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Rovio delists original Angry Birds from PlayStore because it's still too popular

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Re: Rovio delists original Angry Birds from PlayStore because it's still too popular

#121

Post by no_time »

gspencley wrote: post #85
hedora wrote: post #45

We need copyright reform for cases like this. In particular, copyright infringement damages should be capped at a small multiple of lost sales. That way, when a copyrighted work goes of market (or is no longer sold at a reasonable mass-market rate), there would be no penalty for redistributing it. (Derivative works might need to be handled differently, since the above effectively invalidates the GPL, though not Apach…

I have a nuanced take on this. Say, hypothetically, that I am the creator of a song, book, video game or whatever. One day, for purely selfish reasons that I don't need others to understand, I decide that I no longer want to offer my creation to others. Do I forfeit any and all rights over something that I personally produced; that I invented, designed, fabricated and brought into existence; just because I once offer…

> Do I forfeit any and all rights over something that I personally produced; that I invented, designed, fabricated and brought into existence; just because I once offered it to others?

Nothing wrong with choosing not to engage in business. The problem arises when you want to stop people with the force of the government who want to plug the hole you've created.

Re: Rovio delists original Angry Birds from PlayStore because it's still too popular

#122

Post by robertlagrant »

WaffleIronMaker wrote: post #44
flenserboy wrote: post #26

A wedge for developers looking to boost Linux: make small, quality games that distribution makers can be convinced to include. MicroSoft did this with Minesweeper and Solitaire, and far more people than you might think demanded Windows not because it could do the tasks they wanted, but because it had the simple recreations they desired and had grown used to. The best way to crowd out the ad-laden and micro-transactio…

I think the gaming market has changed significantly since Minesweeper and Solitaire were popular. Sure, it can be a nice quality of life boost to include some small games, but I don't think it would be a major draw to Linux. I believe the internet and mobile devices have largely filled this niche. Ensuring existing AAA games run solidly on Linux, like Valve is working towards with Proton, seems to have a much greater…

I agree entirely. Valve is taking the long, but correct, way round for this. I have a Linux computer with a GPU I game on, and I use Valve's compatibility layer for most of them.

Re: Rovio delists original Angry Birds from PlayStore because it's still too popular

#123

Post by JohnFen »

speeder wrote: post #90
tensor wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I won't play any iOS game with either ads or with a "free but micro-transaction model." If you look in the pay up front category on the app store, there are very very few games. It's too bad.

I had a startup that made games in the pay up front model (with variants, like having a free episode and then selling more episodes, or demo + paid version, etc...) It just doesn't work, people don't want to buy stuff when on mobile, they just don't. The price made no difference in sales either, could be high, low, 99c, whatever, people just ignore your game and get only the free versions. On Android this is even wor…

The fact that most apps are ad-based is what drove me away from the app store entirely on Android. It's impossible to tell what's actually free, and it's hard to find honest apps that you can just pay for instead of dealing with ads or microtransactions.

So I would never have seen your app. I was already driven out of the "ecosystem". I wonder how many others are like me -- fully willing to pay, but so disgusted by the app scene that we aren't even there anymore.

Re: Rovio delists original Angry Birds from PlayStore because it's still too popular

#124

Post by cptskippy »

tensor wrote: post #58
petepete wrote: post #9

It's almost as if when given the choice people prefer games without microtransactions, even if they're older and have fewer features/powerups etc.

I won't play any iOS game with either ads or with a "free but micro-transaction model." If you look in the pay up front category on the app store, there are very very few games. It's too bad.

Android is in the same situation.

Re: Rovio delists original Angry Birds from PlayStore because it's still too popular

#125

Post by Marsymars »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #62
tensor wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I won't play any iOS game with either ads or with a "free but micro-transaction model." If you look in the pay up front category on the app store, there are very very few games. It's too bad.

I think we should really call out Apple and Google for mismanagement here. Imagine if there was the option to play a game for an hour as a free trial, and then buy the game instead of having to plunk down $4.99 sight-unseen - or having your game in the Free category with the microtransaction shovelware around it. If I'm the developer who wants users to have any semblance of try-before-you-buy, the free category (with…

It's not a well-supported/advertised path, but you can always download a pay-for game for an hour and then get a refund if you don't like it.

Google at least used to do automatic refunds if you uninstalled a pay-for app very quickly - I once had that happen with a utility app that I used to convert some stuff - since it worked exactly like I wanted, I re-purchased and left it installed for a few days.

Re: Rovio delists original Angry Birds from PlayStore because it's still too popular

#126

Post by JohnFen »

tombert wrote: post #79
tensor wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I won't play any iOS game with either ads or with a "free but micro-transaction model." If you look in the pay up front category on the app store, there are very very few games. It's too bad.

I'm right up there with you. I will admit that paying like $15 four years ago for Stardew Valley on iOS felt a bit weird, but $15 is pretty cheap considering that it's the full game . It doesn't make you buy gems every twenty minutes, or watch an ad every time you plant six crops, or spam your friend to share your status for some extra gold. It's a full game, and you pay a nominally-high-but-ultimately-reasonable pri…

$15 is a screaming deal for a game like Stardew Valley.

Re: Rovio delists original Angry Birds from PlayStore because it's still too popular

#128

Post by JumpCrisscross »

xd1936 wrote: post #105
mikejarema wrote: post #50

The announcement says it'll be renamed to "Red's First Flight" and be re-listed "pending further review". I wonder if this is simply a rebranding so that the original no longer appears for "Angry Birds" searches in the app store. Namely that subsequent versions make more $ per install, and having the original at a low price point is cannibalizing sales of the newer more profitable titles.

Then why only do that on iOS, and completely remove it from Android? The Play Store also supports renaming listings...

> why only do that on iOS

Higher-margin market, which means hope for up-selling.

Re: Rovio delists original Angry Birds from PlayStore because it's still too popular

#129

Post by jaywalk »

qwytw wrote: post #83
Jasper_ wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google and Apple aggressively push developers to use IAPs rather than up-front paid games, and often won't feature games & apps costing more than 99c. They incentivized the current market.

I think the demo/trial model is still very reasonable. You get to download the game for free and play a level or two and then you need to purchase the full game to continue. Of course the problem is that it's sometimes a bit hard to tell apart games like this from the P2W micro-transaction shovelware junk

On the app store page for the game, you can see all of the in-app purchases available. If there's only one for the full game, you're safe. If there's a bunch of different coin/whatever purchases available, stay away.

Re: Rovio delists original Angry Birds from PlayStore because it's still too popular

#130

Post by altairprime »

xd1936 wrote: post #105
mikejarema wrote: post #50

The announcement says it'll be renamed to "Red's First Flight" and be re-listed "pending further review". I wonder if this is simply a rebranding so that the original no longer appears for "Angry Birds" searches in the app store. Namely that subsequent versions make more $ per install, and having the original at a low price point is cannibalizing sales of the newer more profitable titles.

Then why only do that on iOS, and completely remove it from Android? The Play Store also supports renaming listings...

Think “scummy anti-SEO practices”. It’s so that when people search their Purchased Apps index for Angry Birds, having not recently installed it, the older flat-price no-IAP version isn’t shown in the results, and they’ll be more likely to install an IAP version instead. (iOS lets you install apps you’ve installed previously, even if they’re delisted.)
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