Mar 1, 2018

Post-App Release: What to do Next

Maria Shum and John Carlino Blog Hero Image

Once your app is released on the Oculus Store, you'll want to get your app in front of as many people as possible - you'll want to manage your app business. This post provides the tips and tools to get started.

When your app is approved, it will fall into one of two categories: Store or Keys. A “Store” categorization provides public distribution via the Oculus Store. Your app will have passed both the technical and content review cycles required to be in the Oculus Store. A “Keys” categorization allows you to manage public distribution of your app via 25-letter long download codes outside the Oculus Store. You can read more about the Oculus Distribution options here.

Whether your app received Store or Keys designation, it's public distribution allows you to determine how your app is performing. By utilizing early signals via analytics and user feedback, you will be able to maximize your app's potential by making impactful updates, changes to assets and/or by participating in promotions and other discoverability features.

Analytics: What to Look For and Why It's Important

The Oculus Dashboard⁠ is your destination for better understanding post-release app performance. In combination with your own app analytics, the Oculus Dashboard Analytics will help you further optimize your app.

Some metrics in the Analytics section of your app dashboard include:

Copies Sold in the Last 28 Days

Demonstrates the popularity of your app. You can use this measurement to see well your app is doing from week to week. For example, you might see a spike at launch or around a specific promotion of your app. If you see a sudden dip, it is important investigate the cause so you know how to avoid it in the future.

Active Users Last 28 Days

Demonstrates core users. This is the number of people who have used the app in the last 28 days. You'll see user patterns with this graph with potential seasonality or weekday behavior trends. You could align your promotions around these spikes in users to further encourage these spikes or behaviors.

Average Time Spent Last 28 Days

Demonstrates engagement. If your app is lengthy, average time spent should reflect the appropriate usage as time spent. You'll be able to determine how long people are spending in your app and whether that aligns with your expectations. You could cater your experience to these natural behaviors or try to change them with new mechanics.

Average User Rating Last 28 Days

Demonstrates how people feel about your app. This is a great way to get feedback and interact with the people who are experiencing your app. Whether it's app improvements or suggestions, your users ratings will guide you in what to do next. It's up to you to listen to them.

Note: You could have great ratings and a low number of reviews. The idea is to have high ratings and a high number of reviews. This way many people have sampled the app and your signal will be a good indication of what people feel about your app.

Additional metrics include Revenue, Client Lost Frames, and more. You can find your app analytics on the Oculus Dashboard ⁠> App > Analytics.

User Feedback: Listening to Your Community

Analytics provides a window into how your app is performing and shows data for how users are interacting with your app. User feedback can help to give context around those measurements so you have a more comprehensive view of what to do to improve your app. Feedback can come in many forms including reviews or surveys.

As mentioned above, one of the most valuable types of feedback are “Reviews.” Reviews can be found here users who have used your app and are providing you with their experience. It's important to engage these users to find out as much information as you can. You can respond to both Rift and Gear user feedback in the “Reviews” tab on your Oculus Dashboard.

You can also gather feedback from fellow developers by posting to the Oculus Forums⁠. The developer community is a valuable resource for feedback, suggested improvements, and as beta testers that can help you vet content updates or new projects.

Promotions: Creating and Participating in Store-Wide Promotions

Promotions are a great way to introduce new users to your app. Promotions, or sales, can generate new interest in the app and help to drive revenue. When you are approved for a promotion, your app will appear in the Promotions section on the Oculus Store, will be listed alongside other apps participating in the same promotion, and a sale badge will be added to your app thumbnail.

If you would like to apply for store-wide promotions, head to the developer Dashboard > Manage > Settings > Promotions and add yourself to an available promotion. Our team will review your request and notify you should your app be accepted into the latest promotion. Please note that you cannot participate in promotions more than 3 consecutive times per title.

If you have any questions about the promotions process or would like to discuss individual app promotions, please contact our submissions team at submissions@oculus.com.

Discoverability: Improving How People Find Your App

Baked into the Dashboard are various discoverability features that can aid how people find your app through Oculus Home.

If you are looking to organize time-specific gatherings within your app, you can use Events. Some great use cases for Events include: hosting a tournament or competition within your game, throwing a launch party to premiere new content for your app, or launching unique content around a conference. Events show up in both Oculus Home and on the Oculus 2D app. They are visible to all people including those who have not yet downloaded your app. People can even subscribe to receive notifications about your app Events.

To create an Event, go to your app's Oculus dashboard in the Developer Center and select Discoverability / Events .

Enter the following information to create your Event:

Title - The title is the short description of the Event that will be shown with the Event's image.

Description - A description of the Event. This will be used throughout the platform. The description should be in plain text.

Image - The image that will be displayed in association with the Event. The uploaded image should meet the asset guidelines, and be 2560 x 1440 24bit .png format.

Start Time - Start time of the event in your local time zone.

End Time - End time of the event in your local time zone.

Deeplink Message (optional) - The deeplink message is a message we will include with apps launched from an Event. We'll include the deeplink message with the app launch detail. Information on handling the deeplink message can be found in the section below. The deeplink message should not exceed 1,500 characters.

2D trailer videos are required for Events to be shown in Oculus Explore. Trailer videos can be added to the Assets page in the Oculus store.

Events are here to help you engage your community and reach out to new users!

Bringing It All Together

Every app is different. Finding what makes your app into a solid business will depend on how you get new people to install your app and what you do to keep people coming back. As always, we want to see you succeed - let us know how we can help!⁠

Rift

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