Opinions on Freemium?
polycounter lvl 9
Hey guys.. I thought I'd get some others opinons on this because we're getting close to completing our ipad app and starting to think about release. This is our first app where we feel it could be a big hit.
At this point we're trying to figure out if we should go paid for free.
Our dilemma is that we have very little money to sustain our self while a free app builds a large user base willing to make in app purchases.
So going paid will really help us gain some revenue and actually sustain ourself early.
The price point of the app is going to be around 4.99 with additional content available for purchase overtime (this content is not required at all.. No way changes the usability of the app. 100% optional),
or free with some features as additional purchases (without crippling the app) along with the additional optional content.
So, I'm just curious on 2 things.
1)How have other developers handled this situation? Did you take the leap of faith and make the product free?
2) as a user what are your feelings towards freemium apps (not games)? Does the free price tag make the app feel cheap? Do you prefer freemium to paid or paid to freemium?
There is obviously a huge growth in the freemium games market, but how well does it transfer over to apps?
Thanks for any feedback you can provide
At this point we're trying to figure out if we should go paid for free.
Our dilemma is that we have very little money to sustain our self while a free app builds a large user base willing to make in app purchases.
So going paid will really help us gain some revenue and actually sustain ourself early.
The price point of the app is going to be around 4.99 with additional content available for purchase overtime (this content is not required at all.. No way changes the usability of the app. 100% optional),
or free with some features as additional purchases (without crippling the app) along with the additional optional content.
So, I'm just curious on 2 things.
1)How have other developers handled this situation? Did you take the leap of faith and make the product free?
2) as a user what are your feelings towards freemium apps (not games)? Does the free price tag make the app feel cheap? Do you prefer freemium to paid or paid to freemium?
There is obviously a huge growth in the freemium games market, but how well does it transfer over to apps?
Thanks for any feedback you can provide
Replies
Could you release a demo free and have the full version still? That way people could try before they buy. One reason that paid apps fail sometimes.
Or.. Have the freemium version and the full version.
Regarding games, I think the same as you.. "Whats the catch?".. What about applications? Same view?
As for a paid and a free version.. This is one thing we're still debating. But the nature of the app seems to point to going all out and completely free.. Or completely paid. There doesn't seem to be enough room for both as it will cannibalise sales of the paid, or really cripple the free version.
Neither of which is what we want.
http://www.gamesbrief.com/2012/06/refining-my-first-monetisation-strategy/
http://www.gamesbrief.com/2012/06/how-did-ski-champion-do-download-numbers/
Free isn't a magic bullet: http://www.gamesbrief.com/2012/06/indie-exposure-the-realities-of-free/
Another good read: http://www.gamesbrief.com/2012/05/a-debate-on-free-to-play/
What you could do at this point is release as paid and if you see strong sales do a Free App a Day campaign to push sales even higher: http://esdot.ca/site/2012/free-app-a-day-faad-chronicles-conclusion
I agree that free vs paid is a decision that should be made at the design phase of a game.. Although we're not making a game, we have designed it for in app purchases from the beginning.
The reason for this is the additional optional content we will be providing.
That being said, we also decided early on that the freemium model is one that we hope to take so the application was designed to go both ways. The nature of the app allows us to separate some key features without crippling the usability of the app itself so a free version is completely possible.
thanks again for the feedback. This is some useful info and helping us make our decision.
Allowing the user to buy powers, which will affect the 'game' world, but the user base towards each other (PVE vs. PVP, no one wants to be gimped because the other has bough the ring of +69 sword of penetration).
Also, cosmetic and side upgrades are a must (dingy level 20 armor looks too white? Buy the gothic looking version of said armor, and maybe replaced the swords speed with more damage instead).
So as long you keep a few things in the back of the head about how a gamer might perceive certain moves, it should be all fine, but again as Ben said, it's never the silver bullet many hope for.
I totally agree with ben, making money out of your game idea shouldnt be an afterthought. You need to understand what type of game you are making and put in ways to make money right from the start! For example
--is there an upgrade path? allowing people to pay to fasttrack that could make money
--are there multiple stages/themes? allowing people to purchase those rather than just unlock them through play could earn money
--is there customisation? allowing people to pay for lots of customisation kit could make a lot of money
etc etc etc
If you do it afterward it will most likely feel out of place and appear to ruin the point of the game, but if you design it to be there from the start you can make sure it all fits neatly in the user interface and makes sense to the user.
Also good to remember is if you go paid you can always go free later and doing so will get you a lot of free marketing on price tracking apps and websites! As a gamer I hate all this freemium stuff but we need to earn a wage somehow and free accounts for 80% of all app store usage! :P
I dont know if this all carries over from game apps to productivity apps but Im guessing it does.
Also, you need to be doing huge numbers to make a freemium model viable. A large percentage of players won't buy anything. This makes marketing and visibility even more important.
Our first freemium game, Agent Dash, was launched this weekend, so we are watching to see what happens.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Predictably-Irrational-Hidden-Forces-Decisions/dp/006135323X"]Amazon.com: Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (9780061353239): Dan Ariely: Books[/ame]
When creating Hero Academy we had faced the same questions. We had time to design the game around what we felt most comfortable doing.
For apps, not games, I prefer to pay once and have a fully functional app. I'll pay to remove adds if it's free. I don't mind if In App Purchases expand the functionality. Some note taking apps let you add more pen types or paper types.
A while back there was a camera app where you had to pay for "film." That's bull.
To me i see a bigger market n pay as you go games. So you can buy the whole game at one price, or buy each part one at a time for a higher cost. So something like a game with three acts you ask $1 for each act, and $2 for the whole game. That way if a gamer just buys act one as a trail, and likes it they only end up paying the same cost as if they had to buy each part by its self. Now if a gamer were to buy a game as a whole then they save a buck. Extend this out to games with longer stories and you can see how it works out pretty well. Where the gamer never feels punished for paying as they go.
We did also consider advertisements for the free version. But we personally hate ads and even though there are some perfect spots in our app where it won't be intrusive we still feel it lowers the quality and overall feel of what we're trying to make.
The example of the drawing apps was a good one.. There are some that are paid, then get you to buy additional pens. We hate this and not a route we will be taking.
But that concept is what we are thinking for the free.. Where like most free drawing apps you get a completely usable package which is awesome in it self. Then can buy the extra pens and brushes on top.
Our app is a content creation tool, so the drawing apps is a pretty good way to think of it with out out right saying what it is.
Getting users both free or paid will be the tricky bit.. especially for freemium. But we feel that our app is really unique and there is nothing like this in the app store.. Yet not completely a niche market where it will be overlooked. So we're expecting to be some interest.
But sites like free app a day were definitely on our radar for our planned launch.
Thanks again for the input.
We have been called nuts, and told we're trying to do the impossible by a few people (especially considering the size of our team and the time frame we're looking at) so I really can't wait to release this app..
I also think every one here (at least the ipad users) will really like it....... at least I hope you guys will haha.