Freemium is something that some developers, like ngmoco, have switched over onto for the iPhone. However, Dane Baker of Villain, does not think the model is proven yet on the App Store.
“This is something we feel pretty strongly about at Villain. Freemium can work, I just don’t think it is working in the App Store so far,” said Baker.” Looking at the ongoing top 10, one can’t help but notice few freemium titles, and customers are pretty vocal about the reasons. Freemium can sometimes mean that customers don’t get the deal they thought they were getting. This may not be done on purpose but there’s an understandable backlash that leads to some pretty heavy skepticism about the entire model. I think there are solutions but they aren’t being implemented (yet).
“In contrast we prefer to be extremely upfront with our customers. $2.99 (€ 2,39 in Europe) is the cost for our first game, Archetype, and that’s it,” Baker continued. “No fine print, ever. Gamers decide whether we get to keep coming into work in the morning.”
