Most Successful iOS Games Are Freemium -- and Not Immersive 3D

"How to Make Money from Free-to-Play iOS Games" is my latest report for SocialTimes Pro, and you can read an excerpt on the Social Times blog here. As the title suggests, most of the top grossing iOS games are free, making money from in-app payments for the game's virtual goods, and those that are sold, sell very cheaply. Take a look at this typical list of top grossing iOS games, from July; from the top 25, 15 of them are free, monetized with in-app payments, and only two, Infinity Blade and Call of Duty: Zombies, cost $4.99 or more. Another point that relates to the essay by Robert "Dizzy Banjo" Thomas last week: only those two games have immersive 3D graphics. (High Noon, an innovative MMO shooter, is arguably immersive, since it's first-person, but the graphics are cartoonish.) This reflects Dizzy's point that for the most part, the world is "moving into the post-PC era, where quick agile mobile user experiences are huge". Something to consider when thinking about deploying a 3D virtual world or game on iOS -- if done really well like Infinity Blade, you can get a large audience, but it will probably not appeal to most iOS users. Read more here.

Comments

[Hitomi Tiponi]

You could just as easily argue that as there is no popular, immersive, 3D world on iOS that it is an empty market-place waiting to be tapped.

[Adeon Writer]

All of this will change when Minecraft hits the iOS.

[Arcadia Codesmith]

It's difficult to develop an engaging RPG or other VW for a handheld because the screen is so tiny.

People have made good stabs at it, but they're not quite there yet.

Last year's iGlasses spoof is probably the best concept for getting immersive experiences in a portable format. If we got a device that was cheap, lightweight, stylish and wireless, I think we'd see widespread adoption, and a resultant market shift towards better, deeper, more immersive games.

[Dizzy Banjo]

This point is clearly true.

However I think iOS and its devices offer some amazing possibilities for immersive experiences. I think we need to rethink what we really mean by the word immersive though. It could mean immersing MORE into your real world, or immersing into an augmented version of your real world.. kinda like the world Charles Stross created in Halting State.

We clearly have a long way to go until we get there, but these devices start to open those doors.