“Our download numbers for our new apps are the lowest ,” said Ton. We created a new game called Presidential Election Challenge, and instead of being rewarded for having a brand-new product at launch, we are being penalized.”Īnd that penalty is coming in the form of few installs. No one is going to look for something they do not know exists. “It’s the fact that there is nothing to indicate there are more apps to be found beyond those being highlighted by Apple. “The problem is not just a lack of categories,” Multieducator developer Marc Schulman told GamesBeat.
Ton says that this strategy has historically worked for him and others, which is why it’s so scary to launch Apple TV apps without any of the tools to facilitate that. “As a small indie developer with a small marketing budget, we leverage most of our visibility of our apps from the search and discoverability of the App Store.” “This is actually a very talked about subject among developers on forums,” ArchSquare cofounder Henry Ton told GamesBeat. “I’m sure there are hundreds of other great apps from other developers that will never see the light of day either,” he said.Īnd Greenstone isn’t alone in pointing out this problem. And Apple chose not to highlight any of Greenstone’s apps even those he says they are console-like, high quality, and support 3D televisions. Greenstone points out that the only apps new Apple TV owners will really see are the ones that Apple is officially featuring. You can’t even look for the top 100 most downloaded or highest-grossing games.Īnd if you’re not featured, you simply won’t show up in front of Apple TV owners naturally. So unless you know to look for Bugdom 2, Air Wings, Otto Matic, Nanosaur 2, or Nucleus, it’s unlikely you’d ever stumble upon them because - at least for now - the only game category is “games.” You will find nothing split up by genres. If you go to the “Games” category on your Apple TV, it will only show you what is featured. This is such a slap in the face to all of the developers who have been working so hard.” “And now I see that there’s absolutely no way to discover the apps unless a user explicitly searches for it.
“I just worked my ass off for the last two months getting five games ready for launch day,” Greenstone wrote in his complaint.