- Independent developer Viktor Seraleev achieved success by creating apps for the App Store before venturing into mobile game development.
- However, his game faced immediate rejection, leading to a suspension of payments and freezing of funds, sparking a lengthy battle against Apple.
With the emergence of Apple’s App Store, the mobile gaming industry underwent a transformative shift. Despite evolving sentiments, many developers still view it as the ultimate platform for mobile gaming. Yet, Apple’s expanding market dominance and stringent policies have come under increased scrutiny.
In this guest post, Viktor Seraleev, the founder of Sarafan Mobile Limited, shares his turbulent experience with Apple after his accounts were abruptly frozen, halting his daily revenue stream of $3,000. It all started with the launch of his first game on the App Store…
Back in early 2023, friends introduced me to a mobile game they were enthusiastic about. It was a group game where players take turns drawing cards with questions or tasks, spiced up with penalties for non-compliance.
After six months of requests, I finally agreed to develop a version of the game. However, upon its release last summer, Apple promptly blocked my account, deleting all my non-game apps in the process. This move instantly wiped out my $3,000 daily revenue.
My App Ventures and the Road to $3k Daily Revenue
The game’s launch was supposed to mark a milestone, not the beginning of a nightmare.
The launch was supposed to mark a milestone, not the beginning of a nightmare.
The removal of my app was a harsh lesson, highlighting the vulnerability of developers and small studios against corporate giants, especially when lacking the power and clout of major players.
Thus, I aim to delve into the reasons behind this ban, share insights into my previous games, and unravel my path to creating profitable apps, hoping that this narrative proves valuable to others.
Let’s rewind to my initial foray into app development.
Four years ago, I parted ways with my business partners and kickstarted an app development startup with a modest $10,000 budget. I delved into an app concept proposed by my wife – a tool for creating short videos from before-and-after images. Her idea was born out of a desire to enhance her social media content as a nail technician. Unable to find a similar app on the App Store, I decided to take a leap of faith.
A friend and I developed the initial version within a couple of months, which started generating $100-200 per month. Despite my friend’s reservations about the idea’s viability, I decided to soldier on independently. I revamped the app, collaborated with a skilled freelancer, and completely overhauled the app at a cost of $2,000 for the freelancer.
We introduced new features such as transitions, animation settings, effects, music, texts, stickers, improved the store page, and localized it in various languages.
Organic downloads received a significant boost, and with the help of a marketing specialist on a $400 monthly retainer, we launched our maiden ad campaign. Despite a budget of $200-300, our campaigns struck gold, paying off exponentially within a month and maxing out my credit card due to the unexpected campaign success.
Relying solely on Apple Search Ads, we hadn’t even identified our target demographic, let alone explored traditional ad networks. As we planned our roadmap, an influencer proposed a dog grooming contest that pivoted us towards niche marketing. This strategic move netted us $2,000, doubling our installs for three consecutive months and achieving a stable 20-30% growth rate monthly.
Half a year post-redesign, the app was raking in a staggering $34,000 monthly, a stark contrast to its meager initial revenue of $100-200, primarily from iOS users. Eventually, the app was sold for $410,000, underselling its true value due to my inexperience.
Next Steps
My grand vision was to develop a robust video editing app. I invested time, resources, and talent into this project, only to witness it flounder upon release – no organic traction, exorbitant user acquisition costs, and insurmountable competition from free editing tools.
The app performed dismally, draining resources and steering me back towards niche app development.
With my funds dwindling and the app generating negligible revenue, I realized my strength lay in niche app development. I returned to crafting focused, specialized apps without unnecessary frills.
I birthed Boomerang, mirroring Instagram’s feature, which thrived. This success bred subsequent apps for creating Reels, collages, and more, heralding a resurgence in profits. All these apps monetized through premium versions devoid of intrusive ads.
All was going swimmingly until August 20, 2023, when I unveiled my maiden game.
The Game
For half a year, friends had been urging me to create this game, recognizing its revenue potential.
The stars aligned, albeit in unexpected ways.
Our competitive analysis hinted at using this game to sharpen our Swift UI interface prowess. As I had contemplated transitioning to Swift UIKit, this project felt like the perfect testing ground. The stars aligned, albeit in unexpected ways.
The game was a native iOS card game for groups, eschewing Unity or standard game engines. Carving a new territory having never developed games before, this was the impetus behind adopting a fresh toolset.
Players virtually draw cards with questions or tasks, like confessing about shower singing or marathon feats. Failing to relate culminates in tailored penalties such as push-ups, shots, or pecks on the cheek, followed by points tallying and passing the device to the next participant.
The crux lay in crafting an appealing design. In a single night, I conjured the interface from scratch without external references, as the existing market offerings failed to captivate. The result was vibrant visuals complemented by animations, exuding a charming aesthetic while honing our Swift interface implementation skills.
Designing the cards to complement the questions was paramount, prompting us to leverage AI.
We deployed ChatGPT to generate prompts for Stable Diffusion based on card themes and employed Stable Diffusion to render the final images.
The entire development phase spanned a concise two weeks, adopting a hackathon-esque work mode. Owing to our established workflow for regular apps, the novel content creation was an uncharted realm for us.
The cards boasted diverse categories such as romantic, sports, 18+, necessitating varied and engaging themes for real-world gatherings, deviating significantly from our customary work structure.
While guiding users through photo and video editors followed a linear, structured path, evolving comprehensive content for diverse user scenarios posed a notable challenge, diverging from our typical projects.
Game Release Drama…
Upon completing the game, I opted to publish it on my antiquated account, a sentimental relic from selling my inaugural app for $410,000. Continually renewing this account at $99 annually held sentimental value for me, symbolizing the genesis of my journey. Although maintaining multiple accounts isn’t uncommon, I segregated this game release to prevent user confusion.
On September 20, my daily revenue breached $3,000 for the first time, only to face a sweeping account ban the next day.
All my apps centered on video and photo editing, enticing users to engage with one app and explore the rest for bundled utility. This strategic synergy bolstered cross-product sales, with around 3% of users acquiring multiple apps due to their quality and complementarity. The game strayed from this precedent.
Facing Financial Ruin
Subsequently launching the game triggered immediate rejection alongside an ambiguous automated message flagging unspecified violations. Despite appealing and iterating on new versions, my accounts faced an abrupt ban on September 21, following a record-breaking daily revenue of over $3,000 on September 20.
The cruelest irony was that I hadn’t even breached any rules in this short timeframe. A notification hinted at a violation related to auto-renewable subscriptions, although the game hadn’t even graced the App Store for a moment.
Enduring eight weeks of silence and subsequent rejection epitomize the struggles of an independent developer.
Further exacerbating the crisis, payments were halted, and $110,000 lay in limbo within my account. Despite submitting detailed appeals inclusive of all relevant documents and insights related to myself, the company, development practices, and app specifics, Apple maintained a deafening silence.
As frustration mounted, I launched a petition and shared my saga on a tweet, rapidly gaining traction on platforms like Hacker News. Even industry stalwarts like Tim Sweeney joined the chorus in rallying behind my cause.
Only then did Apple break its silence with an explanation.
The Unraveling
Apple cited my account’s freeze as “linked to a previously shut fraudulent account,” an allegation I vehemently deny any association with.
Initially assuming
