A motocross game for the iPhone, developed by a small publisher and a game developer, is the 31st-highest selling paid app in the Apple App Store and number two among paid racing apps.
The partnership between Filter Publications, publisher of the motocross magazine Racer X Illustrated (circulation 60,000), and game developer Turborilla came about when Filter president Bryan Stealey saw the Mad Skills Motocross game on a computer.
” ‘We’d been toying with the idea that a publisher and a developer would make a good team,’ says Stealey. ‘It’s such a challenge for independent developers to get attention in a store with hundreds of thousands of apps, and we don’t really know how to make apps. Mad Skills Motocross was available on computers but because it’s a slide-scrolling arcade-style game, we thought it would be perfect for the iPhone.’ “
The resulting app, also named Mad Skills Motocross, debuted Jan. 10 and sells for $1.99. Turborilla owns the game and Filter is the marketing partner.
Promotion for the game took advantage of Racer X’s nearly 218,000 fans on Facebook and 15,672 Twitter followers, giving them an inside look at the game development:
” ‘The key is establishing a match with your brand,’ says Stealey. ‘We see this as significant revenue stream going forward.’ “
