The IAP Inspector

Claw and roar your way to fame: the monetisation of Katy Perry Pop

IAPs from the players' perspective

Claw and roar your way to fame: the monetisation of Katy Perry Pop

Welcome back to the In-App Purchase Inspector- our regular look at free-to-play games from the consumer's perspective.

In each instalment, we consider the incentives or pressure applied to make in-app purchases, their perceived value, the expansion offered by IAPs and the overall value of the experience.

The end goal is to see whether the game makes a good enough case for us to part with our cash, or whether players are content - or engaged enough - to 'freeload'.

This time, we're taking a look at Katy Perry Pop, Glu Mobile's latest celebrity-endorsed fame simulator.

Open mic

There's one obvious thought that will be uppermost in the mind of anyone playing Katy Perry Pop for the first time: that it's simply a rebranded Kim Kardashian Hollywood.

This is not strictly true. But admittedly, Glu's latest does share a lot in common with its spiritual predecessor.

You start out as a no-name struggler - self-styled and moulded at the start of the game - before climbing the ranks off the back of your famous friends.

Riding fame is one of the underlying elements of Katy Perry Pop

Good old nepotism, eh? Indeed, Katy Perry is so #humble that she stumbles upon you performing at an open mic night in some two-bit coffee shop before bigging you up all over social media and vowing to make you a star.

You have access to 'Katy Vision', which gives access to alternate psychedelically-coloured versions of various locations.

Katy sets up meetings with record labels, gives guidance, and puts in a word for you with influential people - she really goes above and beyond the call of duty.

In this, a Katy Perry-branded product, you have to say that Katy Perry comes off as a remarkably wholesome, generous, and all-round lovely person. Funny, that.

First demo

As for the actual game, it's a fairly static affair that largely involves tapping in menus to flit from city to city and attend various meetings, concerts, or studio sessions.

You also have access to 'Katy Vision', which gives access to alternate, psychedelically-coloured versions of various locations, embroiling you in quests involving conversations with sunflowers and depressed pink sharks.

One of your first tasks in the game is to record a demo with Katy

It's a welcome break from the generally terrible people you have to hobnob with on the road to success, but it may lead some to speculate whether 'Katy Vision' is a stand-in for certain mind-altering substances common within celebrity circles. Not us, though.

Hard currency is very scarce in standard play.

Much like Kim Kardashian Hollywood, the main monetisation drive is through an energy system that refills at a rate of 1 per 5 minutes.

For every musical activity - such as playing a guitar solo, adding bass or a chorus - an energy cost comes attached.

This essentially means that two types of players - the payers and the patient - will produce the best songs and therefore see their singles find success, which is the game's ongoing objective.

Pitfalls of fame

Energy runs out pretty quickly, too. And with a refill rate of 1 per five minutes, you're looking at a fairly long wait to make any meaningful additions to a track or performance.

This means you have two options: either spend hard currency on more energy, or watch an incentivised ad.

The crucial resource in Katy Perry Pop is energy

The problem with the latter is that the reward is random; sometimes you'll get energy, others you'll get something utterly unhelpful like 10 Katy Coins.

For every musical activity - such as playing a guitar solo, adding bass or a chorus - an energy cost comes attached.

So what of currency, then? The aforementioned Katy Coins is the game's soft currency, despite still selling in bundles ranging from $4.99 for 5,000 to $99.99 for 175,000 and being in relatively short supply.

Katy Gems is the hard currency, with bundles ranging from $2.99 for 30 to $99.99 for 1,335.

Hard currency is very scarce in standard play, and these bundles seem just as stingy. 30 Gems may be acceptable for $0.99, for example, but for $2.99 it seems like a small return.

Cash rules everything around me

Where this limitation comes into play in-game, besides the aforementioned energy system, is when networking with other standoffish celebrity types.

Rubbing shoulders with the elites as a lowly scrub requires charm, which, bar a few quest-specific encounters that allow the use of Katy Coins, usually costs 25 Katy Gems.

Make friends, influence people and find inspiration for your music

That's around $2.50 in real money, with the slow trickle of hard currency effectively gating these encounters to non-paying players.

Good commentary on the nature of celebrity friendship, perhaps, but less good as someone trying to play the game.

As for other quibbles, there are irritating interstitial ads - an ugly free-to-play trend I had been enjoying the apparent decline of.

Making it

However, what rescues Katy Perry Pop from rejection is the fact that energy is in no way required to complete missions - only to complete them well.

Your general progress through the tasks is unhindered, and the drip-feed of Katy Coins is (just about) enough to buy new outfits, props and instruments should you so desire.

Like the real road to fame, splashing the cash - not to mention being Katy Perry's 'bestie' - will speed things up nicely, but putting in the hours should also get you there eventually.

 

Features Editor

Matt is really bad at playing games, but hopefully a little better at writing about them. He's Features Editor for PocketGamer.biz, and has also written for lesser publications such as IGN, VICE, and Paste Magazine.