Freemium vs. Lite/Paid

I was actually going to sell the game in a traditional way until now. Like this:

• make a free Lite version with about 10-20% of the content (2-3 maps) to give potential customers a chance to try it out,
• then sell the full version.

There is one problem with this approach. I’d like to “stay” with this particular game for a bit longer. Or even very long, if it proves successful enough. That means adding additional content (maps, adventures, items, monsters etc.), listening to what community has to say and tweaking things here and there from time to time and so on. This takes time and there is no way to get any revenue from such things in the traditional way (one sell). New content won’t result in any new purchases. Or in very little. It will only please existing players, who already bought the game. And give me something very pleasurable to do in my free time. But I cannot live from that, right?

So what are the options?

Either just make a new game each 4-6 months and sell it. Which means there is no time for polishing of existing titles, listening to the community, slowly making your game more and more perfect.

Or… freemium. I know, this sounds like a curse for some of you. Even I don’t like this term. Usually it means, you get something half baked for free and discover quickly, that it’s impossible to have an enjoyable gaming experience without paying for a horse armor or some potions regularly. This is unacceptable. This is why I don’t like DLC and and don’t like games with InApp purchases.

But recently started to change my mind. Especially when it comes to iOS games (or generally gaming on mobile devices). If done right, freemium games can be a winner for both sides – gamers and game producers. I think the key to success is, that a freemium game has to have enough potential to be enjoyable without making a single InApp purchase. You can buy this horse armor if you wish to have a shining horse, but you can fight perfectly well without it. You can never spend anything and still enjoy the game.

Can it work from a game producer point of view? I mean can I earn money comparable to the standard model (one purchase) this way? Well… this article suggest, that yes, it’s possible. Even more, if done right it can be much more profitable.

What would this mean for Infinity Dungeon (if I’m going to follow this route)? Probably a free to download game with the content I was going to pack into the Lite version. And InApp purchases of additional content (chapters, dungeons, maps etc.).

And what about in game items, potions and whatnot purchased for real money? I don’t know if this is such a good idea. If you can play perfectly well without them… well… maybe. But I’m also a gamer and as a gamer I don’t like this thought. What an inner fight… 🙂

What do you think?