How to get "Apple Recommended" for a good game? There is a routine

It goes without saying that "Apple Recommends" is a traffic and sales accelerator for the industry, especially the gaming industry. But how do you get Apple Recommends?

Shule has always wanted to write about this topic, but has been troubled by the lack of first-hand material.

Coincidentally, the high-definition adventure sandbox mobile game "Portal Knights" published by 505 Games and represented by Duoyi Network officially opened iOS pre-orders on July 5, with a pre-sale discount of only 25 yuan from the original price of 30 yuan. On the day of pre-sale, it was recommended by Apple.

Now that there is a latest case here, after analyzing it, I found that it really takes a lot of work to get "Apple recommended".

Level 1: Want a good story? Try the player perspective

In fact, last year, Apple officially released guidelines on how APP can get editorial recommendations, and the first rule was “Your APP needs a story.”

This story can be tear-jerking. There is a case in point. Earlier, a game called "Cancer Like a Dragon" was successfully recommended and won the "Most Impactful Game" award at TGA, which is known as the "Oscar of Games".

The creator is the father of a child with cancer. The game was made by the father to commemorate his son who died of cancer. It records the whole process of the little boy's fight against cancer.

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But such cases cannot be replicated, so what good stories can regular games tell?

The story of "Portal Knights" is simple: during the PC game era, after the game was launched on the Steam platform, the approval rating of this game exceeded 80%, including many Chinese reviews left by Chinese players.

Then, when it was ported to mobile games, especially when it was released in China, the previous success on the Steam platform gave this new game extra points. And because Chinese players showed enthusiasm by breaking through language and regional restrictions, the editors felt it was necessary to tell everyone the good news as soon as possible with a big headline - you can play mobile games on the national server.

In other words, "Apple Recommends" also involves competition with other platforms.

At this time, an experience emerged:

1. It must have "overseas connections" that the editors feel can withstand scrutiny;
2. This "overseas relationship" must be cared for by domestic players, so it is worth recommending;
3. The success of earlier versions may have made Apple editors think that "it is necessary to make it our partner."
4. For a game that players pay attention to in various ways, such a story is often more likely to touch the hearts of players.

Level 2: Want a long article recommendation? It must be subversive

Paying attention to the "Apple Recommendation" of "Portal Knights", what actually excites me the most is its past continuous recommendation.

When this game was launched in the US Apple Store earlier, it impressed the Apple App Store editors with its excellent game quality and received a long recommendation in the Today section of the Apple Store homepage.

Obviously, the previous experience does not apply, so there is still a secret here.

According to the rules published by Apple, unique stories are more likely to attract the attention of editors, especially those that explore how developers released an app that disrupted the entire industry, or how an app helped customers solve unique problems.

Does Portal Knights have such a story? The answer is yes.

As a sandbox game, I believe many people will immediately think of "Minecraft", and among the features that come to mind, the most eye-catching one should be "sandbox game = pixel level".

What if the experience of a sandbox game becomes "ultra-clear picture quality. The expressiveness of 4K movie quality makes every blade of grass, tree, and building in front of you become particularly beautiful and pleasing to the eye, and a screenshot can be a wallpaper"?

Two words will appear in the mind of every player, including the editor - subversion.

That’s enough to get a long article recommendation.

Similar situations have occurred many times. For example, the phenomenal game "Carp" that appeared in 2014 became the first domestic game recommended by Apple's App Store worldwide. Its core selling point lies in its powerful Chinese ink painting style.

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Level 3: Want editors to recommend you? Show your presence

When studying the routines recommended by Apple, a somewhat incongruous word appeared many times - showing presence.

If one of the key factors for "Portal Knights" to appear in the United States and China and receive consecutive heavy recommendations is that it successfully made its presence felt in front of editors and players, don't think of it as a derogatory term.

According to Apple's recommended rules, when selecting featured apps, Apple's editors will look for high-quality apps from all categories, paying special attention to newly launched apps and apps with major updates.

So, how did Portal Knights do it? What is considered a major update from the US version to the Chinese version?

The original flavor is irreversible, Duoyi simply added a "heavy taste" experience to the original flavor. When optimizing the national server, Duoyi added national server-specific features such as instant voice, cloud storage, and online functions. This allows Chinese players to gain a sense of immersion with more domestic game play experiences when getting started with a game.

Everything can be synchronized on the cloud, which is something that mobile games did not pay attention to in the past. In other words, many mobile games are stand-alone games that can be connected to the Internet. If this point is broken and the gameplay is further improved, the mobile games will have a strong presence.

In fact, many games that have been "recommended by Apple" have used this method, such as adding local elements and cultural images, adding more gameplay that is relevant and familiar to local players, etc.

There are only three steps to the experience. "Portal Knights" can do it, but can other games do it? To put it bluntly, it all comes down to the moral integrity of making a good game with heart.

About the author: Zhang Shule is a columnist for People's Daily Online and People's Post and Telecommunications News, and an observer of the Internet and gaming industries.