How to get more downloads for your mobile game

To get more downloads for your mobile game without relying on ads, pick the same category and subgenre as the leader in your genre, rank for the generic long-tail searches it ranks for, test and localize your icon, and show the most powerful part of the game in your first two screenshots and the first seconds of your video.

Then validate with a soft launch before going worldwide, and keep the game alive in the store with events every month: In-App Events on the App Store and promotional content on Google Play. That's how we passed 1 million organic downloads with my studio's idle games at Atalana Games, at the height of the idle boom and against fierce competition. Here's how, step by step.

Pick the leader's category and subgenre

My approach here is always to copy the leader in your space: choose the same category and subgenre, so you show up as related or recommended alongside it and close to it in the charts. It fits with the keyword strategy I explain below.

What the stores say:

• App Store: a game can choose up to two Games subcategories, and the primary category decides where it appears when people browse the store and in the charts (Apple).
• Google Play: you choose one category and up to five tags. Google asks for tags that are clearly relevant to your game, and gives the example of not adding tags for similar genres just to attract similar players (Play Console Help).

That's why I only copy the leader when the game genuinely belongs to that subgenre. If it doesn't, forcing it won't bring you downloads that stick.

Rank for your genre's long tail

In games, generic genre searches are brutally competitive. Apple says as much in its search guide: popular terms drive a lot of traffic but are highly competitive, especially for newer or smaller apps, while less common terms drive less traffic but face less competition (Apple).

At Atalana Games, the strategy was to rank for the generic long-tail searches the biggest competitor was ranking for, finding every last gap to capture related downloads. Always generic searches: I never use or recommend competitor brand names in metadata or in the keyword field. I explain how to split keywords across the title, subtitle and keyword field in my guide on how to get more app downloads.

Icon: test it and localize it

You should always be testing your icon to push click-through rate. On the App Store you can test up to 3 alternative icons against the original with Product Page Optimization (Apple); on Google Play, up to 2 variants with store listing experiments (Play Console Help).

And think about specific markets and dates. In Soccer Star 2018 World Legend, by Redvel Games, we swapped the icon during Ramadan for one featuring the player Salah and a Ramadan crescent moon. The result: +30% downloads. That's cultural localization in its purest form: the same game, adapted to what that market was living through.

Screenshots and gameplay video

The mistakes I keep seeing in games are ugly, half-finished, dull, flat screenshots that add nothing. Here's what I do instead.

Real gameplay and renders: the mix

Real gameplay is what the stores accept most readily; too much artwork sometimes gets rejected. The prettiest renders tend to be more attractive and convert better. The best option is a mix of both. The rules point the same way:

• Apple: screenshots should show the app in use, not just title art or a splash screen, and they can include text and image overlays (guideline 2.3.3). App previews may only use screen recordings of the game itself, with narration or text overlays if needed (2.3.4) (App Review Guidelines).
• Google Play: screenshots should show the actual in-game experience. To be eligible for Google Play's recommendations, a game needs at least 3 screenshots in 16:9 or 9:16 (Play Console Help).

Your first 2 screenshots

They're the ones that convert. They have to show the player's pain point and the most powerful thing about the game. On the App Store, with no app preview, the first one to three screenshots appear in search results, depending on their orientation (Apple), and Google recommends prioritizing the game's UI in the first three (Play Console Help).

The first seconds of your video

Always open with the most powerful moment: a win or the most eye-catching part of the game. Both stores autoplay the video muted:

• App Store: up to 3 app previews per language, 15 to 30 seconds long (App Store Connect Help).
• Google Play: one YouTube video, with ads disabled and no age restriction, of which only the first 30 seconds autoplay. Google asks you to show the real game within the first 10 seconds and to make at least 80% of the video actual gameplay (Play Console Help).

Text overlays and CTAs

I put text on my screenshots, at the top, with related keywords where possible. That this text helps with search is a common observation in the industry, not something Apple or Google document: the search factors Apple publishes are title, subtitle, keywords, category and user behavior. What's clear is that it helps conversion.

With CTAs, the two stores differ. On the App Store I add a CTA to one of the screenshots. On Google Play I don't: Google recommends avoiding CTAs such as "Download now" or "Play now" in screenshots, and keeping text to no more than 20% of the image; it isn't grounds for rejection, but it can limit your game's promotional opportunities (Play Console Help).

Soft launch before you go worldwide

Validate before you launch everywhere. Canada is usually a good bet: it's not as big as the US, but its audience is very similar and it has strong purchasing power.

As a general method, a soft launch usually looks at:

• Retention in the first days after install: does the game hook people?
• Listing conversion: which icon and screenshots work best, before you take the risk in the big markets.
• Keywords: which ones you start ranking for and which ones need changing.
• Monetization: whether players buy or watch ads as you expected.
• Stability: crashes and ANRs, which on Google Play can reduce your visibility if they exceed the Android vitals thresholds (Android Developers).

Once the game is ready for its global launch, getting the listing ready is a job of its own; it's what I do in an app launch.

Events: In-App Events and promotional content

Today they're the most important lever in my work, and in games they fit naturally with seasons, new modes and key dates.

• In-App Events (App Store): each event can last up to 31 days and shows up in search, across the store tabs and on the product page. People who already have the game see the event card in search results; people who don't see your screenshots (Apple). In a Christmas campaign I ran as an In-App Event for a social casino app in the US, the event passed 200,000 impressions in one month, and over 99% of interactions were opens and re-downloads from existing users. The takeaway: they're mainly for re-engaging and winning back players, not so much for acquiring new ones.
• Promotional content (Google Play): I use it in games for all kinds of promotions, offers and news, and it usually works well if you ship good banners, creatives or video. It's available for all games: offers, time-limited events, major updates and pre-registration announcements, with events lasting up to four weeks. If you also meet Google's premium growth tools criteria, you can target specific audiences, such as players who uninstalled the game or haven't opened it in 28 days, and request featuring at least 14 days in advance (Play Console Help).

Localize for every market

In games, localization was, together with keywords, one of the two levers that took Atalana Games past 1 million organic downloads. At Redvel Games we localized down to the last country and did keyword research even in Chinese. Translating isn't enough: you have to find the keywords people actually use in each country and adapt screenshots and icons to their culture and calendar. I go into more detail on my ASO localization page.

Cross-promotion between your games

If you have several games, one can push the next. We did it a few times at my studios. I only recommend it when it makes sense, for example between games with a similar audience; it isn't always a good idea.

Checklist for your game

• Same category and subgenre as the leader, if your game genuinely belongs there.
• Generic long-tail genre keywords, no competitor brand names.
• Icon in constant testing and adapted to specific dates and markets.
• First two screenshots showing the most powerful part of the game, mixing real gameplay and renders.
• A video that opens with a win or the most eye-catching moment, and works without sound.
• A CTA on one App Store screenshot, but not on Google Play.
• A soft launch in a market like Canada before going worldwide.
• At least one event a month in each store.
• A listing localized for every priority market, reviewed language by language.

If you'd like me to handle it, my mobile game ASO page explains how I work with studios.