Developers Underselling Themselves at $0.99?

BeyondtheTech · January 2010

I'd like to open up discussion here and get your thoughts on the Gamasutra interview with Capybara Games and their idea that games selling at $0.99 are "the single most frustrating and terrible thing about App Store pricing," considering that the 99-cent apps (and price drops to 99 cents) aren't selling any better than their higher-priced counterparts.

As a buyer nowadays, I never buy a game over $2.99 unless it's absolutely worth it, and I never buy games at their first release, because many do price drops after the first week or first month. I'm in a bit of a mix or dilemma, because when I do see a price drop, I grab it, thinking it'll never go back there again. But, there are so many apps and games, I can't keep up, and I only have 9 screens that are full of icons of games I bought but haven't even tried yet.

I remember buying Enigmo and some other titles for as much as $9.99. But, that was then, when the App Store was new and us iPhone users were hurting for more interaction than just using Safari. I believe it created a vacuum that ultimately sent the pioneering developers into the financial stratosphere. But, the playing field is so vast now, very competitive, and sometimes it feels like a race the bottom of the $0.99 barrel. Perhaps that does have to stop.

We have some quality developers on board here, as well as some very up and coming ones, too, and at times I do feel like we're undercutting ourselves, thinking we'll get more sales if we keep the price at an absolute minimum. My original mentality was that if there are over 50 million iPhone and iPod touch users out there, I could grab a dollar from each one and be happy with it. I don't think I believe that anymore.

My first and only game on the App Store so far is Archangel: Fate of the Galactic Commonwealth. It took so much effort to develop (having a very non-user-friendly GDK like Torque 2D didn't help either), and I ended up selling it for an "intro price" of $0.99. It had a modest turnaround, selling anywhere from 10-30 copies per day. A few months later, I decided to lift the intro price and sell it at $1.99. Guess what? I'm still getting 10-30 copies per day. The sales charts didn't even flinch. Makes me wish I had priced it that way from the beginning.

I personally believe that Fire Maple Games should be selling his titles at $2.99. Danger Cats happens to be an excellent title, very challenging, extremely well-polished and great-looking. I'd be interested on hearing his take.

beatrage · January 2010

no way as I am developing for almost 1 year on iTGB and now porting to gamesalad I really have a real nice and beaultiful game...with a perfect idea!

my game is going to cost 4.99

you are going to get impressed with what i am doing and ALONE no paid sprites and paid sounds/musics everything was made by my own hands and of course an yamaha sound keyboard - pixen/GIMP 2 and the special effects all done on gimp 2 with particles on gamesalad.

NO WAY.. I have seen alot of crap games even for almost 8 bucks so my game deserves a 4.99 for it.

but eventually i'll develop more games and selling them to 1,99 too! more casual games of course!

if you think you had a lot of work and done only by yourself and your software deserves better treatment don't sell your app for less than it deserves and don't go out updating stuff of the same product alot of times because costumers don't like it and they are going to score you as a bad developer....so make your best and don't try to cheat at costumer because they'll never buy anything else from you again ( they will get scared from your products)

beatrage · January 2010

and after a period of time you can lower the price of your app and try to update it if you want to!

scitunes · January 2010

If you have an app with a bad rating do you guys think you shoiuld pull it? Even if it is still selling? In other words, it;s selling but it is getting some bad ratings (and some good) and has a 2 out of 5 star rating. What do you guys think?

rebump · January 2010

@scitunes: I'd pull it if the sales were very sparse/sporatic (say only a handful a month) if that sparse/sporatic behavior existed for a few months.

If an app had bad reviews, I'd try and clean it up but if I couldn't overcome a problem, I'd probably pull it.

I do want to make sure people get some value but at $0.99, I'm not as worried if I know there is *some* value. If an app makes a few dollars a day or every other day and it is not embarrassing, I'd leave it up.

beatrage · January 2010

scitunes

you should read the complaints of the bad reviewers and try to fix the problems ( if they are possible of course by any means necessary, not graphical/sound upgrades ) but as you are receiving good reviews as well I think you could leave as it is....taste is each others taste so you can't please everyone in the gaming world with the PERFECT GAME because for some users your game will aways be too much short timed, or could have better graphics/sound/effects or a better control.....and have more fun.

but what's a perfect game you ask me?

it does not exist as an application without bugs -> it does not exists!! the bugs are there and someone at an envoirimental situation is going to find it and report you( so you at least could fix it, if possible)

the only situaton that you could try to remove your app is just if your app is not runing on your selected devices... and that is the only situation my friend!

jkornoff · January 2010

I was the producer on 2 native iPhone apps that went live Dec. 09 (eTicket DL, and eTicket WDW). A year in development, a HUGE amount of money, and some very good promotional marketing. We released at $5.99, tripple our competition, because we believe we have a 'premium' app.

I wish we could go for the $9.99 price point, but users have been conditioned to Free and $0.99 apps. That's too bad because most of the 120,000 apps are crap and priced at $0.99. If you spend some time and effort to create a worthwhile quality app/game, there should be a better way to rise above the rest and get noticed without having to resort to lowering the price to the bottom to get a download.

