Delayed release in progress

I recently finished up my 3rd App Store game, SudokuKids for iPad.  While I can't wait to see it available in the App Store, I decided this was a good candidate for delayed release.

I know many people advocate the delayed release.  Usually, the main point is to try to build up a buzz around the app. Noel Llopis wrote a nice short description of delayed release at the end of his review of the Business of iPhone and iPad Development.  You can contact media/review sites and even give out promo codes for your app ahead of time with the goal of having most of your PR hit right around the launch day.  To be honest, I’m not expecting to be able to generate a lot of buzz, but any buzz does help. 

The main reason I delayed the release of this app was to give myself sometime to work on some of the tasks I’ve been neglecting.  I’m not sure how important these tasks are but I was beginning to feel they were pulling me down.  I decided I would give myself a few days to try to get them in order before this app hit the store.

First up was a new RazorAnt Software web site.  It still isn’t quite done yet, but is getting closer every day.  I needed to make more information available about my apps and this is the place for that.  I’m not sure how valuable the web site is for iOS game developers, but as I have some different apps coming up yet this year, I figured I really can’t neglect it any longer.

Next, I needed to start getting some social media connections going.  I’ve just focused on making games in the past and hoped the marketing would come.  Word of mouth has been ok, but hopefully this will propel it a bit better. 

Lastly, I wanted to work on getting better pre-release details together.  Better images, write ups, a press release.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a video done this week as well.

I was kind of hoping this would be the calm before the storm type of thing.  So far, I’ve been busy, busy, busy and feel like I’m not producing a whole lot, but I feel better about the image RazorAnt Software is projecting and that counts for something.  Since this is my first iPad app, I’ll have no idea if any of this helped compared to my previous releases, but I feel better about what I’ve done.

SudokuKids for iPad was approved last week and will be available in the App Store this Thursday, August 11th.  If you have kids, be sure to check it out.