Launching Price (Paid vs. Free)?

supafly129

Anyone have experience with launching Free for a limited time and then switching to Paid? Curious to see which strategy you think would likely be most beneficial in terms of getting that initial surge in downloads/sales (assuming you have made a high-quality game). Also, is the Paid + Lite version model generally more or less effective nowadays?

AfterBurnett

I've done it several times. TBH, free really doesn't work these days. There's just way too much competition and it's almost impossible to stand out. I reckon paid is the way to go for indie devs, unless you're a marketing guru and can get a whole heap of buzz around your game.

In saying that, my best performing game has a "lite" version, which I'm certain helps downloads. Certainly having a lite version can't hurt. You just don't want to give too much away

Hopscotch

I agree with @POLYGAMe‌ , it has become a real science to be successful in the "free" space.

You will usually make more from a premium title as opposed to a free version with ads and IAP.

If you see that your game is really received well and could go viral, then you still have the option of going free. It will even give it an extra boost. Then it is a matter of clever placement of ads plus really understanding your users and adding IAP accordingly.

AfterBurnett

@Hopscotch said:
I agree with POLYGAMe‌ , it has become a real science to be successful in the "free" space.

You will usually make more from a premium title as opposed to a free version with ads and IAP.

If you see that your game is really received well and could go viral, then you still have the option of going free. It will even give it an extra boost. Then it is a matter of clever placement of ads plus really understanding your users and adding IAP accordingly.

Yeah, going paid to free to boost exposure is risky, though, as you lose your rankings and have to start again, so you gotta be REAL sure it's gonna climb the charts. I have been burnt by that before.

jay2dx

but remember if your charging for your app/game, its has to be worth the face value, i.e. NO ONE will pay for a flappy bird clone these days, same with a timber man or tower game! people just expect these little games for free, you need to make a pretty in-depth game to be honest like a platformer or something! look at super heavy sword for the type of work that goes into a paid game compared to a free one!!

supafly129

@POLYGAMe‌ @Hopscotch‌ thanks for your input!

@jay2dx‌ Agreed--though my game is still in progress I'd like to think it is beautifully original and will be well worth the $0.99 (and not just because it's my precious little baby ) i just hope players will think the same! Given that it's like Angry Birds/Cut the Rope in the sense that it's a physics puzzler with 100+ levels, I'm thinking Paid may be the way to go, and if people really do enjoy it then I assume a Lite version would effectively convince people to convert

AfterBurnett

@jay2dx said:
but remember if your charging for your app/game, its has to be worth the face value, i.e. NO ONE will pay for a flappy bird clone these days, same with a timber man or tower game! people just expect these little games for free, you need to make a pretty in-depth game to be honest like a platformer or something! look at super heavy sword for the type of work that goes into a paid game compared to a free one!!

Agreed.

@supafly921 said:
POLYGAMe‌ Hopscotch‌ thanks for your input!

jay2dx‌ Agreed--though my game is still in progress I'd like to think it is beautifully original and will be well worth the $0.99 (and not just because it's my precious little baby ) i just hope players will think the same! Given that it's like Angry Birds/Cut the Rope in the sense that it's a physics puzzler with 100+ levels, I'm thinking Paid may be the way to go, and if people really do enjoy it then I assume a Lite version would effectively convince people to convert

If it has a fair bit of content, I'd suggest putting the price higher. I've experienced much better results from setting the price at $3.99 than at 99c. You don't want to undersell yourself. Look at even simple games like Super Hexagon - they don't do 99c.

Hopscotch

@jay2dx, of course the main issue is who is the target audience.

A runner or instant death mini game is not feasible as premium.

If it is a quality puzzler, with a decent amount of content, you could safely charge even more than 99c, because your average player is older and prefers an ads-less experience.

A higher price even conveys/promises quality. With well chosen keywords and marketing, your drive-by buyers will bring in more revenue than an ad-driven solution.

Study the market, listen to Flurry. Almost nobody goes for "unlock full game" options these days. Once the user hits the pay wall, they move to another free offering.

For IAP to work, you need a game that can entertain players for weeks and really get them invested in it. This is "usually" beyond the scope of indie projects.

This is of course such a huge topic and only personal insights and generalizations can be given.

I can't remember the source, but someone said: "If you don't know what you are doing, go premium."