I have played many different types of video games. Games on PC, handhelds, consoles and mobiles. Recently the business model for most mobile games is starting to concern me, and more specifically the robustness of my wallet. It is called the Freemium model. What is Freemium? Well I will defer to Wikipedia for this next bit:
"Freemium is a business model by which a proprietary product or service (typically a digital offering such as software, media, games or web services) is provided free of charge, but money (premium) is charged for advanced features, functionality, or virtual goods."
So to give some real world context. I’m surfing the app store on my smartphone and download this awesome game for free. I start to play it and get a few levels finished. Of course once I start getting right into it there is a pop up that appears. It usually says something like ‘would you like to purchase the game to continue playing?’. Heck yes! I’m in the middle of playing! I don’t want to stop right now! So naturally I push that purchase button. $1.99 isn’t that much, right?
It doesn’t stop there and it usually is just the beginning. Some games have purchases such as a group of levels or extra abilities.
My latest addiction was Candy Crush Saga. (Sound familiar?) It’s even worse when you have friends to gift you items and share with you. It was so easy for me to click purchase for the next set of levels. But that soon adds up over a week. It’s all far too easy to rack up a huge bill. I can tell you my partner was not happy with how much I spent.
One redeeming feature is that some games you can unlock the levels for free. However you need to send requests to your friends to get them to unlock them (usually around three). If you’re as impatient as me and don’t want to stop in the middle of your gaming then it is very hard to go with the ‘free’ option. Worse, if you happen to be playing a game which your friends aren’t playing. Or, you know, your Facebook friends have managed to break their crippling Candy Crush addiction, but they're still getting the notifications.
Freemium is now very prominent if you scroll through the mobile games section in the app store. Many games follow this model, so it pays to be careful. It’s a new world of digital addiction and people are there making money off it. What you think is an awesome free find, will soon become regret, or possibly tears, when you discover your credit card charges.
Are there any games that you’ve spent way too much on in-app game purchases? Drop me a line on email or tweet me.