I'm not sure if I'm the only one with this feeling but I'm getting sick of developers trying to bleed us for every penny via IAP's. Myself, I'd rather pay a decent price for a game and then enjoy it 100% without being bothered by adverts or IAP's trying to leech even more money. Some recent games seem purely designed to leech as much money from the user as possible. As for myself I've decided to avoid any games with more than one IAP, even if I really like or want it. I feel we have to take a stand or a year down the line all games will be free with a mountain of IAPs to bleed us dry.
Agreed. But I don't see it changing. Happens on console games as well. They ship the games incomplete and then charge you for the rest of it via DLC, sometimes it's already on the disk and you have to pay to unlock it. Ridiculous
This has been discussed a billion times already. I highly doubt all games will become freemium anytime soon. If there were no paid games, then the one developer to release higher quality paid games would have the entire sub-market to themselves. Likewise, if there were no freemium games, then the first developer to take advantage of that portion of the market would rake it in. The equilibrium will be somewhere in the middle, but not necessarily in the portions that you or I would find ideal. Given the tastes of most mobile "gamers", I could easily see the majority of games being freemium.
Greetings, I personally don't have a problem with IAP's in themselves. The pricing precedents established in the App Store make it very difficult for a developer (especially an independent developer who has not yet made name for himself) to cover production costs, much less actually make a profit. There are a few notable exceptions which serve as something of the jackpot example for each developers gamble. My problem with IAP is the way in which it effects the structure and organization of gameplay. I would rather play a higher priced game that focuses on the development and enjoyability of the core gameplay mechanics, level design, and overall experience, than one that is based upon paid customization, unlockables, and difficulty and level-progression fixing. Unfortunately, this attitude is not widespread among iPhone gamers. Instead, the prevailing demand is for low priced ($1) repetative mind-numbing casual games. It is within the context of this demand that IAP and the Freemium grind model become necessary on the part of the developers. As creative developers such as Superbrothers, 2D Boy, and others continue to push the envelope of creativity and obtain financial success without consumer manipulation, there may be enough of an impetus to create at least a substantial amount of games that avoid these pitfalls. Nevertheless, based on the precedents I mentioned, I do think that Freemium and IAP are here to stay. If you want to read a great article dealing with financial matters from a developer's perspective, see Money and the App Store by The Game Bakers.
I personally think many gamers are to blame for freemium. If people bought games when they're released so devs get maximum money (out of a whole 'huge' 99c or $1.99) then they stand a better chance of recovering their costs. Instead way too many people wait for a price drop (to save half a dollar) or for the game to be free Seen too many games recently come out which are great (eg terra noctis) but the devs don't get the sales they need. Too many cheapskates waiting for price drops or for it to be free. Then they're the ones who moan when games are freemium as these companies are trying to recover their costs
