The Latest Evolution in Microtransactions - Business and Law. I'm going to guess that many might not see the significance of this article.
Microtransactions are a hot topic in the realm of the hated corporate agenda of video games, but I don't think it's enough to just "hate" microtransactions or the companies pushing them, I think you should know what they're trying to do. The nature of experiential microtransactions is simple when compared to real world examples. Experience as a Product If you ever have gone to StarBucks you'll understand what an "experiential" product is.
The basic idea is that you're not just buying a coffee, but buying an experience - the ethnic/exotic music being played, the decorations on the wall (usually dark and warm colors) or the rough wood grained table that feels different under your fingers compared to your regular IKEA table. When I chat about MTX design and examples with friends, I often hear examples pulled from WarCraft and GuildWars. Examples. Do Free Apps Really Account For 89% Of All Downloads? A few days ago a report was released noting that free applications account for over 89% of all downloads in the various app stores. 5 Creepy Ways Video Games Are Trying to Get You Addicted. So, the headlines say somebody else has died due to video game addiction.
Yaniv Nizan's Blog - How To Price your In-App Purchase Items - Real Life Examples. The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. F2P Summit: The 15 golden rules of free-to-play. Speaking at the F2P Summit in London this morning, Gamesbrief ’s Nicholas Lovell gave an enlightening talk in which he gave the audience his 15 golden rules for free-to-play game design. Lovell is well-placed to advise the delegates at this, the conference’s second year: he advises a number of studios large and small on how to succeed – though he admitted his advice was slightly biased towards mobile because that’s where most of his clients are operating.
What follows, though, is not solely of use for those making mobile games, but contains valuable advice for those working elsewhere. The principles are broadly the same, whether on console, PC, Facebook or the App Store. Make it fun. Philip Driver's Blog - Localizing Payment Options and Reducing Friction for Video Games. The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.
David Edery's Blog - F2P game publishing is a tricky thing. The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company. When Christian Nutt asked me to write an article for Gamasutra on the topic of publishers, I wasn’t sure what to do. Spry Fox is relatively committed to self-publishing our games and I haven’t kept up with developments in the publishing space. So after writing and discarding a few half-hearted introductions to this article, I decided that the most useful and honest thing that I could do is simply explain why, with one aging exception, Spry Fox has avoided working with publishers. Mobile Gaming Engagement Doubles In 2013. Originally posted on Forbes – NativeX has released new data showing that within the last year, users have moved toward deeper engagement in the mobile gaming space. The average mobile gamer’s engagement time has more than doubled. The amount of mobile gaming power users, those that play more than 10 minutes per session, has also doubled.
Do these huge shifts signal new opportunities for mobile monetization? In Q1 of 2013, gamers spent on average two minutes and 37 seconds playing per session versus one minute and 27 seconds in Q3 of 2012 – a 102% increase. Seth Sivak's Blog - The Future of Games as a Service. The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.
You’re Doin’ it Wrong: How to Master the F2P Upsell. Upselling has been a powerful tool used in retail for decades. I think we all understand the increased revenues it can bring. However, upselling at the wrong time or to the wrong person can not only annoy the consumer, but can also kill possible sales or turn consumers away. This is true in retail stores and in mobile games. As a member of the NativeX Games Task Force, I work with game developers to improve their upselling techniques in ways that create value for their players. The Gates Before Freemium: Ace Patrol. I respect the hell out of Sid Meier and what he’s done for the games industry. I’ve been a long time Civilization, Pirates, and Railroad sim fan. Not only am I a fan of Firaxis but as you’d guess, I’m also a champion for the freemium / F2P business model so when I saw Firaxis add freemium combine I was excited to give them a whirl. To give you a little background about myself, I am a games consultant on the NativeX Games Task Force.
My team provides specialized 1:1 consulting to our partners and we help them turn their mobile games into successful businesses. Why is King Removing In-Game Advertising? April 18, 2014 NativeX Recognized as a Top 10 Ad Network By VentureBeat This year NativeX was recognized as the top rated native advertising platform for mobile apps, rising up the charts to number 6 overall.
April 8, 2014 Join the NativeX Team - We’re Hiring in Minnesota and San Francisco We’re currently seeking over fifteen techies, nerds, and creative minds who want to help us shape the future of mobile advertising. March 26, 2014 Using In-App Advertising Effectively To Monetize an App. Mobile is burning, and free-to-play binds the hands of devs who want to help. In early March of this year Fireproof released the happy news that we've collectively sold 5.5 million copies of our mobile games The Room and The Room 2 since release.
At Fireproof we'd always heard a mobile game had to be a casual, free to download, games-as-a-service title you can play for infinity. This was a problem, as our game was short, dark and grim, had no social or online aspect and contained no in-app purchases or adverts. We also lacked any money to pay for professional Marketing or PR so upon its release you could politely term our expectations as realistic. Part 4 - Purchasing Non-Consumable Products. Non-consumable products are ‘owned’ by the customer.
The expectation is that they will always have access to them, even if their device is lost/stolen or they buy a new one. They are useful for books, magazine issues, game levels, photo filters, ‘pro-features’, etc. CSR Racing dev defends controversial in-app purchases. The developer behind CSR Racing, currently one of the highest-grossing iPhone and iPad games, has defended its controversial in-app purchases system.
The free app is the number one grossing game in 70 of the world's App Stores. But it has come in for criticism for the way it handles in-app purchases, which some players have described as too aggressive. The game encourages players to spend real world cash on in-game items, such as better cars, rather than earn them through playing alone - what some have said is a "painfully slow process". Only last week it emerged that Russian coder Alexey V. Borodin had created an iOS exploit that allowed users to download in-app purchases for free. CSR Racing dev addresses in-app purchasing complaints. Boss Alien, developer of the successful iOS game CSR Racing, has addressed complaints that the game is unfairly balanced to encourage in-app purhcases.
CSR Racing is currently the top-grossing game in 70 App Stores across the world. Quarter Spiral Blog. The secret to player engagement. Andreas Ronning's Blog - Poisoning the well. Console developers need to look at Dungeon Keeper and learn. "We don't have a mobile gaming industry anymore. We have a mobile scamming industry. " Optimizing Your Industry to the Point of Suicide. A trend is starting to form.