How to sell a ten dollar app.
Mammoth
Member Posts: 640
So I have been working on the art for a very big project the size of an XBLA game like limbo. My goal is to sell in on the marketplace for 10 dollars. What does it need to havein order to have people actually buy it.
Comments
Personally I wouldn't recommend selling at the price. At most, $5 I'd say, and even then you're stretching it.
Don't look at XBLA games as a point of reference. Look at what's on the app store.
If you can honestly say your game is better than everything else that's cheaper on the app store, graphically, gameplay wise, sound wise, feature wise, then go ahead.
But the competition is fierce. Infinity blade, for example, is about $3 these days.
QS
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But yeah, look at what’s selling on the App Store presently and compare the quality. EA Games is selling some pretty high quality content for a great deal less than that. Even they are falling victim to the race to the bottom.
Infinity Blade is a decent example; it’s usually 6.99, but 2.99 “for a limited time” because of a recent content patch. They’re trying to attract new players to recoop their dev costs, and don’t forget that they have in-game purchases also.
To answer your question to some extent though… just a few of the things that people would likely (in my opinion) expect from a $10 app store game would be: (in no particular order btw)
1) Online multiplayer
2) Realtime scoreboard (of some kind) to measure e-peens
3) Compelling game-play; the type that makes it almost impossible to put down. (Maybe through unlockables, leveling character/equipment up, etc etc)
4) No less than 3-4 solid hours of gameplay (More would be better, as would any number of repeatable tasks – ie grinding, aka “the treadmill”.)
5) Eyecandy – like particle effects, motion blur, fluent animations, etc etc (read as: well polished)
6) Memorable, and well produced sound effects and musical tracks
7) *Insert more here and continue down the list…*
Anyhow; yeah, it would be a tough sell… could be done for sure; but it might take something like Blizzard joining the bandwagon to accomplish. It’s definitely a lofty goal though.
If you honestly think your game is worth this much, then go for it, I guess, but I think $2.99 is a better price for a really high quality game, think fantastic contraption, etc. $6 for a REALLY REALLY high quality game, like Riven normally is I think and like infinity blade.
Otherwise, I'd lower the price down.
sorry.
Asymptoteell
With games, that's really difficult though. I'm planning to release BOT at 99¢. It's by far my most advanced GameSalad project, but I don't think it would be successful if priced higher than tier-1. I tried apps at $1.99, but I think it hurt the popularity of those apps.
If I made BOT with Unity... and it had cool 3D graphics... I still think more than 99¢ would be tough. The most successful games on the iTunes App Store are 99¢.
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I think $ 10,- is much but on the other hand people bought a red diamond for $999 or something so I heard...
If I knew a game was really good and had features so new and shiny I would buy it. I bought PS3 games for like 50 bucks so why not?
On the other hand customers in the app store are used to getting stuff for free or little money. And then complain that an app sucks. Perhaps a trend should be made to make quality apps at a higher price... I dunno
Lump Apps and My Assets
But when you have companies like SEGA, releasing old Genesis games and Capcom and EA dropping big titles down to 99¢, it creates a pattern for consumers to follow. Why pay more than 99¢ for an app when so many developers play pricing games?
One thing's for sure. I don't recommend trying it around a holiday. I'm thinking all the price-drop 99¢ apps would likely crush a $10 app.
But I will keep everybody posted on this project. I think I can do it (sell a game for 10 dollars).
I think NOW it's hard to pay money for a game on iOS in a few years it will be standard.
Cheers.
Perhaps 10 dollars for an opening price is good but something lower when the app is older.
There is also the piracy issue. If you market your game and the price point is too high, then people will pirate it.
GS still can't do a lot of things, like IAP, 3D etc
so there will be some limits
Is that safe?
try 2 or 3
That way you can gain some extra publicity when you sell it for 1 dollar.
As a result I would't go charging more than the 2nd tier price range. Any higher and your pricing yourself out of a potentially huge market.
Let us know what you end up doing, if it's anything like limbo the projects should be really good.
Good luck with the sales. (when ever it goes up)
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If you look at fast food prices versus restaurant prices they are different because you get something different. You can get a 2 dollar burger or a 20 dollar burger. The reason why it works is that they are different.
There are all you can eat buffets and appetizers. Two different products with out of proportion prices.
I have a series of games that I am working on and I do plan to sell them for 2 dollars. They will "overpriced" as viewed by some, but I know people will buy it because they are different. And some people wont and some people will pirate it.
Why?
Because buying an indie is a risk, no one has a reference to how good your games generally are. When you buy and game from a big publisher/developer there is some prescient of quality to look back on.
I feel that the answer lies mostly in the marketing. If people want your game they will get it. This is the way The music and publishing industries work, they hype in a certain way that people must have it and will pay anything. Personally the game industry could learn from that. After all albums on iTunes are roughly 10 dollars. I've personally released 4. And I would say that my puzzle game will take Bout as much work as writing an album.
Most Square enix games are in that price range, so you need to compete with those, whithout having their notoriety. I actually want these games, but I'm not ready to invest the 12$ for it.
Yes, it's all about the hype, but the people on the iphone are impulse buyers. It's really easy to buy a game when it's just a buck, and convince your friend to buy it also, etc.
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