The gaming industry is taking a chance with in-game merchandise, and so far the results have been pretty spectacular. The spike in revenues is even pushing major publishers towards more and more digital distribution techniques. A new report from mobile analytics firm Flurry now says that the average purchase in-game on mobile devices is hitting $14.
The mobile market is dominated by cheap apps and free titles, and while that $14 figure may seem high, Flurry found that the small group of gamers who do purchase titles become invested in their purchase.
Gamers "appear to be deeply committed to the game experience, and therefore spend large amounts," said Jeferson Valadares, analyst and general manager for games at Flurry. "If you're a game designer, your main take away is that very few transactions, and consumers who complete those transactions, make up the bulk of your revenue," he continued.
"Therefore, your own 'meta-game' should be about whale hunting."
Whale hunting, of course, refers to casino manager jargon for those patrons that are exceedingly wealthy, spending massive quantities of cash on the casino floor. To game developers, the sales come from those purchasers.
The average sales price data has been skewed by those 5% of gamers that spend more than $50 on a single purchase. This beats out the 2% of those that only spend $0.99 on in-app games. Interestingly enough, over 30% of titles gained revenues from purchases exceeding $50, with 51% exceeding $20.
The most popular price point is $9.99, and a hefty 71% of individual purchases are worth over $10.00.
[Thanks Gamasutra]
