Wire Whizz - In App Purchasing
In App Purchasing (IAP)
I am not sure, but I think I am delighted that free apps can include IAP now. I say I am not sure, because there are positives and negatives. The positives are that I don’t have to write a demo app, and that anyone can download the app and have a taste and upgrade quickly for whatever nominal fee, but on the flip side, I am competing in the free app pool, which is a pretty tough pool to be in as I understand it - we shall see!
I was quite delighted to hear Steve Jobs state that 100 million devices have been sold, so if half of those are in use and can run my game, then I’ll settle for 1% giving it a go and a good conversion ratio. The reality is, that I’ve invested so much time and energy, that I am on something of a mission to get it completed, regardless of whether it is a scorching success or a damp squib.
The purchasing model for the game, is that users get a series of levels that act as tutorials for free, and that additional levels are bought in packs. Pricing is undecided, but I am aware that selling everything for nothing isn’t likely to make the product viable, so I am loathe to jump on the $0.99 cents wagon, although I may charge this to access Networking support for the game, when I have completed that.
There’s a really good article on the web (that I can’t find it right now) and it was a while ago when I read it, but the fact is that, yes, you can sell and app for 99 cents and sell a million (and be rich and believe me you can have 10 level packs for 99 cents if I’m going to sell a million), but the reality is that the average number of apps sold (based on other articles I’ve read on the web) is anywhere between around 6,000 and 105,000. Now I’d be happy with 105,000, and 6,000 would help me to recoup some of my investment, but I’ve worked on this game for a lot of man hours, so 105,000 at $2 might make it viable as a business.
The upshot of this argument is; that without a viable business model, good games can be difficult to fund if the punter is only prepared to pay 99 cents every time. Personally, I’ve spent considerably more money on many every day items that cost far, far less in time and money to produce, so yes, selling apps for 99 cents I will only be doing if they are selling like the proverbial hot cakes!
The likelihood is that I will charge around $2-$4 for a level pack and that I will release several level packs, perhaps with the option of buying all three for $4-$8 depending. It’s all subject to change of course, so we will see.
With iAD coming out with iPhone 4.0, there does seem to be a reasonable chance of good revenue from this source, but I don’t have the full metrics as yet. I am not convinced the game would convert to this format all that easily, but if it’s a complete flop, it’s an avenue I might explore.