Just look at Top Free 200, how many lite apps standing there? There're tons of full and free game now, who cares the lite things? So the Lite+Full mode is fading out right?
Apple never allowed devs to offer outright "demo" versions of their apps, so the market instead went with the "lite" moniker to identify them. Same thing, without the annoying shareware tactics like timeouts and nag screens. Some gamers will always want to try the game out first become opening their wallet. It's just good business sense. So no, lite versions are not "useless" nor will they be any time soon.
Lite versions are useless since Apple release the iAP feature. It makes no sense to make two versions and two separate installed apps. The modern way of making a "Lite version" is going free + pay for unlocking the rest of the game. However, this is not the trendy model right now. I think the top 3 models right now are Freemium (free + iAP), Premium (paid app), and Premium to Play (paid app + iAP). I don't see the purpose of a Lite version unless you have a very specific game that for some reasons you want to price high (4.99 and higher), and for some other reason you don't want to unlock the content in the game through iAPs.
With a game with a lot of content, that is always good idea to have a lite version lighter to download.
I was recently contemplating the possibility of a lite version for Arch Fiery. I decided against it because I don't think lite versions are that effective. I'd rather just focus on making the main app better.
If you don't look at the lite as a chart topper there will always be reason to have a lite. If you keep it under 20mb you will get the mobile customer who will impulsively download to give the game a try and might like it enough to get the full when in wifi. The new free with IAP might be easier for devs but is not appealing to the consumer who likes to keep the games on their computer - you need to download a full game no matter whether you like the game or not, and then you won't have the full game if you want to reinstall it someday. Sure you can download the IAP again for free but what if the game is no longer on the market or something else weird happens? I have stayed away from some of my favorite developers because they have taken this model on - and then adding insult to injury when I DID unlock the content via IAP they released a full version later. So now, I either wait for the full version or don't get it. I don't feel I am missing anything since there are so many games on the app store anyway why bother with something if I don't like the model. I think that a lot of "lite" games are just calling themselves "_______ Free" now instead of using the lite designation. Maybe it's a more trendy word. Dunno. But I think there will always be a need for a trial portion of the game for many gamers.
IAPs have acquired such a bad rep with so many people that I personally believe there's often a lot more hesitation on the consumer's part to make a transaction. It's also a heck of a lot harder to track app prices with this model.
True that being able to make a lite app under 20Mb while the main app isn't is a good reason for a lite version. And I also agree that there is some weird subjective feeling that when you dl a free game you expect it to be entirely free unless it's clearly written "lite". So all that are reasons for making a lite version, but I feel in the following months the tendency will just increase and in a year people will not even remember what a lite version is.
While I agree on the tracking part I am not sure I agree on the hesitation part. The psychological aspect of playing something for free and to have control over what you want to add to your gaming experience (and the fact that people lose track if microtransaction amounts) is still a huge market. It's the same in the MMO market. Even though the voice of gamers who are against F2P and in game CashShops is the loudest on public forums the numbers proof that market is still the must lucrative for any developer. I think the bad rep on smartphones is more on the developer side than the user side. However, it would be interesting to see an official survey/research numbers on this topic
Well, if it has a bad rep I wonder why it's said to be the first origin pf revenues on iPhone: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/37350/Report_InApp_Purchases_Make_Up_72_Of_iPhone_App_Revenues.php
Our upcoming game we're going to release free with the purchased version having a lot of the IAPs from the free included, sort of an upgrade incentive I suppose.
