The question of whether in-app transactions are included in Apple's Top Grossing chart is one developers have been pondering ever since the new chart was created - in the iTunes 9 release in September.
US publisher Freeverse - perhaps the only company to have made a success of in-app transactions prior to the release of Tap Tap Revenge 3 and Rock Band - has done some number crunching and reckons it does.
It's compared the metrics for some of its current games in the US Top 100.
In terms of the plain US Top 100 Paid chart, Top Gun ($1.99) is #60 while Flick Fishing ($1.99) is #72.
However, when it looked at the Top Grossing charts, the positions are reversed - Flick Fishing is #97, while Top Gun is #100.
Obviously the only way this could have happened is if Apple is taking into account sales revenue generated by the 99c Private Beach expansion pack available within Flick Fishing.
Even more significant is the impact this could have in terms of Apple's new free-plus-paid option for developers and publishers.
This allows games to released into the Free chart, which include in-app transactions for more content. The first game to do so is ngmoco's Rolando 2, in which you have to pay 99c/59p to unlock additional chapters.
It's currently racing up the Free charts, but doesn't yet appear in the Top Grossing charts.
However, if developers start to see such free titles appearing in the Top Grossing chart, expect a shift from paid to free apps.
You can read Freeverse's full blog post here.
News
Contributing Editor
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
Related Articles
Top Stories
News
5 hours, 37 minutes ago
Red Games Co's Brian Lovell on their Apple Design Award Win: “Inclusivity was a focus from the beginning"
News
Jun 11th, 2024
App Store developers can start nominating their games for featuring later this year
Feature
4 hours, 21 minutes ago
Mobile Mavens: Are today's everlasting, live ops games holding back new innovation?
Feature
5 hours, 49 minutes ago
The key takeaway from Apple's AI-laden WWDC keynote? It's time to buy a new iPhone
Events
Tribeca Games Festival 2024 | North America | Jun 5th |
Steam Next Fest: June 2024 Edition | Jun 10th | |
WN Conference Istanbul 2024 | Jun 11th | |
GamesForum Hamburg 2024 | Europe | Jun 11th |
ESI London 2024 | Europe | Jun 13th |
Game Con Canada (GCC) 2024 | North America | Jun 14th |
Indie Dev Play 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |
DevGAMM Vilnius 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |
Popular Stories
Interview
Jun 5th, 2024
A galaxy far, far away… Why Star Wars: Hunters took six years to hit the target
as
Feature
Jun 3rd, 2024