How free games are designed to make money

"Freemium" games can end up gaming gamers.
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The "freemium" business model allows us to use an app for free with the option to purchase additional features. In the case of games, that model can fundamentally alter the user experience, from gaming to getting gamed.
By collecting troves of data on how users play their games, developers have mastered the science of applied addiction. And with the rise of "freemium" games that rely on micro-transactions, they have good reason to deploy the tools of behavioral psychology to inspire purchases.
In the video above, I spoke to Jamie Madigan, author of a blog, podcast, and book about the psychology of video games. We take a look at some of the mind tricks that some of these games use to convert players into payers.
You can find more of his work here: www.psychologyofgames.com
Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out www.vox.com
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[@kovicxu2732]

ive never paid real money for virtual money...

[@jiangzongzhe6488]

I do pay but only for like a few dollars because I believe that we should support the game you love so that the game could keep running.

[@bscgamer7346]

Kovic Xu i have i buybrobux

[@kovicxu2732]

+nexus 0 Stay free

[@Shirlyswirly]

i used to spend all my allowance on it lmao

[@dj420j2]

Kovic Xu thats actually what you do when you put money in the bank or a atm machine and make it on to your bank account

[@itanmayi]

Nowadays, KZbin is more aggressive in making us buy it's premium than these games

[@user-ur2wd8du4z]

THIIIIIIIS

[@uwerlmi6120]

I got a KZbin premium ad in the middle of the screen

[@mazinosman1142]

@@uwerlmi6120 Same.

[@Fuzzypet_Playscape]

@@uwerlmi6120 Just use KZbin vanced for ad free watching.

[@uwerlmi6120]

@@Fuzzypet_Playscape ill give it a try

[@theblackcatchannel5365]

There's also those games which have about 5 ads every 2 minutes.

[@ssuperpro2700]

(cough) (cough) Geometry dash lite (cough) cough)

[@duncanchillake8024]

(Cough) (cough) *i forgot my mask* (cough) (cough) *i am dying* (cough) (cough) *btw ketchapp games do that* (cough)(cough)(dies)

[@vijiyanttanaji9800]

Switch off the internet before opening the game app

[@duncanchillake8024]

@@vijiyanttanaji9800 don't mention that, those game companies will make their apps require internet

[@spongebot6955]

@@duncanchillake8024 yep

[@anonymous689]

What if you could pay virtual money to buy real money

[@localsmoker3658]

S K Das casino ...

[@sagarvarandekar8279]

Hago earn coins to get recharge coupons

[@That_One_Guy...]

There's this things called bitcoins have you heard that yet ?

[@with_Nikhil]

Sounds fantas(y)tic🙃 Unless you're a proff pubg gamer😂🤣

[@sonetagu1337]

....roblox?

[@vishrutsharma8885]

I don't buy items in game...but I'm ready to buy a game without in-app purchases

[@ebiooo]

Geometry dash. The best paid game without IAP (even though you can download it freely on google)

[@xiaolongrins9964]

minecraaaaaaft

[@ebiooo]

@@xiaolongrins9964 Minecraft contains IAP

[@user-ng7yv8uh3l]

Lol I'm ur 100th like

[@senexiar]

Or java i meant

[@casandbagger8097]

the thing about a lot of freemium games are pretty crap, the more you spend, the "better" you are. All the top clashofclans gamers spent a lot of money on the game to be on the top.

[@SniperNator305]

Simple solution: Make KZbin videos on your mission to become the best CoC player and then from your revenue of views you spend part of that income on the app to slowly reach the top and then it's basically a cycle of doing it over and over

[@Arensi]

Pay2Win games are for stupid people, it's pretty known in the gaming community

[@travis7289]

+Virtus yet pokemon is embrassed by the pc master race and all gamers and main stream....

[@irotinmyskin]

i agree, i delete most of these games.

