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The Reddit GIF that helped carry Bridge Constructor to the US App Store's top spot

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The Reddit GIF that helped carry Bridge Constructor to the US App Store's top spot
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| Bridge Constructor
Bridge Constructor

The animated GIF is usually reserved for dancing babies and sneezing pandas.

For the guys behind mobile physics puzzler Bridge Constructor, though, a four-second long GIF was a totally unexpected marketing tool that helped push the game to be the #1 paid iOS game in North America.

Said GIF was posted by a player on Reddit in the 60,000-member-strong GamePhysics subreddit. The GIF has received some 1,700 upvotes in the last two weeks.

The Reddit post boosted the game up to position #20, Gregor Ebert, marketing head at Bridge Constructor publisher Headup Games, says. The studio then seized the opportunity with a price cut, fresh marketing, and full cross-promotional support in its other games.

"Reddit was one of the key factors," Ebert says. "But the last ten days at the top position were secured by various measures, and of course a good portion of luck."

Load-bearing

Bridge Constructor actually came out two years ago, in May 2012. And around that time, "it went #1 in UK, Germany, and many other countries," Ebert says. "But we never managed to break into the US market until now."

Across all platforms (though the game is available on Android, iOS, and Steam, Ebert says the majority of downloads have occurred on iOS), the whole Bridge Constructor series has surpassed 27 million paid and free downloads, and has racked up a "good seven-digit figure" in paid sales.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer