Ok this is just off my head and Id like to hear opinions of people, a lil bit experienced in the biz. Lets say I make game. This game is good, playable, but it sure isnt second Angry Birds or Canabalt or Plants vs Zombies and lets say my intentions are to create name in the industry and money are just second sweet reward just to buy a bottle(s) of wine to celebrate a release And Ill decide to use different financial model to sell my game. Ill preview it wherever I can and release the game for free. Without adds, without payed add-ons etc. Now, more people will dl and play it and eventually like it. IF they like it, Ill put there a "Donate" button, where you can donate 1+ dollar to reward the creator. Only if you want. So game will be free which helps the promotion and people with understanding for the developers will give you a donations for next projects. Do you think something like this would work?
When people are bitching about $3 price tags for 6hrs of playtime how can you expect them to donate? There are tons of reports where donation for software/music does not work. Just ask yourself: when did you donate for a piece of software you liked? the business model that seem to work most in the internet economy for creatives is Connect to fans + give them reason to buy = $ I did it TWICE for Solomons Boneyard and Pandora Box. But I still got something extra in return and ONLY because I was a FAN of them. And I own about 1000 Apps. SO I guess the safest way ist still a LITE version and higher price full version. maybe it will work. But giving customers a REASON to donate is also important. Just a begging to "support the poor starving developer" is most likely to fail. at least you circumvent piracy that way. my POV
Actually, this might work. Many indie devs done this for PC games, though the situation was a little different: they made a paid game free and added a donation button on the site. But the situation is very similar. And it worked out for them greatly, they made more money than with game sales. The reason it might work here too, is that people respect the developer for giving a quality game away for free, and want to support the guy who does stuff like this. I'd try it.
I strongly doubt this will be legal for Apple apart if you can do it through a fake IAP. The point is that to put your game in App Store Apple will require 30% of final price. And that's where the system will be mildly flawed. When a player donate to a developer it's because they enjoy a lot the game and want give a sort of support or reward. The Apple 30% will break down a lot that sort of impulse. The second point making it mildly flawed is that in mind of iphone players, at least many of them, the standard price is $.99. Meaning that if it even work most donations will be $.99. That said in my opinion that should be a general system supported fully by Apple. The point is I have about 10 games (it's few) I got for free or very cheap and I just hate that I can't buy them again to give a little support. Ok I can offer them as a gift but well that's another point.
I'd say just go for a lite maybe with a short nag screen or something for free and a low cost premium if people like the game they will more than likely pay a low price to get rid of the nag. You'd be surprised what people do when they like something my last purchase was rally master pro and I only bought it to give fishlabs a bit more of my money because I really like galaxy of fire 2 not saying the rally game is bad or anything (seems quite fun from the brief play I had) but that's why I bought it.
Release two apps. Make them as identical as you can, and keep one free, one for $ .99. Make the paid one the green version and donate a small proceed to an enviro charity of your choice. Make it good all around.
In the past I've donated to indie devs who dev'd for platforms like GP32. You might get some money, particularly if you present things properly and if your game is really something special (not necessarily highly produced, but special in terms of gameplay). But it's hard to say, because this is such a different sort of community. One thing a free game would do is build brand awareness. If your game is really good, and millions of people download it for free, then you'll get lots of buzz, and theoretically they might be willing to PAY for your future games. At least, that's the theory. Maybe some devs can comment on whether it can actually work that way.
Donate buttons of any type I believe are against apple's T&C's... Although I do know it worked well for the 2D Boy guys with World Of Goo when they did it for a weekend... Think I remember them saying it generated $100,000 in revenue over 2 days... with I believe 45% paying $0.01 pence for the game, and 30% paying $6... (Aproxx figures based on my vague reccolection of a discussion).
You can add an IAP to a game as a Thank you to the devs. I have 2-3 games with them on my iphone right now.
Yes, just make it to unlock some Concept Art, a cheat mode or new skin something small. It´s enough to be recognized as IAP.
Free ad supported version, and a 1.99 "pro" no ad version, seems fair for consumers, and likely very lucrative if your game is good. Make it clear the free version is a full game, and that the paid version is pro.
What kind of abuse do you mean? On the part of developers, or the consumers finding ways around it? To me it looks like the most promising method, as long as there is an IAP that removes the ads is available. It doesn't clutter the app store with lites, it keeps the hard-cores happy by giving them a no-ad option, and it keeps the casuals happy by giving them a full game with un-obtrusive ads(maybe one on the score screen and one on the main menu). And since the main game is the lite, you won't get bad reviews from people complaining the lite isn't complete enough. Actually reading the front page today, it looks as if venan is doing just this with their new game. And offering the retina graphics as an IAP is something I have wanted for a long time from devs; it just makes so much sense and solves so many consumer issues.
