In post on the firm's blog, Tiger Style asserts iOS users are far less willing to take a risk on a game from a relatively unknown studio when priced so high.
Backing up its claims, the studio has revealed revenues taken for three of its titles during their first two months of sale on the App Store, with Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor for iPhone which launched at $2.99 outperforming the higher priced Waking Mars.
What a difference two months makes
In all, Spider on iPhone made $244,196 in sales in said two month period, ahead of Waking Mars' $151,018 the latter having launched at $4.99.
The HD version of Spider, again available for $2.99, generated $70,939 in its first two months.
However, in the case of Waking Mars, Tiger Style claims half of its sales were accrued in its first seven days on the App Store, with sales declining thereafter.
In comparison 2009's Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor also saw a decline, but on a far more steady basis.
In total, the game has amassed scales of $577,00 since launch.
All in all, the studio's conclusion is a $4.99 price point may be the sole domain of big, well established and - most importantly - well known studios.
Eye of the tiger
"Casual gamers who might be willing to make an impulse purchase on a game from an unknown, indie developer at $2.99 are less willing at $4.99," said Tiger Style's David Kalina.
"The marketplace is significantly more crowded, with a higher quality bar, and there is greater value available at lower price points (including free). In particular this makes it harder for long-form single-player games to succeed over time."
Tiger Style has since dropped the price of Waking Mars to $2.99 and is already beginning to see the results describing day one sales as "pretty excellent."
But the firm says there's an upside to launching with a higher price tag, as it allowed them to create a second rush of interest in Waking Mars by slashing the price to $2.99.
Tiger Style's Randy Smith has previously aired his thoughts on the App Store back in 2010, claiming the sheer number of cheap titles available on the platform made it difficult for quality products to stand out.
[source: Tiger Style]
