The "freemium" business model has infected a wide swath of the gaming universe, from casual Facebook games, to shooters, MMOs and all manner of mobile offerings, and for good reason: These games hemorrhage cash money. That free-flowing river of skrill has to come from somewhere, though, and the mobile research group Flurry seems to have found an answer.
Drawing from a sample size of approximately 20 million users across 110 thousand Android and iOS apps, Flurry has determined that people aged 25 to 34 are responsible for 49 percent of the money spent on content in freemium titles. Interestingly, users between the ages of 18 to 24 played the most, contributing 32 percent of overall playtime, but they actually spent far less than their wizened elders. No specific dollar amounts were referenced, but we have a feeling they'd be fairly significant.
Reader Comments (30)
Posted: Sep 10th 2011 8:41PM Electrium said
I haven't spent a penny on freemium content. I guess I don't really get it. It's good and bad...good, because I get more things for free, but bad, because we're going to see more content locked behind price tags.
Freemium isn't going away, that's for sure.
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Freemium isn't going away, that's for sure.
Posted: Sep 10th 2011 10:34PM Special Agent Steve said
@Electrium
I would so much rather pay $60 for a good game with free multiplayer than $0 + infinity dollars it costs to properly enjoy a mediocre, "free" game.
TF2 is the only exception, but that's still a huge mess of hats and weapons.
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I would so much rather pay $60 for a good game with free multiplayer than $0 + infinity dollars it costs to properly enjoy a mediocre, "free" game.
TF2 is the only exception, but that's still a huge mess of hats and weapons.
Posted: Sep 10th 2011 10:49PM Mmmmz said
@Electrium
Eh, most freemium games do it tastefully and I consider them less offensive than DLC for paid games. DLC that was planned alongside the game and released shortly after. That an map packs.
But hey, I'm crazy since I still remember when PC games had expansion packs and map packs were free as a thank you for being our customer and fan.
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Eh, most freemium games do it tastefully and I consider them less offensive than DLC for paid games. DLC that was planned alongside the game and released shortly after. That an map packs.
But hey, I'm crazy since I still remember when PC games had expansion packs and map packs were free as a thank you for being our customer and fan.
Posted: Sep 11th 2011 11:31AM AntiVillian said
@Special Agent Steve
However this point is completely subjective. There will always be bad games whether or not freemium existed and there will always be devs looking to milk there consumer base of every dollar they have. Personally I think freemium is great, it means I can find out if a game is good or not before deciding to support the developers. Obviously the model is not going to work for all games though.
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However this point is completely subjective. There will always be bad games whether or not freemium existed and there will always be devs looking to milk there consumer base of every dollar they have. Personally I think freemium is great, it means I can find out if a game is good or not before deciding to support the developers. Obviously the model is not going to work for all games though.
Posted: Sep 11th 2011 12:22PM freaparn said
@Mmmmz
I'd still rather pay $60 for a freemium game's "all-access pass" than get whittled to death by a few hundred microtransactions. The problem with freemium design is that you're generally reduced to grinding or limited in playtime if you're not willing to put down some dinero. I've tried out a few, but the first time that comes up, I'm done.
It seems to be a viable business plan for a lot of games that wouldn't be able to get a subscription out of people, but it's not for me.
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I'd still rather pay $60 for a freemium game's "all-access pass" than get whittled to death by a few hundred microtransactions. The problem with freemium design is that you're generally reduced to grinding or limited in playtime if you're not willing to put down some dinero. I've tried out a few, but the first time that comes up, I'm done.
It seems to be a viable business plan for a lot of games that wouldn't be able to get a subscription out of people, but it's not for me.
Posted: Sep 10th 2011 10:06PM gettinmoney662 said
@Corvin331
Not only makes the most money but probably has the most disposable income.
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Not only makes the most money but probably has the most disposable income.
Posted: Sep 10th 2011 10:05PM tendoboy1984 said
Well no shit it isn't free. It's probably the biggest scam the industry has thought of. You get the basic game for free, and you have to pay extra to get downloadable content like missions, items, characters, etc.
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Posted: Sep 10th 2011 10:28PM twocows said
Always relevant: http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/06/10
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Posted: Sep 10th 2011 10:32PM HaVoK308 said
I play a lot of iOS games, but I never once payed for additional content and/unlocks. If I enjoy a game I will put in the time needed. If I feel I need a shortcut, then apparently I don't like the game too much.
The problem with the so-called Freemium Model is, you are not buying additional content. You are buying content that has been deliberately removed. Content that you would have gotten with the initial price. Just like map packs and additional characters now, with retail games. They are all variations of that particular model. And I'm not a fan of it.
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The problem with the so-called Freemium Model is, you are not buying additional content. You are buying content that has been deliberately removed. Content that you would have gotten with the initial price. Just like map packs and additional characters now, with retail games. They are all variations of that particular model. And I'm not a fan of it.
Posted: Sep 10th 2011 11:06PM DeathBeforeDawn said
I really don't like the idea of paying just to advance faster in a game. that's part of the fun you know? Playing the game. It also seems like some of these companies design it to were you HAVE to eventually pay to advance which blows
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Posted: Sep 11th 2011 12:30AM OrangeGamer said
Guild Wars is my favorite freemium game I've played so far. I mean, I know you have to pay for the box game, but I don't feel the need to buy anything yet in order to be on equal footing.
Stats make sense, make more money, spend more money I guess.
Reply
Stats make sense, make more money, spend more money I guess.
Posted: Sep 11th 2011 1:31AM Vesuvium said
Makes sense. In many fremium games, you're basically got two tracks of play:
1. Pay for little perks and time-savings devices.
2. Or simply play through the game, occasionally earning or grinding towards more or less the same state of completion and access.
Middle-aged gamers with jobs and families tend to have less time and more disposable income, so they're more likely to go for option 1.
Younger games tend to have less income, more time. They go for option 2.
Reply
1. Pay for little perks and time-savings devices.
2. Or simply play through the game, occasionally earning or grinding towards more or less the same state of completion and access.
Middle-aged gamers with jobs and families tend to have less time and more disposable income, so they're more likely to go for option 1.
Younger games tend to have less income, more time. They go for option 2.
Posted: Sep 11th 2011 5:16AM Faceless Troll said
Instead of sorting this by age group, what they should really do is sort it by BMI.
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