Crossy Road Chicken Crossy Road: The Secret to Its Success

At the recent GDC conference in San Francisco, co-founders Matt Hall and Andy Sum revealed that their game, Crossy Road, has been downloaded over 50 million times on both iOS and Android platforms. This impressive figure is a testament to the game's massive success, and the duo shared some valuable insights into what made it tick.

According to Sum, three key factors contributed to Crossy Road's popularity: retention, virality, and re-engagement. The game's ability to keep players hooked, encourage them to share it with others, and continually engage them through updates was essential to its success. While initial promotion by the App Store helped get the game off to a strong start, subsequent updates added new features such as characters, improved sharing options, and a fresh setting, which further boosted player engagement and shareability.

For those unfamiliar, Crossy Road is an 'Frogger'-style game that takes inspiration from classic 1980s arcade titles. Players tap on various characters to guide them across roads and rivers, with the ultimate goal of avoiding cars, trucks, and trains or splatting them for bonus points. The game's free-to-play model allows players to earn in-game currency without timers, lives, or paywalls, giving them complete freedom to play as they see fit.

Sum proudly exclaimed that the team had exceeded their expectations, with some 50 million downloads exceeding even their most optimistic projections. While a monetization expert might look at these numbers and think there's potential for greater revenue per user, the Crossy Road team is content with their game's success and the joy it brings to players worldwide.

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