QONQR should sound familiar as we've covered it numerous times in the past. The popular MMO has now been covered on the Windows Phone Developer Blog. It's been revealed that the developer, while basing revenue on in-app purchases, has experienced up to 10x the weekly downloads and double the revenue on Windows Phone compared to iOS.
The development team has accumulated more than 100,000 users, who have access to in-app purchases for upgrades and bonuses to help them progress against other players. The basic idea of the game is to take control of geographic locations, pushing through one of three available factions. Working together along with allies or enemies to QONQR - see our review.
Powered by four servers running on Windows Azure, QONQR is not a difficult game to get your head around and this is one of its highlights. You can literally pick up and play. So just how has it been doing so well on Microsoft's mobile platform? One would assume the team would have better luck on iOS.
The blog post details how the team had difficulty porting to both iOS and Android. Fortunately for QONQR, the Windows Phone Store is less competitive than iOS and Android, making it easier for developers to crack through and attract custom. This factor combined with others has led to the game being downloaded up to 10x more times than iOS some weeks.
Here's what the QONQR team attributes their Windows Phone success to:
- The New & Rising list that showcases the best rated apps from recent weeks
- Apps being promoted inside the Windows Phone Store
- The Windows Phone Web Store.
QONQR also has some strong points, including social integration for players to invite friends (who then receive in-game credits). There are also cubes (in-app purchases) that can be purchased for exclusive items or conversion to credits. Externally, the team has done some advertising and promotion, reaching out to the community on various websites and forums.
Developers who may be considering in-app purchasing as a revenue model should check out the blog post for the full read through. We'll not repost exactly what's written, but there are some helpful pointers that will surely be of use.
If you haven't checked out QONQR for Windows 8 (companion app) and Windows Phone (QR code below), download it right this very second. You'll not be disappointed.
Source: Windows Phone Developer Blog
