launch pricing (.99 vs 1.99)

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by bishopia, Oct 19, 2010.

  1. dyscode

    dyscode Well-Known Member

    Apr 11, 2010
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    This is true for every market but the iPhone App market.
    Here we have a def. surplus of supply of games.

    There are more games coming out each day that you can play in a month.
    Console and PC market is totally different PLUS, early adopter usually get some goodies extra, even if it`s just a unique skin for your charakter or something. Not to miss the possible Limited Edition value.

    .99 is def. for most consumers a no brainer to try out.
    But it also depends how unique your game is.
    For the next Tower Defense Doodle Addictive Gameplay-clone with a twist $1.99 is a bad idea IMHO. But I am not a `casual gamer` so for the casual market the exact opposite might be true ;)
    There are a lot of people who just want more of the same -just becasue they already know it.

    But there are also examples where the initial prize can be anything, like with the upcoming Galaxy on Fire 2 next week.
    This is only possible becasue of the reputation of and trust in a company.
    Even if, essentially GOF1 only nailed the space dogfighting and GUI-responsiveness 100% perfect.

    so far my 2cents :)
     
  2. EssentialParadox

    EssentialParadox Well-Known Member

    Sep 21, 2009
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    I don't see how the App Store is any exception. So long as the game is hyped and known-about, there will always be those early adopters. The simple fact that EA and GameLoft often release new titles at up to $10 is proof of an early adoption premium on the App Store.
     
  3. dyscode

    dyscode Well-Known Member

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    #23 dyscode, Oct 23, 2010
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2010
    Yes you are right, for the hyped games.

    If an unkown indie developer, like in this case, just throws a game on the market without heavily stirring up the bee hive quite before that, like e.g. the Superbrothers with Sword & Sworcery did, there will be very few early adopters willing to pay premium prices, because as I said the supply of great .99 games makes it quite hard for equally or even better games to even cross the 2.99 mark. It´s all in the marketing.
     
  4. dyscode

    dyscode Well-Known Member

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    #24 dyscode, Oct 23, 2010
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2010
    double post, sorry
     
  5. EssentialParadox

    EssentialParadox Well-Known Member

    Sep 21, 2009
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    Well exactly. That applies to every market though. I was just a bit confused why you said the App Store is different. :)
     
  6. HeshamAmiri

    HeshamAmiri Well-Known Member

    Aug 19, 2010
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    From my experience with two games, I would say start at 0.99 and hike up the prices after a week or so, then do a drop to get some exposure.

    A few weeks later, if sales are still lacking, consider making the game free for a two or three days. The exposure you get is massive and the sales most definitely pick up.
     
  7. I'll just chime in as well. For "Mini Shogi" there was only one competitor, so I matched its price at $1.99. For a couple more abstract chess games, I did $0.99. They sold poorly but interestingly moving them to $1.99, despite their simplicity, resulted in same amount of copies being sold. So if you're in an extreme niche, price matters less because it won't affect your sales volume, imo.

    I launched "Xeno Sola" at $2.99 and it did fine for awhile. I did find that with each (rare) sale at $0.99 the spike in sales was less and less. (Nowadays Carcassonne virtually wiped out its sales, sadly, regardless of its price.)

    Zombie Karts launched at $0.99 and has been my best seller. Moving it to $1.99 increased its revenue when it started to show its age last summer. And now those sales are down as most folks pick it up as part of the All-in-1 ZombieBox. This scenario matches most folks' experiences imo: launch low, then when the game ages move price up to increase income/copy, then bundle (if possible!).
     
  8. klicktock

    klicktock Well-Known Member

    Oct 13, 2009
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    Agreed. Unless you're making a KILLER game with oodles of hype then launch low then raise the price once you're out of the chart. If you NEVER leave the chart, leave it as is and build a big money pile out of all your money. :)
     
  9. gammabeam

    gammabeam Well-Known Member

    This is a great discussion guys!
    Right now I am working on a game along with some friends, and already read a lot about this.

    We are thinking about releasing the game on a .99 sale for a limited time (3-7 days) then raise it to our final value (1.99 or 2.99, still unsure and waiting for the final product to determine it). I do believe we will have a strong product, but our money is very limited to promote it, so I'll have to rely on community spreading the word. In two weeks, if everything goes well, we'll have something to show everyone, and the release is scheduled for January - giving 2-3 months of exposure.

    I agree with the "Canabalt" way of selling - stick to the price it's actually worth - and I believe it should be a common practice in the App Store, but for developers with no money to advertise, it could be risky.
     
  10. EssentialParadox

    EssentialParadox Well-Known Member

    Sep 21, 2009
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    When have any of the very successful titles on the App Store ever launched low then raised the price?

    You might think it's a good idea because it worked in the past, but you're losing out a ton of revenue by early adopters. I dunno... maybe it's the best approach, but you have no idea if you would've done even better to release at $5.
     
  11. TapMeJared

    TapMeJared Member

    May 6, 2010
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    I agree with mindjuice. This market is very broken and any opportunity to get some free press, even tracker press helps. You are either up on the charts getting big numbers, or getting mediocre numbers not being on the charts. I have been doing some research on trackers and will share it in a couple weeks.
     
  12. Stroffolino

    Stroffolino Well-Known Member
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    Apr 28, 2009
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    On a related note, two not-so-obvious implications about pricing:

    1. Many user are still using OS3.x which prompts users to rate apps while deleting. But not all "rate on deletes" are bad. When users delete a lite version after upgrading to full, a sizeable number of people will delete the lite, and give it a good anonymous rating at that point. A lower price on the full version can actually get you better average user rating on the lite, because of the higher upsell rate. I did some tests on this recently with Pocket Boxing. When the full version has a price point of 0.99, the upsell rate doubles, and the frequency of 4 and 5 stars user ratings on the lite increases.

    2. With Card Shark, raising price point to $1.99 is probably the best thing I ever did. It helps the app stand out from the 0.99 card games. It helps encourage people to contact me when they run into a problem. My revenue has increased, with no real loss of visibility. And I now have the option of using a sale in the future to boost ranking.

     
  13. headcaseGames

    headcaseGames Well-Known Member

    Jun 26, 2009
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    #33 headcaseGames, Oct 25, 2010
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2010

    <-- hmm very very interesting, thanks for letting us know!
    __________________
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    Our hit puzzler 180 on sale 0.99 - Contest
    FreeAppTracker.com free daily apps, rankings, & contests!
     
  14. For sake of discussion, I'll share that our next app, Pinball Hockey, will launch at $.099. I do try to "right size" apps to the price, moreso than manipulate the market. In this case, I saw the game as a fun amusement toy with a little depth (achievements, leaderboard, local multiplayer) and felt a good ol' buck fit just right.
     
  15. bluelobster

    bluelobster Active Member

    Sep 22, 2010
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    I launched with a $1.99 price and saw a few buys a day (usually more on weekends). I lowered it to $0.99 after a few weeks as an experiment and have seen a fairly big (and steady) difference in daily buys.

    Part of me thinks I should have just started at $0.99...but who knows.

    I am not sure what to do going forward.
     
  16. Carlos

    Carlos Well-Known Member

    Sep 29, 2009
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    There is definitely no general rule, and you'll only learn by experimenting.
    However, if you want to stand out from the crowd of fart / flashlight / mirror apps, you should consider setting your price a bit above $0.99.

    Niche games and apps should be priced even higher, but this is a different story.
     

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