Any Plans to Offer a paid PRO Tier Subscription

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

Now that the first official ad plug-in has been announced (Applovin) with a 5% revenue share of ads for Corona FREE - this leads me to ask Corona:

Do you have any plans to offer a PRO premium tier in which we can pay a monthly or annual fee to negate the revenue share for plug-ins?

While I agree that with Corona SDK FREE - it’s a great idea to have the ad revenue share in there for those that don’t want to pay a subscription fee, I think that it’s wise to add another PRO tier for Corona business owners who wish to subscribe, and pay for a PRO version of Corona SDK with all the plug-ins without having to give 5% revenue share on ad network plug-ins.

I realize that the next suggestion would be: why not use Enterprise?

Because many of our clients who rely on us to produce apps and projects for them do not want to mess with Xcode, and prefer the ease of use with Corona FREE (formerly Corona Pro) in publishing, and setting up their apps.

This is a big deal for us, and I think I speak on behalf of many other Corona SDK FREE users that have been using Corona for years, that this could become a deal breaker if there isn’t another solution offered to us.

The lack of additional PRO solutions is going to push any serious devs away, especially our clients who make  a significant amount of money in ads, it would not make any sense to them fiscally to give Corona 5% share of their ad revenue when it would be cheaper to switch to Unity or another platform that doesn’t have this share.

The next argument could be : well just use admob or chartboost. That is not an option for our clients, they prefer, and use Applovin as the first line of ads that appear & also want the flexibility of using multiple ad networks as performance varies every year, and they want use of those plug-ins without getting taxed.

I hope that Corona SDK seriously considers adding another subscription for PRO users that want to pay for use of Corona SDK plus any additional plug-ins that may surface, otherwise I fear that Corona is abandoning not only it’s long-term users of this platform, but shutting out any serious developers that want to avoid using Enterprise, and Xcode altogether.

#2

Yeah we were interested in using Corona for rapid development, but if we have to share ad revenue we’re going with Unity.

#3

Bump - any feedback on this?

#4

Where did you see Pro FREE?

#5

I think he just meant when pro became free.

#6

Yes, when Pro became free, now referred to as Corona SDK FREE.

Still doesn’t answer our question - any plans to offer another tier where developers don’t get taxed on the use of plug-ins? e.g.: PRO subscription with use of plug-ins as an annual paid fee vs getting taxed 5% on use of plug-ins using Corona SDK FREE?

So far, this has either been avoided, not answered, or answered with another question.

#7

I’m just making sure we are not using the language Pro FREE vs Normal FREE somewhere that would imply tiers.

#8

Right, that make sense. 

We’ve been using Corona for 5 years now, so Pro has always been a staple in our mind, and I didn’t update our language to include the fact that what used to be Pro is now Corona FREE.

But I think the message is clear. For Professionals, business owners etc. who prefer to use Normal Corona vs Enterprise, we really need a solution for: Ad Plugins without getting taxed 5% or any fees on usage.

Our clients as well as us, are willing to pay a subscription fee to avoid the tax on the plug-ins to use Corona FREE as another tiered option.

I think this is a necessity for Corona to cover all bases, otherwise you are excluding any serious developers or business owners who prefer to use the non-Enterprise version of Corona for rapid development and publishing.

#9

I’m trying to get a definitive answer from the business side. But I believe the previous answers state our intentions. There will be monetization options that are 100% free to use. Others will have a rev-share. Some (like IAP) Apple and Google are going to take their 30%.  Our paid tier is Enterprise. It is your way around revenue sharing. With the higher Enterprise tier, you can host your own plugins so you and your clients can build using Corona SDK. This hosting doesn’t need to be high powered. It’s not like the people running the app hit it. You just need enough server resources to handle building the app.

If in the past, your clients were expected to pay for a pro license to build their apps, why not build that fee into your contract and have it pay for your Enterprise subscription?

Rob

#10

@Rob: thanks for trying to get answers, we are in touch with the Corona team now to see where we stand with this issue.

I understand your paid tier is Enterprise, which is great for programmers - but not for our clients who don’t have any knowledge of programming & want the ease of publishing that Corona SDK FREE gives them.

Also, comparing your tax to Apple & Google is not the same thing - Apple, Google, Amazon, Applovin, Admob and many other networks all charge their own fees for either selling apps or hosting their ads. The tax you are charging is on top of the fees that the ad companies are already charging us developers. Unity SDK, your competitor does not do this. They only charge a subscription to use their SDK, and that’s it. The rest of the revenue is the developer’s to keep. 

If you were providing developers with a mediation platform such as Fuse, where we could do a waterfall of ads and maximize the RPM on the ad earnings, I could see the benefit in charging a tax - but you are taxing us on using just Applovin the plug-in, as it is. The comparison is not the same.

Our clients want to be able to publish and edit their games without the complexities of servers, Xcode or anything else - We also, as the service providers to our clients, do not want to hassle or deal with Enterprise. To be honest with you, at that point, it would just make more sense to switch over to Unity SDK, which is less hassle than dealing with Enterprise, roughly the same price, we have 100% access to as many plug-ins as we want & services as we want, and don’t get taxed on the income we receive from them. 

On the contrary, we, and our clients have a lot invested in Corona SDK. We’ve used this platform for 5 years now, so it will be a rough transition in getting all the projects ported over to Unity, but if we must do that, then so be it, and our dozen or so clients will also be ready to move over to Unity, as long as their app needs are served, and they can edit their games and publish them with ease.

