Gendai Games Should Respond!
Photics
Member Posts: 4,172
There are unanswered questions in the community.
1) Can pro be used to make apps for others, or make pro-level modifications for express users?
2) Does Gendai Games plan to offer monthly subscription plans for pro? $99 a month was suggested as an alternative. It seems like a great compromise. Does Gendai Games plan to make that happen?
1) Can pro be used to make apps for others, or make pro-level modifications for express users?
2) Does Gendai Games plan to offer monthly subscription plans for pro? $99 a month was suggested as an alternative. It seems like a great compromise. Does Gendai Games plan to make that happen?
Comments
$1999 is a lot of money. If the "Pro" version can't be used to make apps for clients... is it really pro?
$199 x 12 = $2,388
iAds is not the way you're going to strike it rich in the AppStore. You need a good game first and foremost. If you make a good free game, you're going to want in app purchasing.
but all of this rests on the shoulders of a good solid game! Post previews over on touch arcade, get some beta testers. They give great suggestions and will help you make your game even better!
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If you believe that in-app purchasing is more important than iAds for generating revenue, does that really change this situation? Is in-app purchasing going to be an "Express" feature when iAds is a "Pro" feature? I'm thinking probably not. So, if the community is annoyed now, what happens when Game Center is pro only, or in-app purchases is pro only? It creates even more of a divide... even more strife in the community.
With a monthly option, Gendai Games curtails the option of one Pro user generating apps for Express users. Would you rather give $100 to a stranger to modify one app, or would you rather try and cram all of your work into one month and give Gendai Games $199?
But yup, the idea of a monthly subscription is a good one in theory.... as it breaks down the cost into more manageable chunks.
I cant see how its going to be practical though in reality, as like people have said, it will get abused by people paying for one month, using all the features to churn out a batch of crap apps and then not continuing their subscription.
I think the bigger issue is simply the price of the Pro package.... its just wrongly priced.
$250 per license per year (NO PRO VERSION) that includes ALL features.
Then if you want to compile a title using a "PREMIUM" feature (such as iAds/Game Center/ or inApp purchasing)...its $10 per title per version for each feature you are including. This would be an ala carte way of distributing premium features.
You basically put a credit card on file with Gendai...and you pay for any premium features you wish to use on a title by title basis.
Perhaps a price model like this would be a win-win for both Gendai and the Community.
There are approximately 25,000 devs building iPhone apps (last I heard and from what I can recall). If Gendai has at least 3000 of them...I would be surprised.
So...3000 X $100 = $300,000 per year.
I figure MAYBE 5% have a pro license...if that. So 5% of 3000 = 150 PRO devs.
150 developers at $1900/year = $285,000
So they are looking at (on the generous side) - $600,000/year of licensing revenue.
So if you take 3000 developers and charge $250/year for a base license and throw away the PRO license...you get 3000 x $250 = $750,000. This is more than they are making now in my estimates.
Now if you add on a PER TITLE premium fee of $10 per PREMIUM FEATURE...
(What do I mean?...if you want Game Center or iAds...you pay $10 for each feature to be unlocked in the build. You register a title with the build engine and you pay for the first build with a credit card. Then all subsequent builds under that title are included for 1 year. Hell...I'd even pay $25 for that ala carte feature.)
Then if you figure there are 15000 games being published annually by those 3000 developers. Then if lets say 30% of those incorporate an average of 2 premium features...that is 4500 app titles going premium. This means that an ala carte per title premium pricing could add another $90,000 (4500 apps x $10/prem feat. x 2 prem. feat. per app) to the bottom line bumping the annual revenue to $840,000. If Gendai charges $25/feature per title...then that would be another $135K raising their annual revenue from $600K currently to over $1M. PLUS...more devs will be attracted to the software with more features being standard or priced within reach.
So if they were to align their pricing with the market...it appears they could make and addition 40-60% in revenue annually on a comparison basis to their current pricing model.
I just don't understand why they (Gendai) thinks $2K per license makes economical sense to them...when if you just average it all out over a single license model...its more profitable.
Seriously, we should run their financial department...
They have to play the numbers...just like we do with apps. Are you going to price your game at $1 and have 10,000 people buy it...or price it at $20 and have 10 people buy it.
[EDIT]
Also photics...it would be $10 per feature per title...so if there were 4 premium features in each of your 12 games...you would pay out $40 per title x 12 games = $480...spread out over the entire year.
This kind of rolling income is what Gendai needs and it also allows the devs to spread those premium costs out over time...and only use the tools they think they need in a specific title. More flexible for EVERYONE...and a WIN-WIN scenario.
Think about it Gendai!!! SERIOUSLY.