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Ask HN: How to get more downloads for Windows 8 app/game for free?

2 points by mchau ↗ HN
Sorry for the re-post but my friend told me I did it wrong on the previous one.

I just created a Windows 8 game called Space Bugs(http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/space-bugs/df756f37-8bb6-4fc3-b240-219d829f0d29) to test out the market. It's been released for 3 days now and there are only 2 downloads - me and my friend. Yes, I didn't spend any money advertising. I thought that it would at least get several hundred downloads. I've released a few iPhone/iPad apps and that's always been the case. Has anyone been able to get traction without spending money on advertising? Any tips on where to get free or very cheap advertising?

3 comments

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Avalaxy
Not meant to be blunt, but there's a really obvious way: make the game better. Make it stand out visually, gameplay-wise, make sure people share your app (you could ask them to rate it, you might give them something in return), make people want to get back to your app. Create promotional images and submit them with your app so that your app can be featured when the Windows Store team thinks it's good enough. Listen to your users and fix their problems.
mchau
I agree with all the suggestions but as I stated, only me and my friend have downloaded the game so far. In order to get user feedback and rating to improve the game, I need users to download it. I was just wondering if any other Windows 8 app/game developers are experiencing the same issue. Like I said with the iPhone/iPad game, you usually get a few hundreds if not more downloads on your first day of release without any advertising.
HarshaThota
Try posting on some Windows-related blogs/forums/sites and get some exposure for the game.