Freemium and the Future of Mobile Gaming, According to Gameloft

Candy Crush, Clash of Clans, Despicable Me: Minion Rush, these three are game which is very popular among Android and iOS device users. All three can be played for free, so don't be surprised if the number userit's so big.

Some of us may be wondering: if that's the way, where did the team come from? developer nor publisherdoes it get income? Well, the answer is business model freemium.

In this article, I will discuss about freemium games which has become a trend in the industry mobile gaming. Therefore, I also don't forget to ask the opinion of one of the most famous names in the arena mobile gaming, Gameloft. Past Email, I had a little chat with Emeric Le Bail, Country Manager for Gameloft Indonesia.

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What is freemium?

Term freemium is actually a combination of the words "free" and "premiumThis term was first used by an expert E-commerce named Jarid Lukin in 2006. Looking at the pattern, one could say freemium is an evolution of the term shareware, which is popular among PC users, where development manifold shareware usually can be used for free, but only for a certain duration.

apart freemium, actually there is also a similar term that is popular among gamer, that is free-to-play. These two terms are actually the same, however free-to-play specifically associated with digital content in the form of video game rather than general applications.

In a free-to-play games, you are not charged anything to be able to download and play it. However, there are a number of optional content that can only be obtained if you are willing to pay.

In order to avoid confusion, I will use the term freemium – which basically shortens the length of this article instead of using the term free-to-play.

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Reasons for implementing the freemium strategy

In the industry Gaming, freemium initially prioritized to prevent the spread of piracy game. Emeric also confirmed, where he explained that the model freemium naturally girded to limit piracy. However, this does not appear to be the main motivation for implementing the model freemium – at least for Gameloft.

As we know it, smartphone and tablets now it has become a ubiquitous mass device. Regardless of their respective backgrounds, most of them are actually gamer casual. Unlike gamer class hardcore - like Wisesa Yoga - gamer casual more often looking for new things, in this case low risk entertainment.

Emeric also continued to explain that Gameloft's focus on gamefreemium purely to respond to requests gamer casual. Because it's free, freemium games of course more accessible. But as a bonus, consumers are free to play "their own way".

You don't want to spend money? Please. But if you want a more complete gaming experience, you can pay for it. happy consumers, publisher and developer happy too.

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Freemium controversy

Even though in principle freemium benefit parties gamer, controversy is still unavoidable. As more and more freemium games, appears the term "pay-to-win", which is actually a derision for the term free-to-play. In its literal meaning, this term means that you have to pay if you want to win.

In game which contains aspects of competition, model freemium it has the potential to lead to pay-to-win. To make it easier to understand, I will give an example outside mobile game, namely Dota 2 and League of Legends, which are indeed very competitive. Both can be played for free, and contain optional content that can be purchased. The difference is, in Dota 2, the optional content hardly affects the outcome of the game, while in League of Legends it's the other way around.

But in context mobile game, I think freemium can't be labeled as pay-to-win absolutely. There are indeed a number mobile game which leads to pay-to-win, but if you look at the majority of its consumers who are gamer casual, they can easily search game others when they are not satisfied with the concept freemium which is offered.

Interesting info: Gameloft's Guide to Choosing Casual Games

The future of the mobile gaming industry

When I asked if in the future everyone mobile game will adopt the model freemium, Emeric seemed reluctant to agree. Maybe not all, but the number freemium games I expect more, not only from Gameloft, but also from many publisher and developer other.

This is due to industrial growth Gaming overall excellent, and one of the contributors is the model freemium itself. In the case of Gameloft, this French company managed to occupy the second position publisher largest in 2014 according to App Annie, in terms of downloads game on Google Play and the Apple Store. All thanks to the business model freemium.

Seeing such achievements, Emeric also mentioned that Gameloft's commitment to the market freemium now stronger than ever, and going forward they plan to stay that way. Why? Because of the concept micro-transactions in the game felt much more natural, where players only pay for what they consume, nothing more.

Again, business model freemium proven to be able to benefit both parties at once, both producers (publisher and developer) and consumers.

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Gameloft's vision for the future

Seeing Gameloft's achievements and growth so far, I'm also interested to know if they are interested in expanding platform other than device mobile devices. Emeric insists that their vision is not limited to devices mobile devices only, even though it's actually their DNA.

For now, mobile devices still occupy the top position in terms of the number of game which is downloaded every day, even I think far exceeds consul as well as PCs. This seems to be Gameloft's main consideration. During mobile devices are still leading, they will continue to focus on that. But if in the future consul and PC again 'explosive', it is not impossible Gameloft will also enliven it.

How about VR, aka Virtual Reality? I'm also curious, but Emeric thinks it's too early to talk about. I'm pretty sure there have been minor tweaks within Gameloft's internal team around wanting to develop game VR, but not anytime soon.

Still supported by curiosity, I continue to ask questions crowdfunded games. So far Gameloft has no plans to introduce a game through the campaign through crowdfunding, maybe one day when there really is a great demand from consumers.

Header image: Mobile gaming via Shutterstock.