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Out in the wild — Installed versions of Burning Platform
Posted by recursive frog (twitter: @RecursiveFrog)
June 1st, 2012 7:01 pm
So, just what happens to an Android game after you post an update to Google Play?
There have been two significant versions of my Ludum Dare 23 game to exist. Version 1 was what I submitted to the contest, and was available on Google for approximately 21 days. When I released Version 7, Version 1 had approximately 50 installs at the time. As you can see, the upgrade caused an immediate drop in version 1 installations, and as you can see the rate of Version 1 installation has dropped over time as people upgrade to version 7.
But look at how many people still are on Version 1. It accounts for just over 24% of the install base. 20 people have not chosen to upgrade, for one reason or another, even after almost three weeks.
Of those 20 people, I expect some are too busy to notice or care that there is an update. Say if they only have 5 minutes to spare, they may not want to waste that time waiting for the update to install. Because they don’t necessarily know a priori how long it takes to install it.
Some may only enjoy the game a little – enough to glance at it from time to time, but not enough to follow through with updates.
Some may not enjoy the game at all, and the only reason it is active is because they happen to have misclicked on it recently.
But I think it’s generally good news that over 60 people have chosen the update and are still playing it
I also think it might have something to do with whether individuals have set their device to alert them on a regular basis if there are app updates. Some people turn notifications off and only check the market app every month or three.
Oh, I haven’t upgraded yet
The truth is that I don’t really see my phone as a gaming platform, so I kinda forgot that the game was there… I have to try version 7 though, because the version I have installed was a quite hard one 
It’s definitely an easier game now.
1. Lines actually persist for a second when you draw them
2. The little people are less suicidal
3. There’s a new powerup item that further extends the time a line will persist onscreen
4. More explicit messaging informing users that the game actually has tilt controls