I've always believed in selling a product, that's why all of my games are a one-off purchase with no IAP. There will be 'free to play' FreakZone games in the future but the majority will continue to be paid products for as long as that model sustains itself because it's what I believe in as a gamer. However, what you guys have to understand is that the competition of apps has got prices down so low that even when you sell thousands of units the work doesn't pay for itself. Freemium is a sneaky free alternative to advertising. For every ten people who download a paid app about a thousand download a free one, a thousand people who would have cost you money to advertise a paid app to. Then they tell their friends, who tell their friends, and the hope is that out of the number of people who download the free app, more in total purchase an IAP than would have bought the paid app. I have a whole bunch of very original ideas which just aren't going to sell the way a Mario tribute (Awesome Land) or fake NES game with ties to a movie (MANOS: The Hands of Fate) do. I'm in a community of developers, and out of them it's pretty much only myself and the feller behind Pocket Ninjas who have made enough money to put food on the table. Pocket Ninjas became heavily profitable when it went free to play, whilst I've continued to take more of a slow trickle of an income in order to keep MANOS and AWESOME Land's integrity. Free to play can be fair though, Pocket Ninjas is a good example of where it's acceptable - anything you can purchase with IAP you can purchase with in-game currency with a bit of grinding, and it's not grindy to the point that it's no fun, like a lot of IAP-based games. The IAP is a sort of 'skip ahead faster' option there, which I think is fine. Consoles are terrible for it, they charge $50 for the game itself and then try to sell you the part they cut out for a further $20. Unfortunately people have got to fiddle things a bit to profit from a market who consider $2 expensive.
Really good statement, thanks for the insights. I guess that most of those critics, IAP and price complainers need to be devs themselves - even for just a short time - to understand how difficult the constant struggle to be successful is. And what it takes to make a game. I remember one developer saying: "Now that my game is finished, the real work begins."... I think he meant all that advertising stuff, bug fixing, adding content - and in general: making money with the game. I guess he's right.
You are missing the whole point. If that's the case, just ask them for a PayPal account and done them as must $$$ as you like. Btw, I am not saying all IAPs are bad. But I am saying MOST are. One of my best games this year is Lili, and it had consumable IAPs. Free games like Major Mayhem and Heroes Call also rank high on my favorites list. Still, if I wanted to support these devs, I'd either buy more of their games or donate via PayPal. In the case of Heroes Call, I bought additional characters.
Thanks for the mention DistantJ Just like you stated, when I added IAPs to pocket Ninjas I did it with the specific intention of it being treated as a "skip ahead" method rather than a necessity. I've also had to go back and tweak the in game prices of items several time to make sure the user doesn't feel forced to purchase an IAP. I think for every developer (at least for smaller ones) its a learning process that can take time and tweaking on how to keep a title profitable without hurting the end user experience. I recently added some advertising which for some seemed overboard so I scaled it back in the latest release. Its definitely a balancing act. The best advice I've been given in regards to earning a living in this field is to spend almost as much time planning how to monetize your game appropriately as you do on the game development itself, with the thought being if you plan it right ahead of time, the player won't feel cheated and neither will the developer.
Considering IAP is almost becoming a necessity in an increasingly hostile marketplace and isn't simply an option developers choose out of greediness... why not just use it? This whole "I'll give you money for nothing, but not in exchange for goods or services" approach reeks of arrogance and is such a roundabout way of helping out it's nigh on pointless. High horse morals won't earn you any respect. If you really want to support a developer just shut up and do it.
I wish I could understand if this was also pointed at me. Bashed straight against a language/slang barrier.
@rubicon Is there a sequel to great big war game coming? About IAP I think it should be cosmetic upgrades only or if u do money once u buy it you cannot post to leader boards because people just buy their way to the top. Also I think we, the gamers ruined the App Store with the fact we will never pay a lot of money for a game.this pushes developers down the freemium route. Personally I would pay up to £10 if the game was worth it. Also if I got it free i buy the extra characters if I feel that the game is good enough.
