Surely, it was only a matter of time, but yesterday’s announcement from Apple to the developer community has massive implications. As reported by Macworld, developers received word yesterday that the curious, ‘yes, you can use microtransactions, but only in PAID apps,’ rule has been lifted, essentially opening the iPhone to the same business model that’s been ruling the Asian market for years now: free-to-play.
Previously, not only iPhone games developers, but all app developers in general were restricted from offering free applications, only to be monetized down the road via microtransactions. With the ban being officially lift by Apple yesterday, it now means game on for the masses that have been developing games for the iPhone with the aspiration of one day offering them as ‘free-to-play’, a model that games developers have seen working well on PC and web based gaming.
If any proof was needed that the model can also apply to mobile gaming, specifically iPhone gaming, Amplified Games recently stated that they’re generating close to $10k per month solely via inserted advertising slots. And this is via an app(s) that they offer for free.
The timing of this announcement couldn’t have come at a better time for iPhone game publisher Ngmoco. Just one week prior, at the GDC China conference, Ngmoco’s VP Alan Yu discussed the staggering amount of 50 to 90 percent piracy of Ngmoco’s games pirated within their first week of release on the iPhone. Pointing to the origins of the free-to-play/microtransaction based model in Asia (a market that’s traditionally been rife with piracy – combated through free offerings of titles, but fees charged for a variety of customizations and further advancements in play), as the way to go with iPhone titles. Yu also noted that with approximated 85,000 titles to compete with, app pricing is dropping across the board. How to compete? Make your titles(s) free, and monetize after the “purchase”.
As a direct result of this announcement, Ngmoco put their money where their mouth is (literally), and Ngmoco’s own Neil Young announced via a twitter post that their upcoming multiplayer shooter Eliminate will be taking advantage of the new terms, and will be released as a free-to-play application.
Perhaps my initial speculation of the iPhone 3.0 OS update doing for games what iTunes did for music was a bit premature, it certainly opened the door for what we’ve been after for a long time: putting the free-to-play/microtransaction model on one of the world’s most popular mobile gaming platforms. By now allowing developers to enter their product to the market with a price of $0.00, and utilizing the existing microtransaction model, the free-to-play business model has now come full circle. As what happened with iTunes and music, so shall happen with the iPhone and games.
Tags: Apple, free to play, iphone, microtransactions
