Features

App Store Analysis: Bookworm peggling gives PopCap two in top 10

Minigore, Cartoon Wars and Space Invaders also crash in

App Store Analysis: Bookworm peggling gives PopCap two in top 10
|
| App Store Analysis

You'd think August would see less chart activity on the US App Store as developers and gamers head off on their holidays.

In which case, maybe the start of the month saw everyone doing the equivalent of their packing. It's been a busy week.

In terms of new entries, Mountain Sheep and Chillingo's Minigore (99c) rushed straight into the top 10 within days of its release.

Other cheap, newish, games that performed well included BLUE's Cartoon Wars (99c) - billed as a tower defense RTS hybrid - which entered at 21, and NimbleBit's Moon Drop (99c) at 37.

Big brands came with Capcom's Resident Evil 4 ($4.99) in at 55, and Taito's Space Invaders Infinity Gene ($4.99) in at 54.

Meanwhile, re-entries into the top 10 included Lima Sky's excellent Doodle Jump (99c), which may have been on the back of Pocket God's recent mash-up. It 'jumped' from 34 to 4.

FreshGames' Ranch Rush (99c) was in at 7, while Glu's Deer Hunter 3D ($2.99) reached number 11. LunaSea Games' Battle Shock (99c) re-entered at 14.

Who's peggling(TM) this week?

Appropriately, since it was PopCap Games' 99c sale pricing of Peggle that inspired our peggling(TM) meme, the company was at it again. This time it cut the price of Bookworm to 99c for a week (ending 5 August). This saw it rise from number 96 to 6.

As previously reported, EA peggled(tm) Spore Origins when it dropped outside the Top 100. It's now at 36.

However, peggling(tm) doesn't always work.

IUGO cut the price of Star Hogs from $4.99 to 99c in a week, but it only reach number 45, while Apollo 11: The Game and F.A.S.T. actually lost chart position when their price was cut to 99c.

Average price remains steady

The average price of the Top 100 was static, coming in at $2.67, compared to last week's $2.68.

The distribution of average game prices within the chart and the number of games at each price point suggests that the higher reachers of the chart are increasingly becoming dominated by 99c games however.

The average price of the games in the top 20 dropped considerably compared to last week.

But there are more games priced at $4.99. This seems to be the standard, long-term premium pricepoint for branded and/or critically acclaimed titles.


The most expensive games on the chart remain The Sims 3 (34) and Real Racing (94, down from 50) - both $9.99.

PopCap dominates top 10

The other metric we like to investigate is how various publishers are doing. EA just pips Gameloft to the top spot this week, although both companies have had to drop their prices to maintain position.

Digital Chocolate remains the strongest other publisher but Californian Gold Rush dropped out the Top 100 reducing it to four games.

Yet, thanks to its Bookworm sale, PopCap has three games in the top 100 and, more impressively, two games in the top 10. Its average price has obviously been slashed to gain this however.

Capcom also has three games in the chart: an ecletic mixture of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Resident Evil 4 and Mega Man II.

Until next week chart pickers...

Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.