iPhone 'Chopper' a Huge Success

posted August 24th, 2008 1:23 PM EST by arn in $7.99, iPhone games, iPod touch games, News, Shooter

Computerworld.co.nz reveals that independent developer David Frampton has seen huge success with his first iPhone game, Chopper [$7.99, App Store].

According to the article, Frampton is seeing about 500 downloads a day for his $7.99 game. So far, he's seen 20,000 downloads total. That calculates out to $111,860 USD made so far and about $2800 more each day. If that level of interest sustained, it could reach $1 million in net revenue annually.

Frampton's Chopper was inspired by the the classic Choplifter game from the 80's. In Chopper, players complete missions, which involve rescuing civilians while fighting off tanks and bazooka wielding men.

David Frampton was kind enough to provide TouchArcade with an early interview as well as early screenshots of the then-unreleased game.

Congrats David!

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jrr

choplifter!!
jrr

choplifter!!
Rojo

It's one of my favorite iPhone games, and I'm glad to see the developer's doing so well with it!
Rojo

It's one of my favorite iPhone games, and I'm glad to see the developer's doing so well with it!
Matt

That's pretty impressive considering it's only number 43 in the top paid apps in the App Store. The ones at the top of the list must be taking in the bucks. This is a great game. It's currently my favorite game on my iPhone.
Matt

That's pretty impressive considering it's only number 43 in the top paid apps in the App Store. The ones at the top of the list must be taking in the bucks. This is a great game. It's currently my favorite game on my iPhone.
http://www.3Dave.com 3Dave

I just picked this up today, and I LOVE it. Glad to see it's doing so well.
http://www.3Dave.com 3Dave

I just picked this up today, and I LOVE it. Glad to see it's doing so well.
http://www.studenttechnews.net/2008/08/25/chopper-game/ Chopper Game | Student Tech News

[...] [via TouchArcade] [...]
Gregz0r

This is great news and encouragement for all indy developers, that if you make a really good game, the rewards are there to be gained.
The App Store is giving these 'bedroom' developers the power to compete with the established players, much like the early-mid 1980's home computer market did in he UK.
Gregz0r

This is great news and encouragement for all indy developers, that if you make a really good game, the rewards are there to be gained.
The App Store is giving these 'bedroom' developers the power to compete with the established players, much like the early-mid 1980's home computer market did in he UK.
whooley

Wasn't Choplifter originally a game on the Apple II? Funny how it all comes around..

I guess though when old game developers see the money being made on old game franchises, they're going to start coming down fairly hard on these 'clones', and try making the money for themselves.
whooley

Wasn't Choplifter originally a game on the Apple II? Funny how it all comes around..

I guess though when old game developers see the money being made on old game franchises, they're going to start coming down fairly hard on these 'clones', and try making the money for themselves.
http://www.smartphoneuserguide.com/2008/09/30/%e2%80%98chopper%e2%80%99-reduced-to-199-for-a-limited-time/ ‘Chopper’ Reduced to $1.99 for a Limited Time | Smartphone User Guide

[...] in the App Store at any moment) and to celebrate this new release, he is lowering the price of Chopper [App Store] to .99 (down from .99) for a limited [...]
http://www.gopda.info/archives/21224.html ‘Chopper 2′ — A Game That’s More than Universal | GoPDA Windows Mobile(Windows Phone) Blog

[...] launch titles. Chopper was very well received from the start and quickly became one of the true App Store success stories, seeing 500 downloads a day (at $7.99), early on. Since then, the game has been downloaded more [...]
http://www.toponemusic.com/archives/chopper-2-%e2%80%94-a-game-thats-more-than-universal.html ‘Chopper 2′ — A Game That’s More than Universal | TopOneMusic Windows Mobile(Windows Phone) Android iPhone Blog

[...] launch titles. Chopper was very well received from the start and quickly became one of the true App Store success stories, seeing 500 downloads a day (at $7.99), early on. Since then, the game has been downloaded more [...]
http://www.gopda.info/archives/21339.html ‘Chopper 2′ Review – A Game That’s More than Universal | GoPDA Windows Mobile(Windows Phone) Blog

[...] launch titles. Chopper was very well received from the start and quickly became one of the true App Store success stories, seeing 500 downloads a day (at $7.99), early on. Since then, the game has been downloaded more [...]
http://www.iphoneblog.de/2010/07/28/ios-game-chopper-2/ [iOS-Game] Chopper 2

[...] in denen das iPhone-Shopping-Paradies noch lange nicht so berühmt war wie heute, verkaufte er bis zu 500 Versionen seiner Hubschrauber-Aktion pro Tag. Das Sequel ließ sich eine gehörige Portion Zeit, landet jetzt [...]
http://apple.0kx.org/2010/07/28/ios-game-chopper-2/ [iOS-Game] Chopper 2 | Apple

[...] in denen das iPhone-Shopping-Paradies noch lange nicht so berühmt war wie heute, verkaufte er bis zu 500 Versionen seiner Hubschrauber-Aktion pro Tag. Das Sequel ließ sich eine gehörige Portion Zeit, landet jetzt [...]