Can free to play games balance brilliant game design with a fair but effective monetisation system?
Or, are they purely supposed money sucking 'monetisation machines', where design is forfeited to force players into parting with their cash?
It's a debate that rages on within the mobile games industry one you can currently see sprawled all over the pages of PocketGamer.biz, in fact - and in a recent interview with The Guardian, Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen threw in his two cents.
Great games make money
"The huge irony here is that if the monetisation is not your number one priority, that actually leads to better monetisation," explained Paananen.
"When you prioritise engagement and retention making a great game that people play often and want to play for a long time they are happy to pay. We want to design games that people can theoretically play for years."
Supercell's Clash of Clans
The Supercell man also had some bold words for social game developers who are perhaps becoming overly reliant on analytics.
"There was a time, especially in the social games industry, where people thought you could create great games based on a spreadsheet," concluded Paananen.
"[They thought] that creativity and design wouldn't really matter, because it was all about some maths," says Paananen.
"You can't design fun on a spreadsheet. And if you want to make an industry for the long-term, if you can't create fun games, there's no future."
[Source: The Guardian]
News
What do you call someone who has an unhealthy obsession with video games and Sean Bean? That'd be a 'Chris Kerr'. Chris is one of those deluded souls who actually believes that one day Sean Bean will survive a movie. Poor guy.
Related Articles
Feature
May 17th, 2024
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from a battle royale to a console classic remake
Top Stories
Feature
May 20th, 2024
Hot Five: AppLovin revenue surges 48% Y/Y, Plarium and Big Fish up for sale, and a look inside Merge Mansion's growth
Feature
May 20th, 2024
55 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Events
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 |
For The Win 2024 | Europe | May 29th |
Unreal Fest Gold Coast 2024 | Australasia | May 29th |
Indie Craft K-Game Festival 2024 | Europe | May 31st |
Indie Game Fest & Indie Campus 2024 | Europe | May 31st |