Danger Cats is a great game. $2.99 is totally justified. But how can I sell my latest game, a pitiful example by comparison, for more than Danger Cats?

My Wrong Way Rage just got accepted into the app store this morning priced at $0.99. I spent some time on it. About 5-6 good days (first time building a game myself). At 30 sales/day it would take 2 months to recoup my development "costs".

Bottom line, I think Apple does need to go with a two-tiered app store such as has been proposed by some tech bloggers. One for throw-away apps, and the other for "real" apps.

quantumsheep · January 2010

Thanks BTT for posting this topic.

I think I bought your game at $1.99 I think and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I personally felt that it was worth the money I paid for it, and I'm sure many others did too.

Honestly, I have to put my hands up and say I don't think, right now, that my games, personally, are worth more than $.99. Thats why they're priced like that (apart from Black Cat, which is more expensive in an effort to deter sales! Don't ask!).

I could make them all free, but I reckon $.99 is a small price to pay for a lot of effort on my part, regardless of the results. I'm still trying to 'close the gap' (see below).

(and I do implore you all to watch that vid)

Why do I feel like that about my own apps? Well, sometimes it's because I'm rushing to get a game out. Sometimes it's down to the software limitations (the addition of save states to GS has made me feel a lot better about my apps, but boy would I love better spawner performance right now!). Sometimes what I had in my head didn't quite make the translation to the small screen!

And you know what? That's ok. I've put six apps up onto the App store thus far in just over 3 months now. I'm very proud of that, and it's been great fun for me. It's let me be really creative, and I love that!

Are they all fantastic games? Some are good, some not so good. Are they worth $.99? I think so. Are they worth more? No. And because of that, I haven't really marketed them to get them greater exposure, except on here really.

Luckily, going through this process means that my next batch of games are a step up from the ones available right now. As a consequence, they will be priced a little higher. Because I'm making these games for myself, really, and I think they're worth the price hike.

What I'm working on right now has me very excited. I LOVE my new game. Really I do. But this doesn't mean I *deserve* to sell thousands of units at a higher price. I just think that that's what it's worth.

I think, on a non-personal 'looking at the market' viewpoint, that in general $.99 *is* too cheap for a lot of apps out there. I was cheering on the Canabalt guys as I thought their app was brilliant, and I gladly paid the $3 it cost me to get their game. In general, again, the apps I play the most are those *above* the $.99 price range (Canabalt, Peggle and NJ Backgammon, trivia fans!).

The rest just seem so... disposable... no matter how good they are.

The other thing is that unless your app gets noticed, it won't go into the top rankings. It's there that a $.99 price can help to keep it there, thus feeding into itself to encourage more growth and stay in the top rankings for longer.

If you're not ranked, you may as well price your app at whatever you want. People that find your app when it's not ranked are actively *looking* for it, and will pay more than the $.99 you're charging right now because of that.

A lot of developers expect a whole lot of sales, and most will be disappointed when that doesn't happen.

I think that people should perhaps not judge success on whether they've made loads of money or not. Sure, it's nice, but be happy that you've made an App! You have seriously accomplished something wonderful. Be happy in that, and that your ideas are out there for the world to discover!

If your only goal is to make your fortune with your apps, then I sincerely wish you the very best of luck! It can happen, but not to everyone unfortunately.

And wow, that was a lot! :P

TLDR: Price your apps relative to what you think they're worth - have fun, and don't worry if you don't sell as many as you'd like!

Cheers,

QS

Eastbound · January 2010

Interesting topic. My only 'real' app is a Men's style guide, that I priced at 1.99 because I figured anyone who found the app would download it because they needed it, so I could charge more. I may raise the price after a couple of more updates.

For my game coming out soon, I was planning on .99 cents but I really don't know. I have heard that the 1.99 and .99 sales yield the same.

I think the .99 cent mark is best if you manage to reach the top 50 paid apps, otherwise your number of downloads won't fair very different.

And no offense to Firemaple- I love his games- but I could not see myself paying 2.99 for Danger Cats. Maybe I am too used to the cheap prices as well, though.

quantumsheep · January 2010

Oh, I feel the same about Danger Cats. No offence meant from me either, honest!

Don't get me wrong - it's an amazing accomplishment, it's polished, and it's funny and probably 100 times better than anything *I* will ever make. But it's not the kind of game *I* would normally search for on the App store. Purely on a subjective basis!

I am sure that you and I are in the minority though, Eastbound!

KTFright's games I actually really like. They feel very personal, and that appeals to me.

I'm also waiting for Xacto's Starfire to appear one day, and JGary's Blighted Lands.

rebump · January 2010

I think Danger Cats is catchy and is a bit addictive once you do actually play it. Definately a professional feel. I don't know if I would have purchased it based on images alone (not that they are shoddy because they are great but they just don't reveal the actual great playability/fun of the game). It is one of those games you can sit down to play for a short bit (i.e. waiting somewhere or what not) and then find yourself still playing it 30 minutes later.

