Hey guys!

My name is Hassaan, and I'm one of the devs for Scramble Your Friends. Our app has been out for 1-2 months and has not been doing amazingly well. We're at about 8,600 users (mostly free version or pirated paid version). We are considering a publisher because of the marketing push they would be able to provide, but we need some help.

First of all, after being released for 1-2 months, should we even approach a publisher?

Second, can any developers that have personally worked with publishers recommend some and/or provide some tips about approaching them?

Finally, in our situation, would anyone advise us to avoid publishers and instead just wait to let the app build up on its own?

Thanks a bunch!

Free Version: http://itunes.apple....d474112542?mt=8
Paid Version: http://itunes.apple....d474111998?mt=8

1. after being released for 1-2 months, should we even approach a publisher?
3. in our situation, would anyone advise us to avoid publishers and instead just wait to let the app build up on its own?

1. You certainly could. Whether you should or not depends on what you want to accomplish. My recommendation is that you collect pros and cons either way, and make a decision grid.

3. Yes, someone would advise that. But others would advise the opposite. You don't need opinions so much as you need to understand the pros and cons so you can make a decision.

BTW, I'm moving this to the Business forum.

[quote name='hassaanm' timestamp='1325621630' post='4899370']1. after being released for 1-2 months, should we even approach a publisher?
3. in our situation, would anyone advise us to avoid publishers and instead just wait to let the app build up on its own?

1. You certainly could. Whether you should or not depends on what you want to accomplish. My recommendation is that you collect pros and cons either way, and make a decision grid.

3. Yes, someone would advise that. But others would advise the opposite. You don't need opinions so much as you need to understand the pros and cons so you can make a decision.

BTW, I'm moving this to the Business forum.
[/quote]

Alright,thanks.

We believe our game is good enough to be successful, but the game is in desperate need of exposure and marketing. We were thinking about approaching a publisher, Chillingo, and wanted to hear thoughts about them and whether or not they would be able to provide that marketing push we're looking for.

Basically, if we need marketing, is approaching a publisher a good decision? This is our first big game, so we're new to this.

Basically, if we need marketing, is approaching a publisher a good decision? This is our first big game, so we're new to this.

"Good decision" is subjective - only you can make that determination. My recommendation is that you consider the pros and cons (and of course the alternative is to learn marketing yourself), and make a decision grid.

Hi Hassaan.

8,600 users is a fair start. What kind of response have you received from users? What kind of trends do you see when reviewing weekly installs?

Implementing a successful marketing campaign post-launch is difficult but not impossible. Was any marketing done before releasing your game? Depending on both the outcome of your attempts to form a relationship with a publisher and your available resources you may do well to consider a game pr firm.

Making meaningful contact with a publisher is always easiest if someone introduces you. Perhaps you have a dev friend who has had a positive experience with a publisher. If interested, a publisher would probably prefer to get behind the next version of your game. I would suggest having a list of updates you are working on when making your pitch.

Another avenue to look at is using the players as marketing tools, and giving incentives for them to get more of their friends playing, such as bonus tokens, such as Zinga and other social networking games have done. And you should also look at possibly expanding your userbase with an Android version, if possible.