omnibus: within a couple hundred sales of Android each month, with Android being the biggest market.
So I’m sorry for ever doubting you, CoG! The Omnibus looks great after all the updates, too. You were forced to make this change but you did the best you could from it, and it seems to be succeeding quite well, at least from my perspective.
11 Likes
The omnibus was always going to increase the sales of games well after their release, because it keeps them more visible than they would be on the App Store (where they would essentially be invisible within a couple weeks, unless they occasionally popped up on the low end of the Top Paid RPGs list). Plus, it removes the tyranny of user reviews.
The damage is presumably more in the initial release. The old separate releases were a lot more visible on the store than the omnibus. Plus, as people have said, explaining how the omnibus works to those less tech-savvy in your life is not a fun job. They hear “you have to download a free app to get it” and you can actually watch their sphincter tighten at the thought of it. Their eyes glaze over and unless you know them well enough for them to trust you to walk them through it (and you definitely have to walk them through it), it’s over. The omnibus just sounds skeezy, even though it’s the furthest thing from it. Not CoG’s fault at all, it’s grown into a great app. But it’s just not a concept non-gamers are comfortable or familiar with.
7 Likes
True, but how many people have you personally tried to sell your game to? I just kind of sat back and watched like 1,100 people buy TMB off the omnibus without me doing anything, haha.
Interestingly for me its not making such a big difference. For the four games I get data for (Tokyo Wizard, Highway Wars, Lost in the Pages, Starship Adventures), the omnibus is making sales which are roughly the same as the sales of the app on itunes. This is obviously welcome, but most of the sales for these games are coming from google anyway…
2 Likes
If we include both in person mentions and places like Facebook, by both myself and my wife? Hard to say. Theoretically a couple thousand to ten or more would have seen it from direct posts on feeds and some large and permissive groups we belong to, plus the feeds of those who shared it. Now a lot of those would not have bought it regardless, it is a post advertising something after all. But it’s undeniable even less bought it because of the obfuscation around how to buy it on the big A. It’s why I have been leading with the Android and Steam links in pretty much all my online pimping out of the story. It’s just simpler.
1 Like
Makes sense! Though Steam is a much smaller share of the market, in my experience. Android used to be gigantic, like 60% of the sales, but it has evened out more recently. In my experience, here’s a rough estimate of how the markets are split up:
Android: 45%
Apple: 35%
Steam: 12%
Web: 6%
Amazon: 3%
4 Likes
Well, I was leading with just Android, but the mediocre reviews made me switch it out sometimes. Better no reviews than poor ones.
Ah, Amazon. The participation trophy of app marketplaces.
To be fair, I think before the omnibus Apple was a bigger piece of the pie than that for the company as a whole. I might be wrong, though.
1 Like
Several years ago, Apple was the one at 60% with Android at 30%, but then around 2016ish, Android flipped places with it and took over at 60%. Then maybe around 2017, they started to become a bit more even. Obviously these numbers are very general and just off the top of my head, but I find it interesting nonetheless.
3 Likes
I believe you can explain to people, “to play the story, you need to get the app launcher first” and lead them to the omnibus. By definition per se, omnibus is not a launcher, but I believe people are familiar with the concept of app launcher just like app downloader.
You run with a more tech-savvy crowd than I do. One of my aunts asked me to send her a signed copy of my story.
11 Likes
For me, the omnibus has definitely had a negative effect. My sales for The Kepler Colony are 63% Android and just 27% Apple. That’s definitely down to my game being released at the advent of the Omnibus app, meaning little exposure on Apple at launch.
5 Likes
From the perspective of a newly published CoG author (Werewolves: Haven Rising), the omnibus has very, very likely hurt my sales. My total iOS sales are at less than half of my Android ones, and that’s only because of the release week flurry where people who are already fans of CoG bought it. September’s report that I got this week shows Apple sales at only 14% to Android’s 69%. That’s pretty dire unless I’m missing something. On the positive side, Android sales are great.
4 Likes