[@travis7289]

I played heroes of the storm with out spending a dime and feel like I could stream it and make noney

[@a_yan6581]

The game : " Pay $4.99 to remove ads " Me : *Switches off the Internet* The game :

[@sagar7813]

Lol The game won't load if it's an online game

[@shubhstark9118]

😂🤣

[@Nat-jf2ge]

Flight mode!

[@taizu55]

Your pfp matches you reaction 😂😂

[@Nat-jf2ge]

@Gamer Of The Unknown Realm It works so why not? 🙂

[@TheRedEngineer]

That incense costs $0.73 btw :) Rounded up from $0.7258

[@overloader7900]

Or about 50rubles

[@asterixgallier8102]

I did *not* expect you to be here, but well whatever

[@tiankeli]

LOL i calculated that too and was about to comment it

[@johnyoutuber9781]

Except, that only applies to that specific bundle of coins. One thing the video didn't mention is that larger bundles are deliberately made more tempting by having a lower per-coin cost, so it truly is impossible to draw a fixed relationship to the cost of the inscence or other items, unless you commit to buying ONLY on size of bundles of coins, for example the 550 coins one for the example.

[@prakharmishra3000]

@@asterixgallier8102 i need slimes in Minecraft, mind visiting my house?

[@iamsorrybut2370]

And then there are people who jailbreak or root their device to make in-app purchases free

[@moto324]

I used to do that on my iPhone 4. Now I just don't play those games at all.

[@DMack6464]

When no one knows about Lucky Patcher and Aptoide, saying you can go to jail for using those apps... *smh*

[@shrekislife584]

How does jailbreaking make them free?

[@lazyninja4646]

D Mack lol lucky patchers have helped me a lot smh 😂

[@hikari_no_yume]

It doesn't necessarily. If the game uses a remote server (e.g. multiplayer games), you probably can't fool it if it's written properly. For single-player games that don't require an Internet connection, though, the app can be fooled into thinking you've bought stuff you didn't.

[@pink1536]

Did you know? Companies are made to make money...

[@clank1116]

Awful MC No duh sherlock

[@Shirlyswirly]

Awful MC they dont have to be so shitty about it tho. there are good companies like hit point with neko atsume where the games are just as playable without spending any money. the games turn out better quality when they arent designed around the greed of money.

[@madyrose1273]

Awful MC WHAT NOOOO..... (Sarcasm)

[@weiwenang1302]

and not a Charity organization

[@shikamarunara8920]

what?!

[@LampCamper]

That movement when you have played so many free games and have not spent a single penny on them

[@michellecottrell3553]

Here here

[@darthmortem585]

It's a moment not a movement

[@hollyleaf3941]

Hello there

[@XandriaRavenheart]

Yeah, you just pay with time instead. xD

[@groot7844]

Some free games still get the money by playing ads.

[@user-kw3mn1bt4r]

The people who don’t pay stuff in the game: The game : *BRUH*

[@tatotenaglia6548]

So basically me

[@anonymous689]

@@tatotenaglia6548 so basically us

[@nevergonnarickrollyou9072]

3:17

[@MEOWMIX3DS]

@@tatotenaglia6548 same we should marry

[@cattatuie]

Am I the only one who feels dissatisfied when I spend money on something in a game that can be earned.

[@saturn2950]

Cattatuie Craziness no i am feeling it too

[@seigeengine]

Not when I know the game was designed to make it ridiculous. I mean, it would be like feeling bad that you didn't empty a tub using a bucket I gave you to carry the water out of the tub, despite the bucket I gave you not having a bottom, and the room having 100% humidity. You COULD accomplish it, but it's clearly designed to be unreasonable. It's not a fair challenge, so there'd be no shame in seeking an alternate route to accomplishing the task.

