If you loaded the App Store around 2:00 p.m. yesterday when the new App Store features appeared, you might have noticed that Touch Wars (Free) was the editor’s pick this week. The game has been in soft launch for a while now and just went global, but it seems that this soft launch didn’t prepare developer Ankama and publisher DOFUS for the game’s launch, as the big feature prevented servers to operate. Apple has therefore depersonalized the game – it’s no longer featured, and it no longer has its prominent Editor’s Choice banner. If you search for the game on the App Store, it still shows its Editor’s Choice label, but the game is no longer there on the front page.
At the time of writing Friday afternoon the game is still not working – it was said at one point that the servers were down, but now the game is kind of stuck on a loading screen for a while before to plant. I feel bad for the devs – you really only get one chance to launch, and because they have a superstar feature their game is missing prime time to attract players and start generating revenue . Still, the lesson is clear: if you’re a developer building a big server-driven game, you better be prepared to scale for a massive influx of players at once. They weren’t and are paying the price.
