Freemium games and economies of scale

"medetec;542092" wrote:

"Phlebotomy_Jones;542055" wrote:

"medetec;542038" wrote:
The sad thing is that Galaxy of Heroes could (possibly requiring some EA accountants to duck right off...) be a good game if it can ignore the now standard mobile market practices. There are features players are willing to pay for, and pay for frequently, that both don't provide pay to win power and don't cost silly amounts of money,

Selling characters is ok but $40-$100 for a (partial) character bundle is a silly amount of money. $14 for a single piece of gear is doubly wrong, as it's selling direct power (bad) and its overpriced (bad). Instead of this mess, there's another way.

Sell exp boosters that increase experience gains. Sell character skins that provide cosmetic options without any power attached. Sell additional ally slots, guild coin cap increases, things that make life easier but are not required. Sell the loot bomb mentioned in the EC video and let it give everyone in your guild (except you) a small, random amount of credits and random character shards. There are tons of ways to get large numbers of players invested in moderate spending instead of a small number of players spending enormous amounts. 100 players paying an average of a dollar a day is just as good (honestly, better) than one player spending $100 a day.

It's so true that they have really missed the opportunity provided by the Star Wars franchise.

There are so many other opportunities for low dollar monetization that would draw much higher buy-in because of the massive appeal of Star Wars.

Many people like to throw out the "1000 people spending $5 vs 5 people spending $1000" argument, but that overlooks the actual market research and trends. I understand that.

However, I think it's incredibly unimaginative and simplistic, with regards to the SW franchise, to just make another freemium game.

If ever there was a chance to get a large percentage of players paying, it was here. It may not be any more, because that kind of sea change would require a lot of ignoring traditional freemium practices by the devs and a lot of player good will has been lost.

I'd really like to see that though...perhaps those $5 starter packs and low cost crystal subs initially suggested it wouldn't work, but there's no evidence of attempting to gauge (not gouge) the market since.

While I realize the big whale spenders are often easier marks for more reliable spending, GoH as you mentioned has basically the holy grail of franchise licenses. They have a real shot at a much broader market for low cost conversions. And I'm not saying exclude the whales either, if someone wants to spend thousands by all means let them. I think the chromium slots and aurodiums could be reduced in price by 20-50% (or even no change) and still provide a huge outlet for whale mentality players, in addition to skins and other cosmetic and non-cosmetic spending options.

I'd be shocked if they introduced a new $5 pack and it didn't sell well. The initial starter pack likely has skewed numbers as it appears so early in the gameplay cycle, before players are decided as to if they want to spend at all, and then disappears forever. I know I've seen a lot of players posting that the regret not having bought the DS pack, but it was gone by the time they chose to drop some money on it.

With AAA gaming company like EA, that model wouldn't fit their goals. They don't just want profit. They want ALL the profit in only a 3-month timeframe.

EA is the consummate capitalist. They need to satisfy their bloated investor egos. If a game can't be turned into a bullet point in their quarterly reports, then it's no good. Investors want instant profit, and they need to constantly show for it.

Companies like Blizzard may be interested in building customer satisfaction and loyalty. They want their games to last. EA doesn't. AAA gaming's loyalty doesn't lie with gamers; it lies with investors.

Forget Hearthstone, EA would have axed WoW. They wouldn't keep an IP around for 10 years if it doesn't grow every year.