3 ms·

>I released the game at £1.49 / $1.99. My rationale behind the pricing was that it was a niche game, and therefore anyone who wanted to play it wouldn't mind pa

by pkfrank 13y ago

>I released the game at £1.49 / $1.99. My rationale behind the pricing was that it was a niche game, and therefore anyone who wanted to play it wouldn't mind paying the slightly higher (but let's be honest, still very low) cost, and I wanted to make back the money I spent on art (around £400/$600). Secondly I think even the modest increase from £0.69/$.99 rules out a lot of impulse purchases, which would have no doubt increased the number of "it's too hard!" and "I don't understand!" reviews no end - this was a game made for BMXers after all. This makes total sense, and I hadn't previously considered the effect of pricing on potential reviews. He was able to focus his audience (by raising the price), knowing that it would encourage more motivated gamers that were less likely to get frustrated by the mechanics. Thus avoiding the annoying 1-star reviews that can tank a rating.

soup10 13y ago
It doesn't, App Store is all about impulse purchases. Anything remotely casual should be .99c or free, use ingame purchases to capture extra value. If the game plays half decent and is shiny(has non-amateur art), it should have a pop up sometime ingame reminding players to review and it will have no problem getting a 4-5 star rating. All of which doesn't actually matter if you get right because you still need a hook or angles that gets people playing YOUR game instead of the 1000s of other similairly polished and entertaining games(many of which are going to be better known, by virtue of branding/bigger marketing budget/connections/whatever)
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- eropple 13y ago
  As a game developer what you describe is painful. Your description should serve as a warning to anyone trying to get into mobile games. If you race to the bottom, you will sell your soul to do so.
- coldtea 13y ago
  >It doesn't, App Store is all about impulse purchases. Lots of quality apps with normal prices have proven otherwise. So anybody should take your advice with a sack of salt.
  - soup10 13y ago
    It is what it is. I've had an app in the top 100 paid for the past couple years and that's how I interpret the market. The vast majority of money spent on the App Store is impulse buys, not researched decisions.
- peterkelly 13y ago
  What you've said regarding pricing & the freemium model is entirely correct. But this race-to-the-bottom that everyone has been forced into annoys me to no end. Personally I'd much rather pay $5 or even $10 for a good game if it's going to give me a few hours of entertainment. Unfortunately there's so much crap on the app store that it's a big risk paying that much for something unless you know (based on reviews/recommendations etc) that it's good.
- adamthats 13y ago
  I disagree with the cheap / free and then 'capture extra value' model, purely because I personally hate games that do that. That's not to say that it doesn't make good business sense, just that I wouldn't enjoy making those kinds of games. If it was my livelihood perhaps I'd feel differently, but I'm very happy being in a situation where I can make exactly what I want, for the market I want! (full disclosure: I'm the guy that wrote the blog post).
sgarman 13y ago
Another positive thing about pricing it above the .99 min is that if you do, you can't have sales or reduce the price of your game. Starting at 1.99 gives you some freedom to bend your price a bit.

by pkfrank 13y ago

soup10 13y ago

It doesn't, App Store is all about impulse purchases. Anything remotely casual should be .99c or free, use ingame purchases to capture extra value. If the game plays half decent and is shiny(has non-amateur art), it should have a pop up sometime ingame reminding players to review and it will have no problem getting a 4-5 star rating. All of which doesn't actually matter if you get right because you still need a hook or angles that gets people playing YOUR game instead of the 1000s of other similairly polished and entertaining games(many of which are going to be better known, by virtue of branding/bigger marketing budget/connections/whatever)

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
eropple 13y ago
As a game developer what you describe is painful. Your description should serve as a warning to anyone trying to get into mobile games. If you race to the bottom, you will sell your soul to do so.
coldtea 13y ago
>It doesn't, App Store is all about impulse purchases. Lots of quality apps with normal prices have proven otherwise. So anybody should take your advice with a sack of salt.
- soup10 13y ago
  It is what it is. I've had an app in the top 100 paid for the past couple years and that's how I interpret the market. The vast majority of money spent on the App Store is impulse buys, not researched decisions.
peterkelly 13y ago
What you've said regarding pricing & the freemium model is entirely correct. But this race-to-the-bottom that everyone has been forced into annoys me to no end. Personally I'd much rather pay $5 or even $10 for a good game if it's going to give me a few hours of entertainment. Unfortunately there's so much crap on the app store that it's a big risk paying that much for something unless you know (based on reviews/recommendations etc) that it's good.
adamthats 13y ago
I disagree with the cheap / free and then 'capture extra value' model, purely because I personally hate games that do that. That's not to say that it doesn't make good business sense, just that I wouldn't enjoy making those kinds of games. If it was my livelihood perhaps I'd feel differently, but I'm very happy being in a situation where I can make exactly what I want, for the market I want! (full disclosure: I'm the guy that wrote the blog post).

sgarman 13y ago

Another positive thing about pricing it above the .99 min is that if you do, you can't have sales or reduce the price of your game. Starting at 1.99 gives you some freedom to bend your price a bit.