Monetization on mobile?

A place to discuss things that aren't specific to any one creator or game.
Forum rules
Ren'Py specific questions should be posted in the Ren'Py Questions and Annoucements forum, not here.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Aviala
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 533
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 8:40 am
Completed: Your Royal Gayness, Love Bug, Lovingly Evil
Organization: Lizard Hazard Games
Tumblr: lizardhazardgames
itch: aviala
Location: Finland
Contact:

Monetization on mobile?

#1 Post by Aviala »

Hey all! Lately I've been letting people play my game, Your Royal Gayness, at expos and conventions. A lot of people are saying they'd like to play the game on mobile, but I'm not sure how to do it monetization-wise. I've been planning to sell the game for about 15 USD or so on Steam, but most successful games on mobile are free with microtransactions. Or, they cost like 1.99 or so. I don't think a lot of mobile users are prepared to pay 15USD for a game, but I can't really sell it cheaper than on Steam if it's the exact same game.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I could port my game on mobile and make it worth the trouble of the adjustments a mobile release would require?
Is it possible to integrate microtransactions in a Renpy game? I'm a beginner coder, so I have no idea how it could be done... If I was able to do microtransactions, I think I'd probably just break the game down into "chapters", make the first chapter free and then allow the player to purchase the rest of the chapters either one by one or all at once by paying the same amount that the game costs on Steam (so about 15 USD).

Any other ideas? Feel free to discuss anything related to the subject, not just my case. I'm interested in the subject overall :)

User avatar
Alhia
Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2017 4:55 pm
Projects: Clinamen
Tumblr: alhia
Deviantart: alhia
Location: France
Contact:

Re: Monetization on mobile?

#2 Post by Alhia »

To discuss the subject : I actually wouldn't be that shocked by a (big) difference in pricing between the mobile and steam versions. For two reasons :
1) I don't think the players are the same. Amateurs of VN will probably want to play it on a computer when the people you meet on expos and conventions might want to play on mobile only?
2) For Steam I'm paying for a "HQ" version of the game, where I actually can savour graphics and all

But yes, the "one chapter available - microtransaction to get access to the others" seems great but I have no idea of its feasibility. So the first step would be to get the info whether microtransactions can be done with RenPy but unfortunately I won't be the one to bring you the answer!

If it's not possible then another way to get around it could be:
- part it in two/three episodes and sell them separetely on mobile - you might want to release them on different dates so you can build some anticipation?
- when the full game is released on mobile, release it on Steam as well? (or the other way around...)

User avatar
puppetbomb
Regular
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri May 19, 2017 4:04 pm
Tumblr: puppetbomb
itch: puppetbomb
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: Monetization on mobile?

#3 Post by puppetbomb »

I've seen Capcom's Phoenix Wright series go for $0.99 for the initial download and around $20 for the full game.

Other monetization methods include unlocking portions with consumable items or using (paid) items to unlock certain branches/choices.

On adjustments for mobile:
If you sell it on the Apple App Store, it is up to the developer to make sure their app doesn't crash in the newest update.

And Android is even more finicky. The screen resolutions are wildly different, not all phones use the most updated Android OS, and a phone's hardware is different for every company. While resolutions can get away with letterboxing and relative positioning of assets, the different hardware and OS version may cause the game to crash in certain phones.

If you release for mobile, I suggest iOS. While there's different resolutions, it's definitely not as many as Android. People tend to buy more on iOS too, and every mobile app company I've encountered has prioritized iOS apps over Android.

I know this is a little off tangent, but I hope this helps. Sorry I couldn't answer anything about the programming side ;v;

philat
Eileen-Class Veteran
Posts: 1900
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 12:33 pm
Contact:

Re: Monetization on mobile?

#4 Post by philat »

I've never bothered doing it myself, but I've seen mobile games that use in-app purchases with Ren'py (Winter Wolves games come to mind first) to offer free downloads and routes locked behind paywalls. Some of the basics are documented: https://www.renpy.org/doc/html/iap.html For specifics, I remember seeing a few threads around the forum.

I personally would never pay $15 for a VN on mobile, whether through buying chapters or otherwise. I've bought plenty of $15 indie games on Steam, though. May not be perfectly rational behavior, but if it's a game that I would find worthwhile paying more than, say, a MAX of $10 for, then I'd rather buy and play it elsewhere.

User avatar
Xerofit51
Veteran
Posts: 376
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:58 am
Completed: Freak-quency, Harvest-Moon spin off
Projects: Freak-quency
Deviantart: xerofit51
Location: Indonesia
Contact:

Re: Monetization on mobile?

#5 Post by Xerofit51 »

I suggest going to the ads route on mobile games, it's easier to get people to pay for 15-20 bucks on PC but that's just not the case on mobile games

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Majestic-12 [Bot]