Apple US's iPhone game of the year, NimbleBit's Tiny Tower is a great example that freemium games don't have to be stuck in Zynga's design rut.
Indeed, talking to Inside Mobile Apps, the US two-man (twins) studio also demonstrates a very different approach when it comes to designing such titles.
"All of our in-house testing and later, group beta testing is all done without in-app purchases implemented into the game," said David Marsh.
Not only that, he has a laissez faire attitude when it comes to metrics and analytics, saying "Not quite sure how our ARPU or average revenue per user (gotta love those acronyms!) has changed over time, since it isn't something we actively track."
Elevator pitch
Yet with total downloads expected to reach eight million by the end of 2011, and around 600,000 daily active users, there's plenty of volume in terms of IAP.
NimbleBits reckons that Tiny Tower has a conversion rate of around five percent, with the average revenue per payer of around $10.
The most popular IAP transaction is the $4.99 currency deal accounting for 52 percent of transactions, while most cash is generated by the $29.99 deal, which while only accounting for 4 percent of volume is 30 percent of revenue.
[source: Inside Mobile Apps]
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.
Top Stories
Feature
May 17th, 2024
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
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 | |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Unreal Fest Gold Coast 2024 | Australasia | May 29th |
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
Hot Five: Dubai's new Gaming Visa, April's mobile game charts, and Xbox studio closures
Interview
May 13th, 2024