Last Friday, Firemint officially announced Real Racing HD and Flight Control HD for the iPad, just in time for the North American weekend launch of Apple's highly publicised tablet computer. However, if you had been following all the media frenzy in the weeks before hand for the iPad, this would not have been too suprising to you.
While game developers do expect a pleasing number of game sales on a new game platform simply by having a title available at launch, the amount of exposure that Firemint's two new iPad games received leading up to the iPad launch date and after is nothing short of phenomenal.
From leaked pictures of iPad appstore, to the iPad games reviews on all your favourite news / games / gadget websites after launch, Real Racing HD and Flight Control HD made a prominent appearance in many, many places. If there was an "Essential App for the iPad" list compiled somewhere, you can pretty much guarantee that one of Firemint's games made it in there. Hey, Real Racing HD even made an appearance on Good Morning America...
"You really had the sensation that you were driving" -- Good Morning America host Robin Roberts, discussing her time playing the iPad's Real Racing HD
You simply cannot pay for all that publicity.
So, is it any surprise to hear that Firemint have just announced the incredible iPad launch success of Real Racing HD and Flight Control HD? From the latest Firemint press release...
Hot on the heels of the iPad launch in the US, we're absolutely delighted with the response to our two iPad games. Real Racing HD is the #1 paid game as well as the top grossing game and #4 grossing app overall, after Apple's own Productivity apps. Flight Control HD is also performing very well, as the #4 paid game. It's an incredible result for us as an independent medium-sized studio. We bet big on Apple's iPad by developing new features and content for both games, and creating worthy showpieces for a beautiful device. It's a fantastic feeling to see that leap of faith being rewarded by iPad owners who are embracing our games.
We were also interested to see that both iPad games sold a small number of copies before iPad was available in stores, as well as selling in countries other than the US.
Congratulations must go to Firemint for the incredible achievement, it probably helped that those games are actually awesome as well :)