[@KingDice]

Chromered egg

[@dicksonyurmouf5477]

If the item in the game is limited for a couple of weeks then don’t feel bad *COUGH* overwatch event lootboxes *COUGH*

[@mrs.potatohead8471]

Cattatuie Craziness I'm just broke and my parents won t spend money on something like that lol

[@basil7460]

Its called pay to win

[@wesley9222]

T H I C C I’d rather pay to play than pay to win

[@yoshiblade7555]

Player 1 eh, if they didn’t have any in app purchases that would be good, but when they do, then I probably wouldn’t buy them.

[@jon-unicorn-doxxer]

Milolo exactly - sometimes people don't understand the differences..

[@v13ryry82]

Pay to "not play"

[@Aux9]

@@wesley9222 I rather play free to win, just fk hack or crack

[@kristofsdc8955]

"Freemium! The "Mium" is Latin for "Not Really"." - South Park

[@pratapsinghkanishk]

😂👌

[@MoskusMoskiferus1611]

That makes more sense

[@gopaldey8487]

Really ?

[@isabellagrace9790]

Free apps are *not really free*

[@RC568]

Premium Before not really

[@7Seveneleven7715]

In app purchases made me a hacker thanks to that no money required .

[@YACABE]

Yeah. I don't mind waiting a month for my town hall upgrade in clash of clans.

[@Koubles]

Or spending 6 months to a year farming so i can uprade my walls to level 8.

[@lealesalapistola4350]

ispeak4detrees I don't mind waiting 3 million days to research my rally in gem set bonus lol .

[@slenderfoxx3797]

ispeak4detrees lol so true I'm tired of clash now everything costs so much and takes so long you have to live on that game to make progress...and you never feel like you finally got fully upgraded as they keep adding more levels it's getting ridiculous...it is fun but to much work now...and does anyone think of why we are building these bases and getting money to just spend the money to make our base better to help protect our money better that we spend on our base that's invincible anyways as it rebuilds? No you didn't think about that lol...ohhhh game logic🤣

[@dhruvs.2310]

Clash Of Clans is still a game?

[@abdallahraafat432]

Travian is much better..

[@sagittarius5466]

What about watching an ad to get something in a game? Almost everyone does that

[@pink1536]

Yeah that makes them money too

[@DoctorX149]

In games where they constantly want me to watch ads I usually just pay the 1-5 bucks for permenant premium, ads are a waste of my time. If I bought a new game like every day I'd be one of those cash cow "Whale" customers but I rarely play a new game which is why I make the investment. Watching an ad only makes the devs like a cent or less but wastes your time.

[@colonelff6394]

k it is called internilzer ads

[@mechamicro]

Or playing a games then get some reward like sticker and theme in LINE app. Unfortunately, they tricked me three times and return me with nothing😠😵😢😭😭😭

[@mechamicro]

But at least I don't spend any bucks to but stickers or theme anymore.

[@syabilaazri7834]

Since i have no bank account, i uselly just watch the ad in games so i just the gem free....

[@karishmakumari9144]

Prepaid wallets:allow me to introduce my self

[@hexagonist23]

No bank account? You must either be living in the 1500s or you are a minor

[@Sub4CarClips]

ApertureChromaKey 13 year old can have bank accounts and they qualify as a minor

[@nathanjohnpalaogaming4872]

@@hexagonist23 *cries in boomer parents*

[@tiredtotality4145]

Me: why not pay a few dollars on an actual decent game Kids: nah mate I’ll stick with free games Kids:(proceeds to spent hundreds on a useless skins)

[@stt.9433]

more like kid spends hundreds of hours loosing braincells on trash grindy game.

[@Vexump]

Totality L do you mean cod cause ima kid and i did not spend a cent on it and im better than most people

[@tiredtotality4145]

Some random Guy COD is a payed game with free content, war zone is a dumpster fire.

[@Vexump]

Totality L there is cod mobile my guy

[@tiredtotality4145]

Some random Guy have you seen their money making tactics in COD M?

[@Lerkero]

I just want to pay to play the full game. I'm one of the people that avoids mobile gaming because of in-app purchases.

