4 ms·

I think there will always be a market for freemium games, because it's nice to try things without having to put money down. But I think the freemium market can

I think there will always be a market for freemium games, because it's nice to try things without having to put money down. But I think the freemium market can co-exist with a premium game market. Like, the premium game market still exists and still is going strong, no reason it couldn't live on mobile devices also.

afavour 3y ago
> But I think the freemium market can co-exist with a premium game market I agree... but there isn't one. And I don't think it's because of an underpowered GPU.
- mcphage 3y ago
  I agree.
paxys 3y ago
> But I think the freemium market can co-exist with a premium game market Not so when all the big gaming mobile companies are assigning their top talent to building stuff like Clash of Kings. And why wouldn't they, when they can make so much more money doing so than working on a quality prestige game that no one will pay for. > the premium game market still exists and still is going strong, no reason it couldn't live on mobile devices also. It's actually the opposite. Mobile-style microtransactions are slowly taking over the premium PC/console gaming market.
stephc_int13 3y ago
Gamedev here. If you look at the numbers on mobile, it makes no sense from a business perspective to create non-F2P games on this platform. You can still make money with so-called "premium" games, that were simply normal games before Apple poisoned the well, but the potential is considerably lower.
- bombcar 3y ago
  I can't think of (offhand) even one premium game that is native to iOS, everything is or got a port. Part of it may be the "don't want to pay upfront" but shareware knows how that goes (free first part of the game, then pay $30 for the rest or whatever).
- danaris 3y ago
  I really, really hate the mindset that it "makes no sense" to do something that's not absolutely the most profitable course possible. If a game developer can make a living making "premium" games, then it makes sense to do so, especially with the very real ethical problems with making free-to-play games laden with microtransactions. Just because you would only ever choose to do what makes you the most money possible, and damn the rest of the world, that doesn't mean everyone would or should make that choice.
  - com2kid 3y ago
    > If a game developer can make a living making "premium" games, then it makes sense to do so, especially with the very real ethical problems with making free-to-play games laden with microtransactions. Most developers cannot make a living selling premium games on mobile. There have been plenty of cost breakdowns posted to HN by game developers. Occasionally a big mega-hit can make a profit, but for the majority of developers, free is now the only viable way.
  - theshrike79 3y ago
    The cold hard fact is that F2P games bring in RIDICULOUS amounts of money. I moved from doing code for industrial use and public admin as a consultant to mobile gaming. We have one hit game and the _daily_ marketing (a.k.a. user acquisition) budget for us is an order of magnitude bigger than the biggest projects I did at my old job. All the "ethical problems" usually are just older (usually) men in IT not understanding that people want to pay money to have fun. Some people go to bars to relax after a work week and drop $100 gladly. Others use that for going to the movies, some go to have a nice dinner. And some people really like relaxing while playing games and they want to pay for that, because they think it's worth the price.
    - Hammershaft 3y ago
      > All the "ethical problems" usually are just older (usually) men in IT not understanding that people want to pay money to have fun. Fucking absurd, to be frank. Watch a GDC talk on growing mobile F2P revenue and you will be exposed to a slew of deceptive methods for psychologically manipulating players (who are often kids) into addictive spending habits, often literally through gambling mechanisms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjI03CGkb4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjI03CGkb4

afavour 3y ago

> But I think the freemium market can co-exist with a premium game market I agree... but there isn't one. And I don't think it's because of an underpowered GPU.

mcphage 3y ago
I agree.

paxys 3y ago

> But I think the freemium market can co-exist with a premium game market Not so when all the big gaming mobile companies are assigning their top talent to building stuff like Clash of Kings. And why wouldn't they, when they can make so much more money doing so than working on a quality prestige game that no one will pay for. > the premium game market still exists and still is going strong, no reason it couldn't live on mobile devices also. It's actually the opposite. Mobile-style microtransactions are slowly taking over the premium PC/console gaming market.

stephc_int13 3y ago

Gamedev here. If you look at the numbers on mobile, it makes no sense from a business perspective to create non-F2P games on this platform. You can still make money with so-called "premium" games, that were simply normal games before Apple poisoned the well, but the potential is considerably lower.

bombcar 3y ago
I can't think of (offhand) even one premium game that is native to iOS, everything is or got a port. Part of it may be the "don't want to pay upfront" but shareware knows how that goes (free first part of the game, then pay $30 for the rest or whatever).
danaris 3y ago
I really, really hate the mindset that it "makes no sense" to do something that's not absolutely the most profitable course possible. If a game developer can make a living making "premium" games, then it makes sense to do so, especially with the very real ethical problems with making free-to-play games laden with microtransactions. Just because you would only ever choose to do what makes you the most money possible, and damn the rest of the world, that doesn't mean everyone would or should make that choice.
- com2kid 3y ago
  > If a game developer can make a living making "premium" games, then it makes sense to do so, especially with the very real ethical problems with making free-to-play games laden with microtransactions. Most developers cannot make a living selling premium games on mobile. There have been plenty of cost breakdowns posted to HN by game developers. Occasionally a big mega-hit can make a profit, but for the majority of developers, free is now the only viable way.
- theshrike79 3y ago
  The cold hard fact is that F2P games bring in RIDICULOUS amounts of money. I moved from doing code for industrial use and public admin as a consultant to mobile gaming. We have one hit game and the _daily_ marketing (a.k.a. user acquisition) budget for us is an order of magnitude bigger than the biggest projects I did at my old job. All the "ethical problems" usually are just older (usually) men in IT not understanding that people want to pay money to have fun. Some people go to bars to relax after a work week and drop $100 gladly. Others use that for going to the movies, some go to have a nice dinner. And some people really like relaxing while playing games and they want to pay for that, because they think it's worth the price.
  - Hammershaft 3y ago
    > All the "ethical problems" usually are just older (usually) men in IT not understanding that people want to pay money to have fun. Fucking absurd, to be frank. Watch a GDC talk on growing mobile F2P revenue and you will be exposed to a slew of deceptive methods for psychologically manipulating players (who are often kids) into addictive spending habits, often literally through gambling mechanisms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjI03CGkb4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjI03CGkb4