Developer Ustwo is the latest studio to find success with a premium-priced game on free-to-play dominated mobile platforms.
Monument Valley, the studio’s brain teaser that has players trying to navigate physically impossible M.C. Escher-style mazes, made back its production costs in a week. In a talk at the Game Developer Conference Europe in Berlin (via Joystiq), designer Ken Wong explained how his game appealed to a wider audience than just traditional gamers. That helped the game stick out on the crowded iOS and Google Play app markets. While consumers spent $16 billion on smartphone and tablet gaming last year, free-to-play games absorbed most of that and left little for mobile releases that cost money up front.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1524395,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"D"}']Megahits like Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans generate hundreds of millions of dollars by drawing players into their free-to-play experiences. After hooking players, the games present pressure points that will subside if the player decides to fork over some cash. It’s the dominant business model on mobile these days because it makes money and a lot of people like getting games for “free.” Monument Valley costs $4 up front, but it then doesn’t have any more opportunities for players to spend money. It’s not going to make $1 billion in a year like the top mobile hits, but it arguably makes for a more complete and rewarding gaming experience.
“We’ve received hundreds of tweets and emails from people who say they never play games, but they enjoyed and finished Monument Valley,” he said. “For many of them, this is the first game that they’ve ever finished. We hear from parents who write in proud that their 3-year-old can play Monument Valley or that their 6-year-old can complete it by themselves without help. We hear from other people complaining that they can’t get their iPad back from their mom and dad.”
This mass appeal helped the puzzler go on to sell 1 million copies in just four months. That is enabling Wong and Ustwo to survive on the success of Monument Valley.
“Now, that doesn’t make us rich by any measure, but we made our money back,” said Wong. “It means that the team can stay together and make another creative, crazy project with complete creative freedom.”
Monument Valley joins other breakout premium-priced mobile hits like The Room. That release, also a mind-bending puzzle adventure with wide appeal, surpassed more than 5 million copies sold and spawned a sequel. But while these games might prove that something other than free-to-play can survive on iOS and Android, they will not shift the landscape on smartphones away from free games with copious amounts of in-game transactions.