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How Game of War makes more than $1M a day

bloomberg.com

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Re: How Game of War makes more than $1M a day

#31
post #17

What happened to that page? Did Bloomberg hire Maddox to design it?

I was going to ask the same thing. It's like they hired a designer, told him or her to go look at current internet culture for design cues, and he or she still managed to fail.

It's like stabbing myself in the eyes every time I look at one of those articles.

Re: How Game of War makes more than $1M a day

#33

Does no one here play arcade games? Okay granted In-App purchases are generally more than 25-50 cents or the 1-2$ it costs these days at your local AMC, but I don't think it's disappointing in the slightest (and pretty predictable if you look at gaming history) that many people prefer to throw a few bucks a week at a casual game vs. spending $60 on something that might sit on the shelf. Though, I'm more a Clash of Cl…

As a sample, how much do you spend on Clans? It seems hard to find people who will admit they make in-app purchases. I play simcity buildit and I'm not tempted to buy things, I find it a challenge to get by without purchases. I can imagine as time goes by that games will get less playable without the purchases.

I've probably spent $15 on in-app purchases for Space Hulk, and likely more than that for Warhammer Quest. They're closer to DLC than they are to "Insert coin to do more" purchases though.

Re: How Game of War makes more than $1M a day

#34
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"They're rewarded... for showing up (like an MMO). That's not how you get good at things in real life." It really is though. If you show up every day and put in the work, you WILL get better at whatever you're doing. That's also something your colleagues and the people who surround you appreciate, see Cal Ripken, Jr. for example. He wasn't an outstanding player, but he didn't miss a single game for 16 years, he showe…

In competitive games (UT, Quake, CS etc.) you get better by playing and critical analysis of your and your enemie's playing. In WoW, you get better through, more or less, mindless grinding. At least so mindless that you can pay peons to do the work for you, so you can enjoy your level 100 character.

Having once been a fairly serious raider in WoW, there's a ceiling in WoW wherein you no longer get better through mindless grinding. A level 100 character is nice and all, but serious end-game raiding or PvP requires more than just "Push button, collect loot."

Re: How Game of War makes more than $1M a day

#35
post #5
post #3

We were bound to get to this point, but I'm still a bit disappointed. I have very little desire to play a game which intentionally skews the playing field based on in-app purchases. Personally I would far rather pay $60 or whatever for the game and then compete based on skill and luck, rather than on who wants to waste the most money.

Agreed. I think these games teach its players harmful life lessons too. They're rewarded for spending the most money (like GoW) or for showing up (like an MMO). That's not how you get good at things in real life. I've been a (relatively serious) gamer since I was a kid. My parents always thought it was a waste of time. But I think I learned more about dedication and growth playing WC3 than I did playing sports. I def…

I can see where you're coming from but I think you're oversimplifying it. Spending money and showing up ARE ways that you CAN get good at things. They might not be the only ways or even the most important ways but they are definitely ways.

No matter how skilled you are you can only get so far in life without spending any money. You'll definitely lag behind less skilled people that are willing or able to spend money. I don't like in app purchases myself either but even I can recognize when a timely purchase can have a big payoff. Sure, some games make to too easy to pay to win, but that's a balance each company has to discover.

Likewise, sometimes a big part of success IS just showing up. Much of luck is putting yourself in a position to take advantage of situations when they arise. Even in MMO type of games - I've seen plenty of people go from terrible to pretty good just by showing up enough and learning how to play.

Of course, by themselves, neither of these are good indicators of success and perhaps they are overvalued in some games, but they are definitely applicable to real life.

Re: How Game of War makes more than $1M a day

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a sample, how much do you spend on Clans? It seems hard to find people who will admit they make in-app purchases. I play simcity buildit and I'm not tempted to buy things, I find it a challenge to get by without purchases. I can imagine as time goes by that games will get less playable without the purchases.

I have spent a total of £15 on it, in around 18 months. I bought 2 builders near the very start. Then I got frustrated with slow progress about 12 months ago and hit buy on some gems to speed things up. The first purchase I never regretted. The second I regretted almost straight away and promised myself never to buy/spend anymore. I got a brief glimmer of a future filled with regret looking at how much I would pourin…

I am definitely more inclined to consider a purchase when t's a permanent effect. In a couple games you could buy a permanent double your coins effect. That felt like me actually purchasing the game, considering everything before it a hobbled demo.

Things where could straight purchase in game currency or timer refreshes feel more like extortion.

But I suppose I'm not the demographic.

Re: How Game of War makes more than $1M a day

#38
I found this to be ingenious:

To allow for the building of alliances within the game, the app needed a sophisticated chat feature. In the middle of development, Leydon decided it made sense for all players, no matter what their native tongue, to speak the same language. So he built a messaging platform that included a translation engine based not only on Google Translate but also on crowdsourcing. Within Game of War, text messages, comments, and push notifications are translated with about 70 percent accuracy. Log in to the game in Polish, and everything you read from other players is in Polish, too. The game’s players correct any errors they notice in exchange for virtual rewards within the game. From the start, the average player corrected 10 misspellings and slang expressions per day.

Re: How Game of War makes more than $1M a day

#39
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it matter? It's compulsive. That's why whales will spend $40k of money they don't have on in-app purchases.

There is a reason at least one the really big casual gaming company allow you to deposit checks to get in game currency - because the really big whales are in the middle east and that is how they like to spend their money. The people spending 40k can afford it, don't worry - and they might as well use the oil money for something.

Which company would that be? A quick google search doesn't turn anything up.

Re: How Game of War makes more than $1M a day

#40

Does no one here play arcade games? Okay granted In-App purchases are generally more than 25-50 cents or the 1-2$ it costs these days at your local AMC, but I don't think it's disappointing in the slightest (and pretty predictable if you look at gaming history) that many people prefer to throw a few bucks a week at a casual game vs. spending $60 on something that might sit on the shelf. Though, I'm more a Clash of Cl…

As a sample, how much do you spend on Clans? It seems hard to find people who will admit they make in-app purchases. I play simcity buildit and I'm not tempted to buy things, I find it a challenge to get by without purchases. I can imagine as time goes by that games will get less playable without the purchases.

I spend about $5-10 a week on Clans. It varies depending on my level of patience.

What I like about Clans is that spending money has to do with speeding things up. If you're obsessed, you'll spend a lot of money, if you're treating it casually, not so much. When I want a solid hour or two of gameplay, I'll throw in $5.

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