New York - Apple has already agreed to refund at least $32 million to consumers whose children made in-game purchases without their parents permission. Some longtime players and game developers also worry that the freemium model is ruining the culture of gaming by nickel-and-diming players and making video games feel like slot machines. Freemium games make a lot of money. Revenue in the mobile-gaming market is up 13% over 2013, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Most of that comes from in-applet purchases. In-applet purchases accounted for a large increase of revenue for Apple's applet store.
A few mobile games, like mine craft have become huge hits even though they use the old-fashioned approach of charging players up front. The debate over freemium games continues. For example, in one opinion article on the game site Polygon last month, Barry Meade, a founder of the mobile-game developer Fireproof studios, criticized the poor quality of free mobile games. So, called Fremium ware allows you to download the software for the game for free. The patron pays nothing until they want to upgrade features of the game. To upgrade features such as a characters power or move up to the next level people have to spend 99 cents here and 99 cents there. Customers who previously spent $20 to $60 to own the game can now download the software for free to their mobile unit (cell phone, tablet, personal computer, etc.). However, after playing for a while consumers may need to upgrade the features on the game they originally downloaded for free. Ubisoft, the publisher of Trials, said that more than 12 million people had downloaded that particular mobile game. King Digital Entertainment which publishes Candy Crush Saga, a successful game that involves arranging identical confections in a row, has said three percent of its active monthly players spend money in King Digital Entertainments' in-game applets. The number of players is so large however, that King Digital Entertainment still makes a sizable profit. "We make games that people love to play and are fun - whether they chose to pay or not," said Sebastian Knutsson, chief creative officer of King. Fans of free games have said they are no so different than full-size arcade games; the kind of arcade games that require a constant feed of quarter to keep playing. See full story, www.nytimes.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment