Startups Stack Exchange Archive

Should I write a “holiday” theme for my mobile app?

I have a puzzles game for phones, and I’m wondering whether it’s worth it for me to write a holiday skin for it.

I know a lot of other games do this, and I certainly see that it could be fun, but assuming adding any sort of skin will involve at least some design, development, and testing, not to mention sometimes app updates can cause corruption or bugs in edge cases, is it really worth it?

The way I see it, the main (only?) pro is that it keeps a fun and lively vibe to the game. I guess it also shows users that we’re paying attention to them. Maybe there’s an advantage that users will see the app update and choose to go into it if they’ve forgotten about it?

I’m also not sure whether the platform matters. Is there a difference between the iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone versions? Do, for example, Android users respond really well to new skins but iPhone ones don’t?

On top of that, assuming I have more than one game out there, technology questions aside, are some types of games more prone to accepting skins? I mentioned a “puzzle” one here, but what about other categories of games?

The obvious next question is, if it is worth it, how can I do it without seeming to favor one religion or holiday. I’ve seen some games that put characters in “Santa hats,” but I don’t know whether that’s going too far or not.

Answer 1679

Like you said a lot of games and other apps do this. That is causing a problem both on the iTunes side and the users side.

Since a lot of games are uploading new versions with holiday artwork, they all have to be approved and updated. http://appreviewtimes.com/ios/annual-trend-graph

This graph explains everything, halloween, christmas/new year, easter are all holidays which create a huge app update spike. Which means you need to upload the special version at least 2 weeks before the holiday. Which means you need to start working on it 1 month before the holiday.

There is also the user factor, I personally researched about the users reading update changelogs. At holiday times when a user gets 20 updates as a bulk, they don’t pay attention to new features, cause there are so many. So these times are the worst times to introduce new features.

Picking a holiday time to reacquire users is also a bad tactic. PPC rates go through the roof, they are constantly bombarded with new app ads and updates. You will have a lower chance to get users attention at these times.

Is it worth it? Personal opinion: Unless you have 10m+ users I don’t think its worth the effort. So much competition, stress, work, so little gain.

For 2014 christmas, you are too late to submit a holiday update, don’t even think about it. iTunes is shutting down in 3 days, there is no time.

Note: About the questions that are missing: I don’t know the answer

Answer 1731

I’d reference the approach used by VLC. Instead of annoying users by pushing a seasonal update, it simply changes the icon that appears in the Dock during the holiday season:

VLC icon

Much like easter eggs, it’s kind of fun when you run into it. Whether it’s actually worth doing, or putting too much focus on it, is an entirely different question.

On mobile platforms, there are also examples of special releases, rather than updates, at Christmas. For instance, “Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift”. It’s a freebie, so this may actually be useful – as a gift to existing clients, but also as a means for clients to actively share and promote an app they like.

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