In September 2011, Gbanga picked up a Red Herring Top 100 Europe nomination, highlighting its technological prowess.

Now, however, the Swiss mobile social games developer is looking at more tangible measurements of its success.

Six months after release, around one in ten players of its mixed-reality location-based gaming world Gbanga Famiglia purchases virtual in-game goods, with a small number of hardcore players having purchasing more than 1,600 unique items.

The cheapest items are Police Megaphones at 99c. It represents the highest number of items sold, but the most revenue is generated by the $9.99 Respec 'Da Bass item.

Overall, Gbanga says the average spend per user on in-app purchases is $14.

Mix it up

"This is far more than most users would spend to download a game app," points out Matthias Sala, CEO and co-founder of Gbanga.

"We adapt the sale of virtual goods according to player needs. We figured out that offering a good mix of purchasable items is the surest way to cater to all our players.

"We plan to expand our offering of purchasable items with the release of Gbanga 3.0 in the upcoming weeks. The item selling model is an incredible way to monetise our games in the future."

The philosopher's IAP

Gbanga highlights that striking a good balance between giving benefits to players purchasing virtual goods, whilst not excluding those who do not wish to pay up, is extremely important.

However, it also notes that sales see dramatic increases during promotions such those linked to its bi-weekly mini-games.

Gbanga saw sales rise by 20 percent during its promotion of the latest Harry Potter film.

For more information on Gbanga, you can visit its website.