Chart Smarts
It may sound ridiculous now, but when the App Store launched, $9.99 was the standard asking price for a mobile game. It made perfect sense at the time. Mobile games on flip phones ran about $3 for simple things like Pac-Man and up to $7 or so for premium titles like Gameloft’s Assassin’s Creed spin-off. So bumping that price up a few more dollars for a full 3D release like Super Monkey Ball wasn't much of a stretch.
Incredibly, most critics, pundits and gamers thought these $9.99 prices were steals. Gamers could now have compromise-free versions of games like Bejeweled 2 on-the-go for just $10, instead of double that (or more) for a DS cart or PSP UMD.
But mobile game makers quickly figured out that the App Store had a major visibility problem. What good was it if you made a good game and released it at a fair price if 25 other games came out that week? How would gamers even knew your title existed? Smart studios quickly figured out the that the App Store’s top charts were the answer.Besides checking in with a site like IGN, the only way to get a sense of what was good on the App Store was to see what other people were buying. The App Store’s top 25 best-selling games quickly became the de-facto way to find a new game to buy. The catch here is that the chart was only tracking total number of copies sold – not actual money made. So a $0.99 game that sold 10,000 copies would chart higher than a $10 game that sold 9,000 copies.
It became a painful choice for studios. Although in the end it ended up not being much of a choice at all. You could sell your title for $4.99, the price it likely deserved, and never sell enough copies to chart. Your game would be invisible to most iPhone owners. Or you could sell it for $0.99 and hope to sell five times as many copies by cracking the top 25. The race to the bottom had begun.
The Race to the Bottom
Sega’s Super Monkey Ball made its debut at $9.99 with the launch of the App Store. One year later it was $3.99. Now it’s $0.99. Most launch games didn’t even hold their price that long. Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D dropped from $9.99 to $5.99 after just one month.
How are we supposed to compete with free?
Perhaps even more telling, when the App Store launched companies like Gameloft thought they get away with charging $3.99 or more for simple solitaire, chess and sudoku apps. The companies didn’t even consider the free competition that would result in these categories. Either from budding programmers cutting their teeth on these uncomplicated genres or from companies releasing a free product to advertise their other paid titles.“
In my years covering mobile games I’ve heard more than one developer wonder aloud just how the heck they were supposed to compete with free.
Recovery
In the end the App Store stabilized. Although $0.99 still dominates as a price point, it is no longer the only path to success. Nearly 1/4th of today’s top 25 iOS games cost more than $0.99, proving that savvy gamers are willing to spend more on high-quality experiences. And of course the rise of in-app-purchases, while (rightly) maligned by gamers when abused, give game makers even more options for how to charge for their work.
This isn’t much consolation to those $9.99 launch titles from 2008, though. Let’s take a look at where they are now.
Where Are They Now?
Super Monkey BallSupposedly the iPhone’s big launch game, Sega’s Super Monkey Ball was a dud from the start. IGN gave it a disappointing 4.5 / 10, mostly due to its questionable tilt controls. It’s still selling modestly at $0.99 - $2.99, although Sega’s much-improved sequels have stolen the original’s thunder.
De Blob
Best known as a 3D Wii release, de Blob was also released in 2D on iPhone by THQ Wireless. Unfortunately THQ’s Wireless division, which saw much success during flip-phone days, didn’t modernize fast enough and was gutted and sold in early 2011. De Blob is still on the App Store for $0.99.
Critter Crunch
Despite winning a Game of the Year award from IGN in 2008, the iPhone port of Critter Crunch has now been removed from the App Store entirely. Developer Capybara is still alive and doing better than ever thanks to the success of its Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery. We can only guess the title was pulled for rights issues, due to the closure of its publisher Publisher X.
Enigmo & Cro-Mag Rally
Although the App Store is now a haven for indie game makers, at launch small Mac developer Pangea Software was one of the only indie studios to really jump in. The gamble paid off, with the company’s simple titles Enigmo and Cro-Mag Rally both earning way more than their fair share of attention. Both titles are still consistent sellers, albeit not anywhere near their $9.99 launch prices.
Tetris
EA’s Tetris is gone! At least, the version the App Store launched with. EA pulled it, replacing it with an entirely new app also titled just “Tetris.” The new app isn’t popular with puzzle gamers, with complaints about its aggressive in-app purchase strategy and simplified one-touch controls abound.
Bejeweled 2
Another EA-owned puzzler has also disappeared from the App Store. Launch title Bejeweled 2 was pulled and replaced with a new game simply titled “Bejeweled.” With four modes of play, the new App serves as a hybrid catch-all for all things Bejeweled, although users must still download the ever-popular Bejeweled Blitz separately.
Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man is virtually the only iPhone launch game to make it through the last four years unscathed. Ironic, given that the iOS port was panned for its questionable controls. The game is still selling for $4.99 and hasn’t received an update in nearly two years. Justin is Editor of IGN Wireless. He has been reviewing cell phone games since the dark days of Java flip phones. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.