Again, I reiterate - our clients have no problem paying for a paid tier of Corona FREE - whatever you want to call it - Corona Pro could be an additional tier offered to help those developers who wish to avoid Enterprise, and have access to plug-ins without the taxes.

So in a nutshell - we want the option of having Corona FREE with the plug-ins as a paid subscription to negate the fees on any plug-ins, including Applovin.

I think what we are asking for is very simple, and easy. Other SDK’s do not tax developers on their revenue earnings, and as I explained earlier, this is not something that our clients are willing to negotiate. They are fully ready to migrate over to Unity SDK in the event Corona does not provide another solution for them. It’s as simple as that.

We love Corona SDK - it’s one of the best engines out their for rapid development, and having used it for over 5 years, I can say that it’s a wonderful tool & we would be very sad to have to leave it altogether.

#11

Jbean, just to clarify something here. Rob was talking about enterprise unlimited. That allows you to host plugins on your own server and still use the standard Corona simulator to build with.

The only time Xcode would be needed, is if you wanted to update a native plugin. Ex to add features to one, update it etc.

So your clients wouldn’t need to use Xcode to build, as you can continue to use Corona to do your work.

Just wanted to clear that up

#12

Why would the plug-in need a server to host it via Enterprise? Sorry, but I’m the owner of the company and not an engineer, but to me, this process is already sounding cumbersome, which brings me back to my original point: We do not want to deal with servers, or anything - why would an ad network plugin need to be hosted at all?

This is what we are trying to avoid, and I don’t think that’s resonating here.

#13

If you are using your own plugins, you just put the binaries on a standard ftp server.

From there, you can link to those binaries from your build.settings file. In a nutshell, all your doing is hosting the plugins yourself.

The corona build process remains unchanged.

For instance, your team writes a plugin for an advertisement network. They build it in xcode, put the binaries on an ftp server. Then all you would do is add the url to the plugin binaries in build.settings and you are done.

Enterprises unlimited just gives you access to this feature. You don’t actually need to use xcode/enterprise to avail of it.

I bring this up as this functionality sounds like it will achieve what you are after, more or less, and is available now as an existing tier

#14

I couldn’t answer this question as I’m not an engineer, but after speaking to them about this - again, the answer remains that we do not want to use servers or anything to host plug-ins. 

At that point in the game, we may as well switch to Unity SDK which provides multiple iAP plugins for free and without the hassle or use of servers. This is coming from my engineer, as I don’t understand the logistics and work involved.

But when running the comparison - they said very plainly that it would be easier to switch to Unity at that point to avoid the hassle involved with hosting plugins via a server.

I also want to add the most important point of all, which is Unity is the cheaper solution when comparing their services to Corona Enterprise Unlimited. At $199 a month for Enterprise, we can spend a similar amount with Unity, and have access to tons of plug-ins, all of which we do not have to host or do anything with Xcode to support them.

I don’t think you guys are getting the message here. Corona FREE makes things easy - all we are asking is that you offer a subscription to negate the tax on applovin and future plug-ins, but it sounds like we are just going around in circles here, and ultimately, we are going to have to move our entire portfolio and our clients to Unity.

I think Corona is a wonderful tool, and people should be paying to use it - I think charging a subscription fee to use a “Corona PRO” tier is a great idea, but I fear this is falling on deaf ears, and that the Corona team is not understanding the importance of having this tier available to it’s clients.

I reiterate - we have used Corona SDK for 5 years, have referred people to your platform, and have built up a large client base who also use and love Corona SDK. If we do not have a solution soon, we are taking our business to another SDK because fiscally, and logistically, it just doesn’t make sense to choose Enterprise when at that point, the best solution would be to move our projects to Unity.

#15

I just want to say again what already have been told. If you are willing to pay money to get rid of that 5% revenue share:

  1. Hire a programmer, who makes you the needed plugin without 5% share.
  2. Buy Corona Enterprise license with “self-hosted plugins” feature.
  3. Ask that programmer to put his plugin in a dropbox (with a direct link) or ftp/http server. (You don’t want to mess with servers, but I am pretty sure you can handle links from them).
  4. Put this link into your build.settings file (ask your hired programmer to do it for you).
  5. PROFIT!

Also there is no tax on iAP by Corona, there never was and never will be.

If that doesn’t work for you - feel free to move to any other platform. To make this process easier we have Corona Cards for Unity - you can run your Corona games inside Unity with little to no modifications. 

#16

I never said there was a tax on iAP - I simply said comparing the 5% tax on Applovin revenue to the 30% other stores charge to host and list your games is not a fair comparison.

Regarding #2 - if we have to pay for the top tier of Enterprise then it would make sense fiscally to move over to Unity. Makes no sense to pay $199 per month when we can have Unity SDK and not use servers to host plug-ins.

Not sure how much clearer we can be on that point.

It sounds like Corona is not willing to hear the value in the Pro tier as I have suggested above, but in the end it’s really your loss and not ours.

#17

Probably a typo then.

#18

Yes, it was indeed a typo - I corrected it.

And we also take it that Corona has no plans to offer a paid Pro tier, so we have no choice but to migrate to Unity.

We had a great run with Corona SDK, and appreciate the effort shown here to at least hear what we had to say. We hope at some point in time, our feedback eventually resonates to the powers that may be, and a paid tier is offered or considered as part of the current tiers that are out there.

We feel we have done our best to communicate this, and at this point, I think we’ve made our stance clear, but it sounds like things will not change with the tiers, so we must gracefully move on.

#19

Yeah we were interested in using Corona for rapid development, but if we have to share ad revenue we’re going with Unity.

#20

Bump - any feedback on this?