Only 2.2% of free-to-play users ever pay - Report
Swrve research finds 46% of all revenue comes from .22% of player base, two-thirds of people stop playing after one day
Retention and monetization are two of the biggest challenges for any free-to-play game developer. But as reported by Re/code, a new report from app testing firm Swrve suggests they may be even more challenging than previously believed.
Swrve tracked the habits of 10 million new players on 30 games in its network over the course of 90 days, finding that only 2.2 percent of those players ever spent money. The spending of monetized players wasn't spread evenly, as Swrve found 46 percent of revenue came from just 10 percent of that group, or .22 percent of the total player base.
Beyond the monetization concerns, the report also speaks to how difficult it is to retain players. Two-thirds of the tracked users quit playing their games within a day of downloading them. Further pushing the idea that early monetization is key, 53 percent of user spending happened within the first seven days after downloading a game.
Speaking with Re/code, Swrve CEO Hugh Reynolds said the report was a "word of caution around user acquisition," stressing that developers who focus their resources on goosing the total number of downloads need to worry more about keeping users engaged after the app has been downloaded.
So, you mean it's like software piracy?
What would be interesting would be to see those stats normalised by playing time...
By the logic if this story anyone who stops in front of a restaurant and reads the menu before walking off would be described as visiting the restaurant without paying.
Just how I see it here.
Crazy, no?
And yet, console and PC gamers play the same NHL's, Sims, Battlefields, NFS's etc. etc. year after year :-)
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Kim Soares on 11th April 2014 11:10am
I'm hugely sceptical of studies when it comes to the games industry in general . I'm not sure if it is because of the way samples are tested, the causation/causality fallacy or simply how some of these statistical analysis companies work with their data but it seems like they can usually 'prove' any point by fudging data one way or another.
Additionally, I don't think the article shows this but this study was carried out within the specific context of mobile/tablet games - I imagine the PC/Console Free to Play market might be radically different.
Could just be the cynic inside me but there are plenty of companies that flourish on a free to play model so I don't thing we're getting the whole picture here.
Edited 3 times. Last edit by Matthew Bennett on 11th April 2014 11:05am