That is why I'm curious about this model... Imagine that in the ocean of the App Store there are: 2% whales (big spenders) 20% sardines (casual spenders) and 78% krill (no spenders) (...I'm really having fun with this ) The Freemium + Premium Unlock has a potential to reach 10 times more clients... do whales spend 10 times more money that sardines?
To be honest... it will never happen. Why would they limit the amount of money the can earn from the App Store? Ultimately the consumers drive the market. It is up to the consumer to decide the paying model it prefers... Actually this is why I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this developer... this Freemium + Premium upgrade model (they call it "Lives Forever") is one of the 'fairest' I've ever seen
The outcry, even from premium supporters, of locking a legit consumer out of the App Store would far outweigh the positive support for such a hardline stance on IAP. I understand your concerns about addiction but addiction happens in all areas of gaming including but not limited to excessive playing, over spending on premium games and of course f2p abuse from players. If someone is addicted to the point where their life is being damaged then that is up to the person to someday recognize the problem and seek help. I agree that f2p games are geared towards milking the player out of the most money possible but that is a marketplace reality on mobile since many find the idea of spending money up front on mobile laughable with exceptions (big name value or game catches fire), and when they are willing to spend the modern gamer wants dollar menu prices and expects a big return in entertainment on their small amount spent.
I believe that David_Don suggestion is more related with maintaining an equilibria between players who send on IAPs with players who don't spend on IAPs. Bottom line: Competition in Freemium based games favours players with big pockets (usually known as whales)
It's not unusual for some people to spend the amount of $4000 - $7000 per month on a single game. If you realize that Clash of Clans and Hay Day bring in the nice amount of $500.000 daily. DAILY.
That is just insane. Have you seen this article on CandyCrush? http://toucharcade.com/2015/02/13/candy-crush-players-bought-over-1-3-billion-worth-of-iap-in-2014/ 1.3 billion /year = 3.5 million/day = $150 000 /hour I can't understand how can someone spend $4000-$7000 per month in a game. Makes no sense!
As others have said. These freemium games are really closer to playing games at a casino than they are to playing a video game. I think that they have serious problems and probably need help.
Just look at the Top 10 grossing iPhone apps: 3 are really casino games 2 are candy crush games 2 are music apps and the others are: Game of War Clash of Titans and Boom Beach I agree that the gameplay of casino games and candy crush is quite similar to being in a casino. As for the last three, I still can't understand how can someone spend $1000/month on them. BTW, I did enjoyed playing clash of titans for a while but I never spent a buck on it... I would definitely buy the game if it was premium or if it had a decent premium upgrade (gems forever or something like that)
It is true, but for most users it's better to just download a game and give it a try... Fremium games offer that possibility. For indie developers this is very important because they can take advantage of the "impulsive download" to show their games to a broader audience.
This is only valid for top grossing games. They represent the most significant % of the AppStore revenue.
The Premium Unlock in [thread=253134]Overpaint[/thread] allows to try the game for free and only buy it if you like it (for a reasonable price)... What do you think?
