Tiered Pricing vs Free + IAPs: which is more successful?

General (non-technical) Marketing and Monetization
#1

Hi all, I figured this forum would be a great place to ask this. Does anyone have any insight, case studies, recommendations, success stories, etc they can share that address this question?

I am at a crossroads with my game. I can invest some more time to create In-App Purchases and release my game as free, or I could just charge $0.99 or $1.99 for it. I see validity in releasing sooner and selling at tiered pricing, but am curious if it would be worth it. In short, the IAPs I’m envisioning would simply help the user solve levels quicker and progress through the game faster/easier.

I understand this can differ per game, but would love it if anyone has any insight, thoughts or preferences they could share. Thanks! [import]uid: 131038 topic_id: 27267 reply_id: 327267[/import]

#2

I can’t speak from personal experience but the developers I do know or read about constantly seem to lean heavily in the free + IAP direction. Apparently without good marketing/reputation/word of mouth free is really the best way to draw players in and IAP is a way to get them to pay for something if they already enjoy it.

The problem, of course, is having compelling IAP options… [import]uid: 41884 topic_id: 27267 reply_id: 110868[/import]

#3

Hi Richard, thanks for the insight. I’m thinking that too and have read one account where it was successful… Curious if anyone else has any other insight to share or links to case studies, etc.

Time to work on some compelling IAP options… :slight_smile: [import]uid: 131038 topic_id: 27267 reply_id: 110871[/import]

#4

Think its all about what the IAP is indeed. I am currently waiting an review of one of my games where I have put in a IAP option to buy and added function to the game. This game havent sold much so trying this way to blow some new life into it. When it hits the appstore I will set it to free. The upside with having been a paid game before is that when I set it as free it gets picked up by alot of sites out there and I usually notice a good increase in downloads.

The other bonus of having a free game would be a channel to customers for other apps you may have. Looking forward to try it at least and see how it works :slight_smile: Hope you find some compelling IAP options! [import]uid: 17969 topic_id: 27267 reply_id: 110873[/import]

#5

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/husband-wife-team-behind-temple-110034369.html [import]uid: 71201 topic_id: 27267 reply_id: 110876[/import]

#6

@borgb: Thanks! Good points you made. It does seem like free + IAP has huge upsides. Keep us posted about your app - looking forward to hearing how the IAPs do!

@NexGen: Awesome article - thanks for sharing that. I didn’t know Temple Run was husband/wife. I do remember though my son asking me one day something like, “Dad can I purchase some coins they’re only $19.95” :slight_smile:

It’s hard though to look at those download numbers for Temple Run and not immediately think what if that game was $0.99. But then, would the game be downloaded as much? Would it soar to it’s position in the AppStore as quickly? The game is fun and addicting, but as a paid app would it have risen to such success?

Seems like there is much merit to having a free app - they apparently have much greater chance of success! This game (Blender - a puzzle/strategy game) that I’m building will be my first mobile game. Doing all the design and dev myself so there’s a lot riding on it - want to ensure it’s as successful as possible! :slight_smile: [import]uid: 131038 topic_id: 27267 reply_id: 110879[/import]

#7

Based on our experience I would recommend releasing the game paid and adding IAP later or if its simply one type of in app purchase like hints spending the extra couple days and include them at launch. Our last game, Mosquito Madness, was designed as a freemium game with lots of in app purchases. The game has around half a million users but the in app purchase rate was been terribly low. We have done much better with our games doing paid versions and ad supported versions. [import]uid: 9840 topic_id: 27267 reply_id: 110945[/import]

#8

I agree with @crawlspacegames. Although You will have much better success in download numbers by releasing a free app, I have made more money from the paid app I have out. Granted my specific case is a small one but I would imagine it wouldn’t differ too much on a larger scale. [import]uid: 50511 topic_id: 27267 reply_id: 110947[/import]

#9

“…It’s hard though to look at those download numbers for Temple Run and not immediately think what if that game was $0.99. But then, would the game be downloaded as much?..”

I hear you. It is very tempting to think that way. At least the article gives you the percentage of downloads versus IAP revenue. It seems that for Temple Run (I checked out and I can see why people like it) The percentage is about 100 to 1. Good info!

Mo [import]uid: 100814 topic_id: 27267 reply_id: 110959[/import]

#10

Some really good insight - thanks much!

I think the challenge with my game is that I’m at a point now where the final features I add with go in one of the two directions. I’d rather launch sooner and it seems like a good idea would be to do a paid app and then introduce IAPs down the road if it seems like a good idea then.

Most of the IAP ideas I have wouldn’t be too difficult to implement, but would introduce modified gameplay which would simply take time to polish up. Much to think about next couple weeks… :slight_smile: [import]uid: 131038 topic_id: 27267 reply_id: 111217[/import]