The ads in game are... Not only looking non professsional, but it is the way to render your game annoying, also people I know at least turn off their internet on their devices just to not have them, except if a special functionnality requires it (SAM in jetpack joyride is an exemple of that kind of functionnality). They are also, let's be honest, a money wh*re thing, people are not stupid, they know most developers do not choose the ads that will be displayed, that results in a belief like "they don t even care about the ads, they just want the money", even on a website ads aren't popular when they are justified, but in an application that you have downloaded, this is just wrong.
Up front payment is nice and legit, but fewer download:
-Not everyone is confident in paying for a game online
-Not everyone like to pay a non physical copy of the game
-the refund time on the playstore is ridiculous
-in some cases, the performance is actually a pretty big barrier "Will it work on my phone?"
-Will the game be worth it? (Popular belief: mobile games are short and not that great)
The last two ones being the most important for me, I actually bought a game on the playstore that was more than 1GB for approx. 20$, in that case it was worth it because I already knew it beforehand, the performances were the big question, it is actually fine on my device, but really even though I knew it wouod work, I was still worried.
In the case of C2, you have a pretty advantage: the user could test a demo on the web to know what to expect, heck if your game is free 100% you could even have the complete version on the web, and providing the app only for people that don't have a decent experience through their browsers.
The IAP one is actually pretty complex, it should be treated like dlc's, aka: If that is an important part of the game by itself, it should be already inside the game, if it is a skin or something, that is actually okay, also remember that a good player should be able to complete the game without needed to buy them, additionnal levels could be bought as packs of levels if there are a lot (but do not call your game free in that case, since some level aren't).
As for the completely free, no ads, no IAP games, the awnser is simple: just make your game popular enough to have a name, but I would think most people want to make money or even a living with games, if ads or abusive IAP are known as the only good ways to make money, then that would mostly tell that the market is not yet ready.
LittleStain I see what you mean that is solid plan, I feel like too many think that if someone puts intrusive ads in their games they assume all the dev cares about is making money which isnt necessarily true.
Aphrodite I agree with you on the points you made, ads are perceived as annoying and a way for users to counter then are to turn off data/airplane mode . Also having a game tat requires online access , in my belief, makes the player feel as if they don't really own the game which can caused mixed feelings about it even if its a good game . I do think that publishing a free online version of a game with reference to the mobile version is a solid plan, I might be wrong but: if one has a website they can post the web version of their game on it and within their website have ads so that way they still make money off of ads without being intrusive but still getting impressions. To Highlight two points you made -Performance & -Value Are you saying if a game performs well & has replay value you are willing to spend money on it ? If you choose to charge upfront for your games then the only way for people to really measure Performance & Value before purchasing is to watch gameplay video and read reviews & hear about it from word of mouth . People take for granted the reviews that are posted within the appstore so I think having reviews & ratings from other outside sources (Indie Game Mag, Gamespot, Ign, Youtube) would be more effective in determining the value (& even performance) of your game pre-purchase .
- IAP systems are pretty complex, at least thats how I perceive them to be, has anyone here ever used CocoonJS to create an IAP ? & if so how difficult was that to thoroughly complete ?
— Thanks for sharing those links I'll make sure I check them out . Where do you stand on publishing a COMPLETELY FREE version first then rolling out an update (if the game gets 4 figure downloads) that includes an IAP or Ads . & which one would you go with if you were trying to only make one version of your game - Update with an IAP or Ads (Without being intrusive) ? With ads you're going to get paid
Tokinsom you're missing out man, (As said by —) "Billions" of people download & play mobile games . Not saying there isn't money to be made on the web but its a lot easier to get someone to pull out their phone & check out your game than it is to tell them to go to a website on their PC or Laptop and check out your game .
If "Demos are known to decrease sales" then providing a demo then full game on the appstore would be a compromise .
I think if/when a completely free game gets 4 figure downloads rolling out an update that includes non-intrusive ads , particularly a banner in the "Game Over" layout , would be a solid plan . CocoonJS provides the ability to implement ads or IAP with your games so I guess it depends on which ever one is more appealing to the dev (& by appealing I mean less difficult to thoroughly implement as envisioned)