Best practices for implementing IAP starter packs in free-to-play games

How to break the psychological barrier

• 1 When it's gone, it's gone

  

  For all starter bundles, there needs to be some degree of urgency.

  The player needs to be made very acutely aware that this offer won't be available forever, and that they'll be missing out if they don't strike while the iron's hot.

  Indeed, Scarcity is one of Oscar Clark's seven rules of monetisation design, with players motivated by what he calls "the fear of missing out".

  However, a balance needs to be struck here. 

  Not exclusive enough

  As a consumer, many games are transparent in their attempts to create a feeling of exclusivity. 

  A splash screen proclaiming "LIMITED TIME OFFER!!!" means little when said offer remains available for a long time afterwards, somewhat pathetically clinging to the side of the main menu screen in case the player should take pity on it and decide to tap buy.

  

  Simply, hanging around too long kills any sense of urgency and dulls the potency of a good offer.

  Too exclusive

  On the other hand, while a true ultimatium is a bold move that will certainly give the player pause for thought, they might not appreciate being so bluntly tapped up for money.

  Indeed, the only game I remember offering the binary options of "Buy Now!" or "Miss Out Forever" was the 2015 action-RPG KingsRoad.

  

  And while it's an approach that can work if the offer is good enough - I actually bought the 90%-off IAP in question - you run the risk of appearing a little brusque with your players.

  Goldilocks

  The sweet spot, then, is anywhere between three and seven days.

  That's enough for an offer to feel exclusive and apply some urgency, but also long enough that a player doesn't feel railroaded into a purchase.

  Ultimately, you don't want your player to miss out on a great deal - not just for your own sake as developers, but for theirs as players.

  A player who's missed out on a 90% discount - either because the window of opportunity was too narrow or because they were lulled into complacency with a seemingly never-ending offer - is not a happy one.

  Nor one who's likely to then spend at the standard rate.

• 2 You'd be stupid not to

  

  When designing a starter bundle, you're gearing it towards everyone who is playing your game.

  That's an audience that is statistically unlikely to be in the habit of spending on free-to-play games, and probably has no intention of bucking that trend for yours.

  What you need, then, is something to shock them out of this. An offer so good, that any right-minded player would kick themselves for missing it.

  Town crier

  I'm talking 70% to 90% discounts - and most importantly, offers that make it absolutely clear just how good value they are.

  This is no time for subtlety. Put "90% off" in massive lettering. Strike through the regular cost to show how vigorously you've slashed prices.

  

  Don't just leave it at hard currency, either. Chuck in other in-game items that players would otherwise have to graft hard for, or even specific items exclusive to this bundle.

  An early spender is a repeated spender

  There may be an argument here about devaluing your own currency for the rest of the game. That's something about which I can't personally comment.

  What I can say, however, is that I've often spent money in free-to-play games purely because of the generosity of their starter bundles - and then spent more money subsequently.

  These are games that would not have seen a penny from me otherwise, and I'm sure there are many other players whose experiences echo my own here.

• 3 Revenue and retention - two birds with one stone

  

  A lesser-implemented use of the starter bundle that I've always admired is one that integrates it with a daily release of rewards.

  A recent example is Warlords by the sadly now-defunct Wooga spin-off Black Anvil Games. In it, there was a starter bundle offering 3,000 Diamonds at a 90% discount.

  Excellent value. The only catch is that those 3,000 Diamonds are distributed in batches of 100 every day for 30 days - and only if the player logs in.

  This tempts the player in with a heavy discount, as well as essentially signing them up to return every day for a month - a double win for the developers.

  

  And for the player too, the idea of a small investment that's still paying off in-game 30 days later is a compelling one. 

• 4 Strike early - but not too early

  

  If nothing so far has convinced you of the importance of starter packs, maybe this will.

  In 2015, an Amazon Appstore study revealed that seven days after installing a game, 80% of players will never launch it again.

  Statistics like this are why so much emphasis is placed on retention, perhaps even over and above monetisation in those early stages.

  However, this 80% of churned players is still a group of potential spenders that shouldn't be discounted.

  Don't leave it on the table

  Amazon's study showed that the majority of IAPs were actually purchased within the first 24 hours of the user installing the game. This accounted for 18% of all revenue.

  And while it's the ones who stick around for much, much longer that you really need to keep your game afloat, that's a lot of money to lose by being too timid.

  

  Statistics would suggest, then, that sometime within the first 24 hours is a good rule of thumb for when to deploy your IAP starter pack.

  However, from a player's perspective, it seems advisable to at least wait for the user to get to grips with the game - and give a hint of its underlying complexities - before going cap in hand.

  Then again, aggressive retailing is something I criticised in Mobile Strike - and that certainly doesn't seem to have done MZ's profits any harm.