Paid vs. Free with ads

Hi All,

How do you decide whether to make your game free with ads or paid, is there some rule of thumb people follow for this? For example, if you can include ads without disrupting the game or program, is free the way to go?
I’m not sure how the cost structure works with free in Windows store exactly but it really seems like the best way to get your program into as many hands as possible.

I was thinking of maybe releasing my game as paid for a while and seeing how it does then switching to free later. It seems like it pretty hard to go the other way…

I appreciate any thoughts on this,

Vanz

 

I will not use ads if the game design doesn't allow for it. this could mean there is simply no spare room on the screen. Don't sacrifice quality and user experience for ad revenue.

I would choose based on a couple of things. I expect ads to be more profitable if your game is extremely popular, but worthless if you only get a few hundred users. You need a lot of people looking at a lot of ads to make any reasonable income.

Is the game 'finite' in that a player could play and finish the entire game in a reasonably short time (e.g. your game has 50 levels and a decent player could finish it in a week)? If so, ads are probably not a great idea. If your game is effectively infinite (i.e. has no distinct beginning and end, like a slot machine or solitaire game) ads might be more suitable, because players could repeatedly play the game for a long time instead of finishing it once then uninstalling it.

You could also use a combination: include ads and have the option to remove them, either by paying for the full version or by using in-app purchases. Using in-app purchase lets you keep your game 'free', which will increase downloads (compared to a paid app with a free trial).

 

That's a great point, thanks pumpkin...