Should Gamesalad offer a Subscription model to increase Pro users?

jigglybean

Just as a thought really, Unity3d has just made the switch to charging $75 a month per add on, coming with all the updates etc.

Yes, you could argue that Unity is very expensive(it is!) but some people are still put off going Pro by the cost, despite it being cut in half in recent history.

A subs base model could increase user base, give Gamesalad guys a steady stream of income and increase its Pro base by a large number.

Personally, I am waiting for the Windows update before I go Pro as it's missing so many features on the Mac version in 10.4 but as more and more people look to creating games and apps, I think it's a sensible way to go.

Thoughts?

BazookaTime

Are you talking about a monthly subscription? If so, no. If you could subscribe to pro on a monthly basis you would have a lot of people sub for one month to load up all of the games they had been working on and then not renew.

Chakku

If you could subscribe to pro on a monthly basis you would have a lot of people sub for one month to load up all of the games they had been working on and then not renew.

That is (understandably) exactly what some people would do, but many of those people would not have gotten pro if not for the 1-month subscription. Whether it benefits GS more or less, it depends because there will be so many more people upgrading, and people would upgrade multiple times to publish another app they make, or to update an existing.

Chakku

BazookaTime

If you could subscribe to pro on a monthly basis you would have a lot of people sub for one month to load up all of the games they had been working on and then not renew.

That is (understandably) exactly what some people would do, but many of those people would not have gotten pro if not for the 1-month subscription. Whether it benefits GS more or less, it depends because there will be so many more people upgrading, and people would upgrade multiple times to publish another app they make, or to update an existing.

Chakku

Maybe. I upload my games in bunches with different release dates, I only need Pro 2-3 Months a year to upload/update. So, it is very possible for every new person that becomes Pro for a month or two, you would have people reduce their 12 month subscriptions by half easily.

lycettebros

I would only see it practical once GS gets out of BETA. That could be a while.

Until that day, leave it as it is.

Dues

If a monthly cost of $75 is ok, why not save for 3 months and have a full year?
After that you can put away $25 per month and then you are set for the next subscription period when it arrives.

jigglybean

If a monthly cost of $75 is ok, why not save for 3 months and have a full year?
After that you can put away $25 per month and then you are set for the next subscription period when it arrives.

I'm not saying gamesalad should cost $75 a month, that was an example from Unity because it's like 100x more expensive. If you wanted to develop for iOS and Android, its $150 a month (75x2).

$300 works out around $25 a month so if a sub was set around $30-$35, it might be more attractive to the end user. Yes there is always that problem people will sign up for a month and go but that's life. Or GS could add in extra terms for a 3 month commitment.

But yes, I am guessing being in 'Beta' is not attractive.

CodeMonster

i defently agree with @jigglybean but maybe instead of a month, maybe 3 months subscription for like 1/4 of the price it is at the moment? or something like that, but then again its up to the gamesalad administrators, not us. we should still be happy that they have developed this program for us to make games! and if you think about it any game can still be created in a non gamesalad pro system.

so in my opinion its up to the gamesalad administrators, not for us to decide and discuss about.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Not this again.

gyroscope

Not this again.

+1

Chunkypixels

I have an idea... And I'm sure it's been suggested before

Scrap free publishing and charge 50 dollars for each app published. Keep pro subscriptions as a value proposition for the developers who publish more than 6 apps. Bingo... Everything's solved.

Gamesalad make more money..without shafting their loyal pro users... The publishing server loads go down... Thus saving GS money... And the amount of shite published goes down too.. Helping to improve GS reputation and image. Free users dont have to pay 300 bucks to publish a game... Just 50. Win, Win, Win.

The only losers are the free users that never want to pay for anything... But is that necessarily a bad thing.

Seems to be the way to solve the issue and many other issues if you ask me

mmzbr

I approve a 3months - 6months subscriptions plans. In my case, I´ve working with Unity right now and didnt renewed my GS PRO subscription because U$299 is like 500 in my currency so isnt cheap, I have interest in develop a 2d pixelart game with GS but pay 1 year for this project is out of question. I would pay for 3-6month for sure, so in my personal case GS Team is losing money.

TheGabfather

Give me 2yrs+ plans at a discounted price and I'll be even more happy than I already am with $299 (or $139) annually

The_Gamesalad_Guru

As most people know at this point there is not much difference between pro and free. Pro gives you monetization features and Game Center and such. You can build your whole game go pro when finalizing things. Now you saved all that time and have an App generating revenue. Anything one does takes some investment. Playing golf requires clubs, balls and green fees. Even hobbies aren't free. Everyone wants things to meet their budget and life just doesn't work that way. Heck I want a Ferrari but my bank isn't that fat. Maybe they need to lower their price because heck I want one!

Dues

Heck I want a Ferrari but my bank isn't that fat. Maybe they need to lower their price because heck I want one!

Dear Ferrari,

I think that your cars are far to expensive and and I dont like that. You should lower your price and make it subscription based, lets say $75 a month. Think about how many people would drive your cars!

Yours Sincerley

Christian

brickamator

I like the way gamesalad works now. I think that having to pay to publish a game would discourage people. What if your game did not work? @FryingBaconStudios is right.

jigglybean

As most people know at this point there is not much difference between pro and free. Pro gives you monetization features and Game Center and such. You can build your whole game go pro when finalizing things. Now you saved all that time and have an App generating revenue. Anything one does takes some investment. Playing golf requires clubs, balls and green fees. Even hobbies aren't free. Everyone wants things to meet their budget and life just doesn't work that way. Heck I want a Ferrari but my bank isn't that fat. Maybe they need to lower their price because heck I want one!

No one said anything about lowering the price. Its about giving people more choice and more options. Maybe GS need to look at what they offer in terms of Paid vs Free if they added a subscription model but more and more companies ARE indeed offering subscription.

Adobe, Microsoft, Unity have all gone down this route and it almost sounds as if you don't want GS to expand and grow with more active members taking advantage of PRO features but deciding to subscribe instead of shelling out $300 in a single hit.

KevinCross

Adobe, Microsoft, Unity have all gone down this route.

I myself am not too bothered about the current tariff with GameSalad, but I agree with you about how it can entice more people if they offered shorter subscriptions because I pay subscription for Adobe Photoshop as and when I want it, a month at a time. I've no desire or need to pay the full price. So by offering a monthly subscription that I can come and go from, they've gained an extra customer.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

And there is a lot of assuming GS would make more money. How could anyone guess that without knowing their metrics. Unity does it but we all know how much a unity module costs with unity as that's why people are using GS if you aren't willing to shell out $1500 how can one argue about $300 heck I think GS is cheap at their price. Like I said this isn't socialism. You do what you can afford or find a way to earn the extra money if you really want something. Making games isn't a right. Heck Xcode is free so learn code and save tons of money but that would require people to invest their time. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Dues

Someone wise once said: "It cost money to make money"
Now lets close this discussion down.