Top 5 Facts About Free to Play Mobile Games

You wouldn’t think that free to play games would be especially profitable seeing how they’re…well, free. Ironically, some of gaming’s biggest moneymakers cost absolutely nothing to download, however, a whopping 65% of the App Store’s game revenue stems from free to playgames. Some of these titles get money from advertising, while others hook consumers in with a free price tag and then bleed their wallets dry with in-app purchases. If you’re asking yourself: “Uh, who exactly is spending that money?”, what’s just as interesting is that 50% of the freemium revenue comes from less that 1% of gamers. These big spending players who sink their time and money into freemium games are referred to as “whales,” a term that also means high roller in Vegas, since “whales” are known to occasionally spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on freemium games. Maybe that PS4 would’ve been cheaper after all.

In early 2014, Europe became the first place in the world to establish “Principles” for online and app-based games. The UK’s Office of Fair Trading believed these regulations were necessary for several reasons. For starters, numerous consumers have felt swindled by free to playgames since they contain in-app purchases and thus aren’t actually free. Children in particular have been known to max out their parent’s credit cards on in-app purchases without understanding the consequences– like the Belgian teen who spent roughly $46,000 with his grandfather’s credit card for Game of War in-app purchases. Of course, many adults are also unaware of the true costs involved, and it certainly doesn’t help that consumers are often unable to contact traders with queries or complaints. The European Commission reached out to Google and Apple to enforce these objectives; and while Google agreed to make a few changes, Apple initially wasn’t as cooperative. By the end of the year, though, Apple relented by switching the word “Free” to “Get” on its App Store’s installation buttons for gamesinvolving in-app purchases.

It only takes one insanely popular title to put a mobile game developer on the map. For example, King Digital Entertainment has raked in the big bucks with the phenomenon that is “Candy Crush Saga.” Although King’s made over 200 other games, none of them have been nearly as successful as their biggest intellectual property–“Bubble Witch Saga” and “AlphaBetty Saga” aren’t exactly household names. Other developers take their star product and milk it for every cent its worth. Rovio Entertainment has spun off the “Angry Birds” franchise in every possible direction, from television, to amusement parks, to feature films. A one-hit wonder can certainly take a company far, but eventually consumers will desire something new…right?

In 2015, Machine Zone launched an ad campaign for “Game of War” with Kate Upton acting as their spokesperson. These epic commercials, one of which aired during the Super Bowl, cost a whopping total of $80 million in US airtime, according to ISpot.tv. This investment paid off, however, as the multiplayer strategy game started to gross $1 million per day. For a short period, “Game of War” even surpassed “Clash of Clans” as the biggest mobile game. Marketing mobile games on television once seemed like an unprofitable venture, but this victory demonstrated just how much the industry and its advertising has grown. Mobile gaming revenue in general has gone way up over the past couple years, making $30 billion in 2015, according to research company Newzoo. These sales figures indicate that free toplay is here to stay.

So many people have become addicted to “Candy Crush Saga” that there should probably be a twelve-step program for it. Given the game’s enormous popularity, King actually applied to trademark the word “Candy” in January of 2014. As you can imagine, this move didn’t sit well some other companies that use the word. On top of that, King also attempted to trademark the word “Saga” in response to Stoic Studio’s “The Banner Saga.” About a month later, King abandoned the “Candy” trademark request in the US, but held onto their bid in the European Union. King settled their dispute with Stoic later that April. We know that you want to protect your brand from potential copycats, King, but “Candy” and “Saga” should belong to everybody!

So, how much would you pay for a free to play game? Do you still think freemium is worth the price? For more addicting Top 10s and inexpensive Top 5s published everyday, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.