One is planned after we ship our newest creation, yes. That won't be ftp but our new game probably will be.
I completely understand the increasing push towards IAPs. I just think there's good ways to do it and not do it. I'm a big proponent of one-time game unlocks. Gives users a chance to get a taste of the game, but if they want the whole deal, they gotta fork out the dough. And, as previously mentioned, shortcuts for those that want to get further in the game without having to play it as long are another decent use of IAPs. But the vast majority of those top grossing apps are wrought with consumable IAPs that I just find disgusting. Period. There's so many kids or just people who don't realize how addicting it can be to keep buying consumables in a game. In the end, these are the devs that are making out like bandits (and I'm sure a lot of these "social"/"building" game devs really are millionaires). It doesn't justify taking advantage of people. I have no problem at all with paying even like a $7 IAP to unlock a game that I really think is worth it. And "tip jars" are a great way for devs to get support from people who really enjoy a game. It's just those games where you don't know if there's ever an end in sight to what you'll pay that I will never get.
The race to the bottom in iOS in terms of pricing is mirroring the MMORPG world which is all about micro-transactions. That's not necessarily a bad thing, except when a) the expectation is that games ought to be free to play, and b) where the incentivisation is to devise more ways for players to part with their money rather than make engaging content. Another parallel I see is far too many games on the market. As stated earlier, there is a LOT of competition for people's leisure time. I think the iOS market needs to cannabilize itself because there are simply too many 'me too' games. I often wonder who buys these endless runners and platforms? Yet, if development costs are fairly low and a studio can knock these out as freemium with IAP consumables, then that's where the market is heading (or will remain). As in the MMORPG world, it is too risky to put money into development for a game that bucks the trend when all the data points otherwise. Yes, there are indie successes - notably #Sworcery, which I believe has sold in excess of 350,000 copies. Deduct Apple's 30% slice, deduct sales revenue if the game went on sale, deduct development costs, pay wages, and what constitutes success. Unlike the big studios who can pump out crappy ports and charge a small fortune by iOS standards, it is much riskier and harder as an indie. I'd be interested to know how well Incoboto and Machinarium have fared (both are on my list to purchase at some stage). I applaud these indie developers for taking a risk and doing something different. I do agree that the iOS market has some warped expectations of entitlement that is not commensurate with the price that is paid. Especially given Apple's slice of the revenue. There are a number of excellent, original games underneath the tsunami of dross. I do wonder whether we'll continue to see indie development for the platform or whether more and more developers will decide the economics make no sense and either withdraw from iOS gaming or start developing freemium business models. In fact, it might be sensible to develop a freemium business model to fund different business models. Then the temptation is if one is floating above water via the freemium route, then why go another route until (if?) the market changes. I do like the attitude of developers like Spiderware games (makers of Avadon and Avernum) in terms of setting a relatively high price by iOS standards and not having sales. Changing gears for a moment, do people think that genre plays a large factor as well in terms of price?
IAPs are a great way to extend the life of your game. I can imagine myself buying Level Packs or Add Ons for Games I love to play, but I will not purchase consumable IAPs. You can get a whole game for a freaking dollar, so why should anyone spend the dollar on some consumable virtual good? I won´t buy cheats either, but I can see that some people want that option. I´m looking at the dev of Plague Inc. here. I know your users wanted it and it really is not a problem as there is no downside for other users. I love to play Zookeeper Battle from time to time. Lets be honest here: It´s a great game, but I´d never purchase any IAP from it as they are consumable. If there would be an IAP which would unlock unlimited games, I´d be all over it. As this is not the case, I just keep playing the free portion of the game. It´s not about the dollar, it´s about the principe. We don´t live in the eighties where you had to pump dollars over dollars into Arcade Games. Sure, keep trying to catch whales, but you certainly will not get my money. Devs need to realize that there is so much variety on the App Store that you really don´t have to stick with just one game. Be glad we picked your game up in the first place.
