Since launching last week, Linden Lab's interactive fiction app Versu has been performing somewhat well on the iOS charts, hitting the market at rank 15 in the Books (?) category, then falling to below rank 30. That's according to App Annie, and given that there are hundreds of thousands of apps in Apple's Store, that's not too bad a performance for downloads. (At a semi-educated guess, I'd say this performance translates to total downloads in the five figure range.) However, App Annie also notes its performance for Grossing revenue, through in-app payments, and that's less great news: Starting at rank 288, then falling to 387. That suggests very few people who download the app are buying the additional $4.99 story through an in-app purchase.
In her review of Versu, Iris mentioned that the number of products Linden Lab has been rapidly releasing in the last couple quarters conveyed the impression that they were throwing things at the wall in the hope they'd stick. Whether that's accurate or not, it seems true that Versu and Creatorverse, Linden Lab's other iOS app, are not (so far) sticking:
Since launching last December, the free version of Creatorverse reached top 5 in its categories (Simulation and Puzzle), which is great, but has since dwindled to rankings in the mid-hundreds (see chart above). The paid version did become the top grossing app in its category at launch, but has since dwindled in a similar way.
This is concerning in both cases, because Versu and Creatoverse received a fair amount of press coverage (a write-up on Kotaku, a link on Waxy.org, etc.), yet somehow, have not yet really gained any viral, organic growth. (I.E., people sharing the app with each other, saying, "You gotta try this!")
This isn't to say either product is kaput -- Linden Lab could boost downloads quite a bit with an advertising campaign, and just the right update and feature addition could juice user growth. (It's also pretty weird Versu is sold in the Books category, as opposed to games, which is probably not doing it any favors.) But in its search to find a new audience of users (hopefully paying users) beyond its core Second Life userbase, Linden Lab is still searching.
Of course, there's one very good way Linden Lab could boost the user growth of its products besides Second Life, and it's strange it hasn't yet been tried: Cross-promote these products to Second Life users.
Please share this post with people you like:
Tweet
I tried versu, and the one a month or so ago. In both cases I was thinking "ok, what do I use it for?" A choose your own adventure book for my ipad is a bit old news. If I want adventure I find a pirate sim in SL
Posted by: Ilsa Hesse | Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 03:30 PM
Dio, that was it
Posted by: Ilsa Hesse | Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 03:33 PM
There is an even better way Linden Lab could boost the user growth: By bringing out an Android version, the platform that the majority uses.
Posted by: Eric | Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 05:26 PM
I wanted to try Versu, but it doesn't seem to be available for the iPhone, yet.
Posted by: Seven Overdrive | Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 05:55 PM
Hey, it's on an iPhone!! It HAS to be a success, because it's on an iPhone!! It can't fail... iPhone!! :)
The games that people play on iphones and ipads are quick, short, little things that they can do while waiting 20 minutes at the dentist, in line at the DMV, etc. They are timekillers. And that's fine -- a timekiller game that you always have with you serves the same role we used to solve by carrying a paperback everywhere.
But giving people on Iphones a game that requires work, study, effort, and time to learn how to play isn't going to go very far, because it fails to take into account what games people are playing on iphones, and precisely how and why they are playing it on their iphones.
The irony that certain people complain that computers are "relics" and then put out "choose your own adventure" games like we had in the 70s is not lost on me, either. Perhaps the lab can offer a 5$ print-on-demand dead tree version of your custom adventure with the press of a button? If you're going back to the future, may as well go all the way.
Posted by: Shockwave Yareach | Friday, February 22, 2013 at 07:41 AM
I tried Creatorverse but the lack of text made me give up early. I still don't understand it.
Posted by: Adeon Writer | Friday, February 22, 2013 at 09:34 AM
Interesting that you mention cross promotion because I've touched upon that issue myself in relation to the banner advertising hoo-ha.
Are these statistics unusual for apps released on IOS and Android devices? How many apps do grab a foothold?
Posted by: Ciaran Laval | Friday, February 22, 2013 at 11:22 AM