I can finally stop saying it (Gaming)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Sunday, February 26, 2023, 09:14 (639 days ago)

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/02/rovio-delists-pay-to-own-angry-birds-because-it-hurt-free-to-play-earnings/

In a statement on the game's Discord server (as captured by Video Games Chronicle), Angry Birds Community Manager Shawn Buckelew reiterated that sales of the 99-cent "classic" version of Angry Birds were "negatively impacting our other games, which is what we as a company have to focus on. If those other games do not improve and grow, then the outlook of the entire company changes. It’s harder to create new games or work on new projects. I’m sure that’s not something you would want.”

That's a striking admission considering that Rovio Classics: Angry Birds is currently the No. 2 best-selling paid download among all games on the iOS App Store, well over a decade after its initial release (and nearly a year after its rerelease). But that chart-topping position translates to just $30,000 in estimated monthly revenue, according to Sensor Tower estimates.

The free-to-play Angry Birds 2, meanwhile, attracted 900,000 new free-to-play downloads last month and raked in over $9 million in revenue, according to those same Sensor Tower estimates. But that strong revenue number is only enough to make Angry Birds 2 the 74th highest-grossing iOS game on the current iOS charts.

So their paid ad free version is the #2 best selling paid download, and it made 30K in a month. Meanwhile the free to play one is #72 on the charts, and making 9 million a month.

My thought was that demand for a paid version was so high, that they could have raised their prices. But math tells me they'd have to charge 300 dollars per paid download to match the free to play revenue.

I can conclude a few things here:

1. No matter how low the price, there being an upfront cost AT ALL seems to deter a large number of people.
2. Free to Play has a way bigger reach as a result
3. The difference in revenue is just stupid big

So… we are doomed everyone. There's no going back.