I don't agree with the $0.99 price trend (err, rule) for apps but I guess we all must consider it. If I can produce something of Danger Cats quality and originality, I will likely play around with pricing and that would more likely be $0.99 to $1.99. If the item was a useful utility or an extensive game, maybe even a bit higher.

It's a very touchy, err, complicated decision making process.

quantumsheep · January 2010

I really need firemaple to come in and forgive us :O

iDeveloperz · January 2010

@QS why what did we do?

quantumsheep · January 2010

It's a joke. Relax

iDeveloperz · January 2010

Oh thats ok

quantumsheep · January 2010

Also, if your app isn't selling as much as you like at $1.99 you can lower the price to see if that helps.

The only way down from $.99 is free

butterbean · January 2010

I think Danger Cats and Red Block Remover are definitely worth $1.99

I personally try to price all my apps at .99c no matter how much time has been spent simply because it seems to be the .99c App store more than anything! Hard to compete to get into the top rankings when your app is priced any higher than that

micah · January 2010

I don't like pricing my apps at $.99 because it means there's no wiggle room at all. If you're not selling that well at $.99, then the only place to go is to free.

rebump · January 2010

@micah: "...only place to go is to free" with ads...oh, but wait! :-)

JGary321 · January 2010

I plan on selling most of my games for 1.99. I don't think people really think "Should I buy this?" until it gets to 2.99. That's just personal opinion though. I don't think I will sell many games at a starting point of .99.

ktfright · January 2010

I'm trying $0.99 for an intro price for a game, and if sales do not pick up, ill just leave it at $1.99.

firemaplegames · January 2010

Hey,

My ears were ringing! Thanks for the comments! My initial plan for Danger Cats! was to start it at .99 and then increase it to 1.99 when I had made 100 levels. I am trying to use the introductory price as a way to gather more reviews. I was chalking up the loss in revenue as marketing costs.

And rest assured that I am my harshest critic...I also don't think it is worth 2.99.

Don't get me wrong, I do my best to polish the game and make it as good as I can, but mostly it was just a test for me to see how all this iPhone stuff works.

Personally, my favorite game for the iPhone is Peggle. I think it is a masterpiece. It sells for 4.99. I always judge my games against it. Someday I hope to have a game that I think is worth 4.99!

Toby · January 2010

Agree this is an excellent post topic, I think when I release my game initially it will be 99c. As I add more features and improve the gameplay, I'll begin to mark the price up gradually.
I won't be putting the price up near $2.99, probably a maximum of $2.00 will be my limit.

Initial strategy will be to offer at the going rate of 99c and see what happens. I've spent quite a lot of time on Elerium 115 adding features and tweaking stuff. I do feel a little slow as most of you are onto your 3rd or 4th game already... But I want this to be a good one and really show what can be created with Gamesalad. T

firemaplegames · January 2010

well, you can't really increase the price that gradually as there are only certain pricing tiers, usually at every dollar like this:

$0.00
$0.99
$1.99
$2.99
etc...

You can't make your game $1.29 for example...
No biggie, just something to consider.

Toby · January 2010

Ahhh, did not know that. Guess 1.99 will be the maximum then, thanks. Hopefully the whole app store upload will be reasonably painless. Wish me luck!

ktfright · January 2010

good luck dude!

micah · January 2010

The GS game I'm working on now I'm thinking of charging at least $1.99, and $2.99 if I'm feeling brave. I think it's a pretty quality game, and I think in generally it's better for indie devs to over-price things than under-price them.

I've heard that when you're high up in the charts, raising the price drops you out of the charts almost immediately. I think it was Dance Dance Revolution that charged $9.99 and they were doing good, then they went on sale to $6.99 and sales didn't change, but when they raised it back to $9.99 people saw the price raise and stopped buying it, and it dropped out of the charts.

It's kind of dangerous to start too low, in my opinion. You can have an introductory sale or something, but you have to make it explicit that the price is going to raise at a certain date if people want it cheaper.

ktfright · January 2010

I think you should charge aeropack for $1.99. I would buy it at that price. more if you put more content in.

JamesZeppelin · January 2010

My Plan is to make my ames free for the first week to give everyone here a chance to DL and review for free then ill bump the price to 99c USD

personally i spend about 30-40 on apps per month and my unwritten guideline is
1. ill pay $10 bucks on a "hot" new game... I.E just purchased nova and thought it was great
2. around 2 or 3 bucks ill get anything it if my son wants it bad enough
3. .99 ill buy anything and that consists of half my monthly downloads

I guess what im saying is 1.99 i think about rather or not to DL it and at .99 ill download just off the icon.

Im sure there are plenty other people that are about the same.
I cant help but laugh at people who say stuff like "i cant believe i wasted 99 cents on this"
I mean come on it lasted longer than your twix bar!

Just my 2 cents

quantumsheep · January 2010

Another 50 (ish) comments like that and you'll have given us enough to get a 99c game

Developers Underselling Themselves at $0.99?

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