The last time Spilt Milk Studios' Hard Lines went free for a day on the App Store, downloads jumped 64,500 percent.
Long term, however, the move had little impact, with downloads dropping down almost as soon as the game's fee rose back up.
The developer hasn't been put off such promo efforts, however.
Coupled with a major update which brings in-app purchases into play for the first time Spilt Milk has decided to pair up with OpenFeint, dropping Hard Line's RRP for a second time as part of the firm's Free App of the Day platform.
Paying the price
It's a move MD Andrew Smith is hoping will pay off this time, with the additional promo provided by OpenFeint giving the game the kind of tail the studio missed out on first time around.
"The last time we went free, we saw a huge amount of downloads over three or four days, and essentially quadrupled our playing audience over three days," says Smith.
"A lot of those players are still with us, but regretfully we saw very little conversion from the free boost into paying consumers.
"As soon as we switched back to paid, our daily downloads went back to normal."
Hard Lines, good times
This time, adds Smith, Spilt Milk is looking to the professionals, rather than going free almost on a whim.
"OpenFeint as a company is more interested in the games it promotes being a longer term success as obviously it helps spread their product too.
"Not only that, but our recent update features in-app purchases so even the people who download the game for free will be able to spend money on it if they choose to.
"I have no idea if this will see better income over the promotion and beyond than we're used to. Only time will tell."
Hard Lines will be free for an undetermined amount of time.
News
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
Top Stories
as
News
8 hours, 9 minutes ago
Supercell's Hay Day returns to China's App Store after four year absence
News
9 hours, 22 minutes ago
Take-Two's mobile bookings make 53% of their total and GTA 6's release date gets locked in
News
9 hours, 34 minutes ago
Minecraft celebrates its 15th birthday with discounts, in-game surprises and daily rewards
Feature
11 hours, 52 minutes ago
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from a battle royale to a console classic remake
Feature
May 16th, 2024
Behind the scenes: How adding sandwich offers to an idle merge game boosted three metrics at once
Events
Valencia Indie Summit 2024 | Europe | May 16th |
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
Popular Stories
Feature
May 14th, 2024
53 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Feature
May 13th, 2024