Hello developers, 2+ years into the appstore's existence, what are your thoughts on creating a lite version of a game? The reason I am asking this is because I am wondering if making a lite version of my game SpaceDuel! is worth it. I am thinking of including one ship and multiplayer for the lite version of the game. What are your thoughts? Check out SpaceDuel! thanks for your insights/comments and happy new year!
Hi, my a developer at PixelStream, we just recently removed our "lite" version off the App Store. The lite verison had almost 3 times the number of downloads compared to the paid version. After a few months, we saw sales dropping. At the same time, the lite downloads stayed about the same each month. People were either content with the lite game as is, or did not like it enough to buy it. So we decided to just leave people the option of just buying it. Though.. its argueable that it could be a mistake..
I'm not a developer, but as a customer I will say that NOT having a lite version does make sense after reading doomeister's post. I remember anticipating for Pac-Man championship edition to release and it came with DLC they day it launched on the app store. I bought the game with full intentions of getting the DLC too but I haven't touched the app since because I became too occupied with buying other apps. This situation can apply to lite versions well but I wouldn't rule out on creating one in. If I'm enjoying the lite version of the app and beat it quickly in one sitting, than chances are more than likely for me to buy the app depending on the price. It just needs to be really short but enough for me to get a feel for the game imo. Good luck on your app!
As a customer i prefer to have a Lite Version available, so i can test out the game before i spend some bucks. I´m usually not an impulsive buyer. For example, I missed out on buying Jet Car Stunts for a very long time, i bought it after having played it on a mates device. "Orbital Free" would be an example of a well designed Lite Version in my opinion. It shows you the game mechanics, without giving too much of it away. It only contains one game mode, and limits you to a score of 15.
Ah I see, thanks for the replies everyone! I read somewhere that the conversion rate from lite to full is 1% to 7%. Are you guys experiencing the same thing?
Most lite versions give way too much away. They need to be a teaser, nothing more - a way to give your full version a bit more visibility. The best lite app I've seen to date (IMO) is Chop Chop Ninja - it's a tutorial only, that showcases the excellent gameplay and leaves the game on a cliffhanger. Keep in mind that it can be hard to accurately judge who is actually upselling from lite to full, and who just bought the full directly without bothering with the lite.
I recently changed the lite version of GumDrops to be the full version of the game, plus a full page ad to upgrade after the game over screen. The nag screen basically says - I hope you are enjoying the game, It has all the functionality of the full game, but if you upgrade you help the developer out and get rid of this nag screen. The nag screen has buttons for "buy now" which takes the user to the app store listing for the full game, or "not yet" which goes back to the main menu. In the 5 days it has been like that, I am getting about the same downloads of the lite version (around 50 - 100 a day since Christmas), and maybe a few more downloads of the full game (25 in the last 5 days, 21 in the 5 days before that) The number of downloads of the full hasn't really changed enough to be very noticeable either way yet.
For reasons mentioned by other devs, I never considered releasing a lite version of my first game. With a video and good a supporting site I think a demo is unnecessary (unless your gameplay is remarkably distinctive, etc). The App Store margins also feel too thin to me in order to upsell effectively. DLC and in-app purchases are another story entirely, however. Although I'd consider this a different business model than lite-to-paid, it's similar enough that I think any lite feature restrictions could be reorganized as DLC and it'd probably earn more.
I think a lite version is in first line a sales multiplier, simply because of possible conversions. But as said before, its essential not give away to much of the full versions fun. So yes, "Age of Tribes" lite version will follow some weeks after the full versions launch. I'm sure this is correct way.
I completely agree with you on the lite version being a teaser. Consider your game as "crack" and the lite version is just a taste, enough to get the player addicted and buy your full game.
