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Jam City slashes Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery IAPs following player backlash

Only some players are receiving the discounted prices

Jam City slashes Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery IAPs following player backlash

Jam City has slashed the prices of IAPs in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery following a backlash from players unhappy with how the game monetises.

As reported by Eurogamer, the free-to-play mobile game is offering different prices to various players, with some not being offered a discount at all.

It appears the publisher is currently A/B testing pricing, with players reporting the 130 gems bundle going down to 99p down from £4.99, while others are seeing a drop from £2.99 to 79p for the bundle.

Monetisation mystery

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery rests on an energy system that allows players to accomplish certain tasks. If the energy meter is empty, players cannot continue unless they spend money or wait for the timer to run out.

Some players have not taken well to the stop-start gameplay. One particular scene has come under scrutiny depicts your teenage character being suffocated by a sentient plant, known in-game as the Devil’s Snare, with players having to pay or wait for their energy to refill to continue.

Despite the hic-up, the launch has still racked up the downloads. As previously reported, the title ranked first in download charts in the UK, US, France, Germany and Spain 24 hours after launch.

The game is also performing well in the grossing charts making the top 10 on the US App Store and staying there, according to App Annie data.

If you would like to know more about how the game monetises you can read our IAP Inspector’s thoughts here.

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Staff Writer

Iain is a freelance writer based in Scotland with a penchant for indies and all things Nintendo. Alongside PocketGamer.Biz, he has also appeared in Kotaku, Rock Paper Shotgun, PCGamesN and VG24/7.