

Freemium is a pricing strategy by which a product or service (typically a digital offering or application such as software, media, games or web services) is provided free of charge, but money (premium) is charged for proprietary features, functionality, or virtual goods.

en.wikipedia.org...



In June 2011, PC World reported that traditional anti-virus software had started to lose market share to freemium anti-virus products. By September 2012, all but two of the 50 highest-grossing apps in the Games section of Apple's iTunes App Store supported in-app purchases, leading Wired to conclude that game developers were now required to choose between including such purchases or foregoing a very substantial revenue stream.

Moving on, it grosses: $846,986 PER DAY!

edit on 4-6-2016 by IgnoranceIsntBlisss because: (no reason given)



The video games of today are this wicked hybrid of crack dealer sales tactics + 1-900 # price gouging. Both fronts equally predatory, and this is what our small children... this entire generation are growing up on. If the temptation/pricing scheme models weren't bad enough, the gameplay itself imposes indoctrination to waiting, and waiting, AND WAITING to 'achieve' whatever it is the game is about. An individuals merits/talents of ambition/intellect are irrelevant in these new games, while "all" the new games in these phones strictly follow this model.Let me start it this way: "Supercell", the primo example developer company, very recently they sold aof the companies main stock for $5.5BILLION. Mind you, until 2016 they only had 3 games (now they have 4 titles). As far as Freemium games go, apparently they're top notch. But as far as conventional games go, they, like most all Freemium games, are total crap.The best way to illustrate the concept is via South Park's more recent "Freemium Isn't Free" episode (S18E06):Here we see the first portion of the formula explained. In the episode the whole concept is a Canadian (Devil) conspiracy, where in the game they collect "Canadough" (but following the model, there isn't enough available in the game without loading real cash into the system to get MORE Canadough (in attempts to actually have fun playing the game). Without buying more "Canadough" ("Gems" are often the 'currency' in actual Freemium games), its too damn boring to have fun. Wait foreeeeeever, or buy more Canadough so you can have fun.Sadly, only portions of the formula breakdown from the episode are available on Youtube. But here are a couple more excerpts I was able to dig up:And then here is the commentary on the issue by the creators of South Park, where they talk about how companies tried pitching them the game (before they ever had any clue about the issue):Even if you HATE South Park, this is a must see episode, especially if you have children whom play mobile games.Anyways, I had seen the episode last year, and recalled the Zynga games back in Myspace, which where perhaps the original forms. I found the episode quite entertaining, but didn't realize that this is 'all' the games now. You see I didn't have a "Smart Phone" until this year, and due to the same extreme situation (long long story) that 'forced' me to get such a diabolical surveillance gadget, prompted me to try and play some games to kill some times (which I had way too much of). I hadn't much been playing games for about a decade. It didn't take me long to figure out this trend. I even tried an older franchise title, Sim City. Even Sim City was turned into delayed lifestyle trash. Hands down the worst version of Sim City of all time! The irony that it's the latest one! I was so disgusted I went and downloaded a SNES emulator and the original version of SNES Sim City, and sure enough it's 100 times the quality of game.Not much of a surprise that EA would be into this scene, but damn I went looking into the app store and about all I could see was this model.At this point it occurred to me: Science Damn It! This is what all these young children are playing now, and the effects on their developmental psychology are sure to be profound. I was devastated. There is a insane social experiment underway right now, the fallout from which can only be speculated about, but whatever comes of it it cant be good.I had sort of forgotten the South Park episode specifics at this moment, but what occurred to me is it was like a sick hybrid of crack dealer "the first hits free" sales tactics, combined with 1-900# price gouging (which I immediately started referring to as "1-900-CRACK-PIPE"). Going back to the episode, they had pointed out the crack tatctic spot on, but not the 900# parallel.A look at the Wikipedia page only confirms the numbers I perceived:The games suck! Or do they? Looking at the downloads and ratings, it would seem they are the Holy Ark of the Covenant. Let's use a game I've studied in depth: Clash of Clans.It's rating: 4.5 / 5, by ‎26,733,660 votes. Today its rated #3 on Top Grossing Games & #29 on Top Free Games link . Yes, it has ranks in BOTH "Top Grossing Games" AND "Top Free Games". I cant even make this stuff up, and I'm good!I found this game as one of the final games I played very heavily was "Command & Conquer Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge". It's an RTS (Real Time Strategy) game. So naturally it didnt take long to find "the best" mobile RTS game: Clash of Clans. There are endless player reviews such as this: "The best game ever! I love this game so much. It always makes me addicted to it!".And there's the key word: ADDICTIVE. As South Park points out heavily: the model of the game design isn't to make greatly fun games, it's aboot making the most addictive game at it's core. How else could the most boring games ever generate so much money?In Clash of Clans, you build a base, and it moves up in levels by upgrading your "town hall" (enabling more upgrades on all the structures and things you get, more of each level). The average cost in Federal Reserve Notes is somewhere in the territory of thousands of "dollars" link . The game has an actual buy in button for $99.95 right in its basic menu, and with that $100 in 'Canadough' you get squat in the grand scheme of the game (less than squat even).As an old school die hard RT gamer, this Clash of Clans crap was clearly only 1/400th the quality of actual game, compared to Yuri's Revenge (an end of 90's era PC game). My findings were that the gamers of today are: ADDICTED TO BOREDOM.How can this be real, one might ask. Well these games are all designed to be addictive, as South Park most eloquently put it. The tech itself is breath-taking, while there is real quality or various forms put into this Clash of Clans example. I had actually said to some friends while ranting on the phone aboot what if this Supercell had set out to make the mostgame ever? I stated that if only they had set out to make the 'best' game ever, they might have... It turns at that at that moment they were aboot to release their newest title: Clash Royale.