From the archive
Gravity Hook HD Free Weekend Update
Over the weekend of May 27, 2011, Semi Secret Software made Gravity Hook HD free on its own, without a promotion company, then published the numbers on May 30. German iPhone sites ran the figures.
Semi Secret is an independent publication, not the studio that made these games; this page is an unofficial account written from the public record.
The downloads
- About 17,000 downloads in the game's whole life before the weekend.
- Thursday night: 436.
- Friday: 42,051.
- Saturday: 48,263.
- Sunday: 57,659.
- In all, 148,409 free downloads, with best ranks of 42nd among free iPad apps and 111th among free iPhone apps.
What it cost
Gravity Hook HD was the studio's worst seller, so the weekend gave up perhaps 15 or 20 sales, under $50. Through its own backend, alongside Game Center, the studio also collected an estimated 15,000 to 75,000 new customer contacts for its next launch.
What it showed
Promoters such as Free App A Day held about half of the top ten free spots that weekend and reach further, but often ask for a large share of the revenue afterwards. Going alone still grew the game's install base by an order of magnitude in one weekend. Most press came on Friday, yet downloads rose each day. And two games that were not on sale, Wurdle and Steambirds HD, sold over 20 percent more that weekend.