This is something I have been wondering about for a while. Is it important to release updates for your apps? And if so why?

Would for example Clash of Clans be so succesful for so long without updates? Do you get any bumps in exposure when releasing a new update? On sites and such? Is that one reason?

I guess one point would be that it gets additional content that keeps player for longer, but that aside is there any other reason? For example would it be a point in releaseing updates still if there was enough content there to begin with to last for a year? Would it still be better to not have it all there at the beginning and release the content as new updates?

Also a side question. I have heard that on iOS if you release an update all your old reviews and scores are gone? is this just visual or does this mean you get bumped down when releasing an update?

I would guess its successful, because they are often/still running TV ads?

Companies like Supercell (who make clash of clans) have full-time staff members who's entire job is to analyze the data collected from player's devices and guess why people are and aren't spending money, and then suggesting psychological experiments that can be carried out on their player base to confirm their hypothesis and discover how the game can be subtly tweaked to make it more addictive profitable.

They aren't successful simply because they publish updates. Publishing updates is just a side-effect!

I have heard that on iOS if you release an update all your old reviews and scores are gone?

The app store shows reviews and scores for the current version and for "all versions." When you ship a new version, the "current version" reviews will initially be empty.

With apps/games that talk to servers like Clash of Clans, the client updates are mostly either for bug fixes (which does happen frequently), or a major release that require additional graphics to render the new features.

Is it important to release updates for your apps? Well if your app is having bugs that's preventing people from enjoying it, then yes, it's very important.

Would CoC be so successful for so long without updates? Depends on the game. People do get bored from doing the same thing over and over again, which games like CoC tend to suffer from. Repetitive tasks will get dull after a while. You need to throw in new things once in a while to get people excited again.

Hmm ok, so i gather from this there is no benefit in the update itself? It just seems like there is a more update mentality for mobile games vs other games and platforms. I was thinking updates would give you more exposure or somtehing like that.. I am not sure then why so many people keep updating their games on mobile.

mileafly, they may be fixing bugs. They may be adding new content to keep the game fresh for the players. They may be adding new TLC to increase revenue.

I think this is critical to an ongoing relationship with your players, but it depends who your players are.

For example, I love Space Engineers, its a kickass game, but what keeps me coming back and talk about it so much to friends is that there is something new EVERY WEEK.

Even more, what they add is often the thing people ask for, not just a cryptic item off their secret secret list.

Keen Software House (the company behind that game) has made a gamble: no marketing, just word-of-mouth, and it paid off (over 1M copies sold actually). They've decided to care about their user base and make this their actual marketing campaign.

It worked with that crowd of wannabe engineers and other sci-fi adepts, but may not have worked with, say, soccer mums...

Some games cannot exist without said updates: for a number of years, companies has been actively creating slots machines or level-based games (Candy Crush) and delivering content week after week. It would not have worked if they've put all of the machines there upfront, because the life length of the app would be greatly diminished by hardcore players. Plus, they would've needed to spend so much money on the creation of these machines that it would've been a very big gamble on their part.

Instead, they start with a few levels and build from there, investing the profit they make in sales in making additional content for the fans that have been patient with them.

Then, there are other games that feel entirely finite and wouldn't really benefit from updates all that much (particularly single-player experiences where DLC wouldn't necessarily apply). It is safe so say that these can exist without updates, and probably do better that way, but it is still ideal to keep close watch over comments in case any glaring issue pops up and needs fixing. There's no adding any content, but it can make things smoother for the players that are trying to enjoy the game.

So there you have it: Yay/Nay!