Monetizer

Monetizer: Kabam demonstrates the power of active in-game retailing

What's your DCr and why should you be changing it

Monetizer: Kabam demonstrates the power of active in-game retailing

As part of our Monetizer column, one of the metrics I calculate is a game's Discount Currency ratio (DCr).

This measures the change in the per unit cost of a game's virtual currency if you compare the smallest IAP transaction with the largest.

Typically games demonstrate a ratio of around 1.5 to 1.8; that is if you buy the largest IAP available you will get around 1.5 to 1.8 times more gems, gold, jewels etc per dollar spent than if you buy the minimum IAP.

Of course, what I'm really interested in is the outliers. For example, a recent round up demonstrated three games with DCrs of more than 3.

EA's The Simpsons: Tapped Out has ranked highest to-date with a ratio of 4. That means if you spend $99.99, on a per unit basis you get 4 times more donuts than if you spend the minimum - $1.99.

At the other end of the scale, some companies take a much less generous approach. For example, DeNA's games such as The Drowning and Blood Brothers have a DCr of 1.

Everything must go

Yet, the DCr doesn't have to be a static number. The sophisticated developer - like the sophisticated retailer - has the opportunity to control their economical environment.

That's exactly what Kabam's now doing in Fast & Furious 6: The Game.

The sale version of the in-game store in Fast & Furious 6

The game originally had a DCr of 1.6, so you got 1.6 times more gold by spending $99.99 (the maximum IAP) than spending $2.99 (the minimum).

The current sale, however (see above), boosts that to 2.3 - making it much more attractive proposition for any players who were considering an in-app purchase.

It's also important to note that this isn't a discount on a single IAP but across all IAPs that cost more than $2.99 (£1.99).

A final point to consider; in terms of generating more cash, this move will only work if it encourages sales to increase more than 30 percent. But its success shouldn't just be viewed from a commercial point of view.

It's likely to have a strong impact in terms of retention too; something that's likely to be equally important to Kabam given the game was released in May 2013.

How Kabam's sale has shifted Fast & Furious 6: The Game's Discount Currency ratio compared to 23 other games.

You can find out more out the DCr on our Monetizer Tumblr site.

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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.