Apple enabled one studio to accept pre-orders for a game slated for distribution on the App Store and also supported it on Kickstarter. As a result, it spent three months in the top 10 grossing apps in one of the categories of the American App Store.
In February, after Tim Schafer raised several million dollars for his new game via Kickstarter (as we already reported), hysteria around the service began. Studio after studio attempted to replicate the success of the creator of games like Monkey Island, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango. Some, by the way, succeeded.
The popularity of the service also raised the question: will players be disappointed by projects realized in this manner? Generally, any work is result-oriented. A developer might lack motivation once, to put it bluntly, they've already been paid for a project. It becomes akin to working after being given an advance.
Nevertheless, recently, the studio Six to Start decided to share their successful experience. Six months ago, Apple gave the company the go-ahead, allowing them to collect pre-orders for the game Zombies, Run! both via Kickstarter and outside of it.
However, before that, Six to Start encountered a small challenge.
As is known, one of Kickstarter’s main features is that a person who significantly funds the development of a game receives its version for free when it launches. But it's not entirely clear how to distribute several thousand copies of a paid iOS game for free to the project's backers when you only have 50 promo codes and the ability to test the app on just 100 devices?
Since the studio was simultaneously developing a free version of the game with limited content, they decided on the following: before launch, they would send all backers a link to a server where they could register their accounts. They would then need to download the free version of the game and enter their account details upon launching it. This would unlock content closed off to others.
"The question was how Apple would react to such a strategy," wrote one of the developers on the company blog. Therefore, another challenge was informing Apple about what and how they planned to do.
Writing explanations wasn't necessary. Cupertino reached out to them first, intrigued by the game. Moreover, they subsequently assisted Six To Start with advice and didn’t object when, after the Kickstarter campaign ended, the studio continued to raise funds from fans.
In total, Zombies, Run! earned $72,600 on Kickstarter (the goal was to raise $12,500). Its release on the App Store took place on February 27, 2012. Three thousand people received free access to the game. Since its launch, the Six to Start project has remained among the top grossing apps in the U.S. in the "Health & Fitness" category. The current price of the game is $7.99.
The developers suggest not viewing this small success story as a recommendation for action. In their opinion, what was allowed last year might not "fly" this year or in the future. Nonetheless, precedent has been set, providing a benchmark for those seeking funding for an iOS project on Kickstarter.