Pricing strategy for upcoming game

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by madpoet, Feb 26, 2013.

  1. madpoet

    madpoet Well-Known Member

    Nov 4, 2010
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    Digital Artist, Unity3D developer
    Toronto, Canada
    Hi fellow devs.
    I'm wondering about pricing strategies for my upcoming air combat game and
    am looking for advice. Which do you think would be most successfull:

    1) Free game with single player missions. 99 cents IAP for internet multiplayer.
    2) 99 cents single player missions. 99 cents IAP internet multiplayer.
    3) Free game with 5 missions. 1.99 for 5 more missions and internet multiplayer.

    Thx for any advice.
     
  2. AlienSpace

    AlienSpace Well-Known Member

    May 28, 2010
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    Independent developer
    It's impossible to say without knowing more about the game and the missions, etc. What applicable advice do you think we can give you without knowing anything about the game other than it's about "air combat"?
     
  3. madpoet

    madpoet Well-Known Member

    Nov 4, 2010
    110
    0
    0
    Digital Artist, Unity3D developer
    Toronto, Canada
    The game has single player missions which involve piloting your plane through various environments and battling enemies. Each level is completed when the player's plane reaches an objective. The multiplayer mode can be played against anyone online, including mac/pc/ios and features dogfighting battles.
     
  4. AlienSpace

    AlienSpace Well-Known Member

    May 28, 2010
    416
    0
    16
    Independent developer
    So your game is basically like this:

     
  5. madpoet

    madpoet Well-Known Member

    Nov 4, 2010
    110
    0
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    Digital Artist, Unity3D developer
    Toronto, Canada
    Not really. My game is more like a Star Fox type of game. It's called Sky Battles and there is a thread in the Upcoming IPad forums of TA.

    Thx in advance for any advice.
     
  6. KevinS

    KevinS Well-Known Member

    Apr 15, 2012
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    Well I'm not a developer, but as a consumer with an active interest in game monetization I feel like option three would yield you the most profit. I don't think many consumers would pay extra for multiplayer, and it's risky if that's the only way you plan to make money. Option two is very good but may not get your game into the hands of as many people you like. Option three let's anyone try the game and do one simple unlock to access all the games features. You could also have banner ads that would be removed when a user purchases the full unlock for $1.99. I don't know much about your game so don't take my advice very seriously, it's just what I would do. :)
     
  7. opsive

    opsive Well-Known Member

    Feb 20, 2009
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    Raleigh, NC
    Out of those three choice, I agree with KevinS.

    Unless somebody is really into your game, I don't see them buying multiplier. This also won't work because you want as many people as possible playing multiplayer. It wouldn't be a good experience to buy the multiplayer IAP and have nobody to play with.

    Option 2 isn't terrible, it's just again that I'd be very hesitant to charge for multiplayer.

    The one downside with option 3 is that you can't drop the price anymore once you are free. This means the price tracking websites won't list you if you reduce your price. Our latest game was $0.99 with IAP and we still have the option of going free. Our next step is to release a lite version and see if that helps.

    Another option you should consider is making the multiplayer free and have IAP for the single player. The advantage of this option is that you could get a lot of people playing the multiplayer which will get your user base up and increase the chances of somebody buying IAP.
     
  8. madpoet

    madpoet Well-Known Member

    Nov 4, 2010
    110
    0
    0
    Digital Artist, Unity3D developer
    Toronto, Canada
    Thx for your thoughts! Really helps put things in perspective. I'm starting to thing that offering multiplayer for free and iap for single player missions might be a good strategy. My only concern about that is the amount of concurrent users which might inflate photon cloud server cost.
     
  9. mako_

    mako_ Member

    Feb 26, 2013
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    With growing popularity of free-to-play games, the best option would be to release it free with well-thought IAPs for additional content. I'd go for missions (some form of your variant #3). Letting people pay for content but not for options is a smarter choice.
     
  10. MHille

    MHille Well-Known Member

    #10 MHille, Feb 26, 2013
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2013
    I remember someone saying they could not get an app approved with iAP for multiplayer. Apple said they were trying to charge for game center support or some such.

    Matthew
     

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