[@StevenZephyc]

+Synerrox Mobile games, especially F2P smartphone games, functions primarily on disabling your ability to play. However there are quite some good games such as final fantasies, Minecraft etc. Or if you want richer experience, just get a 3ds

[@smithcm14]

I turn to square-Enix when I'm looking for a real game. Full price app for a full price game.

[@loremipsum7513]

+HimKioo exactly. also I would love to mention that there are some games that is free to play but have some in game purchaseable cosmetic item. So, the item did not effect the gameplay or making an unfair advantage at all. The popular example for this is DotA

[@ssssjxd]

+Synerrox เ Clash of Clans is good. Spend about five minutes a go, a few times a day and it's fun. Especially if you're in a good clan with friendly/social people.

[@escalate7462]

Just don't buy the in app purchases

[@BrockAband]

Oh yeah and incense costs 73 cents

[@BrockAband]

550/80=6.875 ... 4.99/6.875=0.7258 or just 73 cents

[@tomdeming]

or 80/550=0.145454...0.145454x4.99= roughly 73 cents

[@Tombee2]

incense is 80 ¢ because 100 pokècoins is $1 therefore incense is 80 ¢

[@Se2b11]

He is actually kinda right. Incense's undiscounted price is 80cents, and the minimum price is 55.16 cents if you paid 100$ for the 14,500 coins.

[@Tombee2]

Se2b11 ^this^

[@shay3355]

Clap for those people who play steam games and only watching this video for educational purpose

[@wizrank]

🙋

[@squidwardsclarinet4209]

Uhm me

[@Abu__Maryam]

Applause for people who play games that are not games from steam and see this video to be able to prevent themselves from experiencing its own losses from the game he is playing right

[@foodpoisoning5244]

I play steam and Roblox

[@z.k.r9914]

Clap for those hackers who make paid games free (not hackers that make viruses

[@Alex-kx5xs]

I like your channel so much you’re always doing a great job 👍

[@damedane913]

Thelegend27 is a rich kid then

[@wchristman7634]

She prob stole from Bill Gates to finish that wall construction.

[@texascountryball6499]

Donald Trump plays Game Of War* Effect: He pays millions of dollars to build the outer walls.

[@trini2pink]

Texas Countryball XD

[@bellawinslow2579]

Who is that?

[@wchristman7634]

The first game of war player

[@adolforoman3525]

As a game developer, I have to say that freemium games are killing video games. Let me explain: yes they make boatloads of money, but the creativity and game design behind 99% of freemium games is not deep, not deep at all. Its all based first and foremost (because the games are free) on how can they make the players suffer in order to get them to pay up. Then comes the creativity. So it will always be creativity second or third and profits first. It should be gamedesign/creativity first and then profits. Just my two cents.

[@warrior_aa]

thank you for saying that

[@simaaksans]

They're called gacha games

[@yggra31]

Exactly, makes me sad how the future of games is :(

[@L16htW4rr10r]

Some gacha games, though rare, could be really good.

[@nathansuka5302]

Now for the first time I feel enlighten to play BF on PS4.

[@eswan8900]

Damn Choices. Made me spend $4.99 real dollars just so my character, Eliza, can accept a horse.

[@SchgurmTewehr]

I already knew this, so great to see that a video about it is pretty popular.

[@AdamYarris]

You never talked about the developers selling your information to other corporations for money.

[@itsamemario1772]

what the heck supercell never does that!

[@AdamYarris]

+It's a me Mario Supercell may not, but angry birds does I believe

[@b4d265]

I was expecting that the would do that. Disappointed

[@LUVRG1RL]

woah what? how?

[@AdamYarris]

sanaaalexis It's really simple, they get your information, as almost nobody looks at the permissions, and sometimes requires no device permissions, and they collect it all in a database, and sell it to bigger companies so they can create better advertizements and apps.

[@AndersODavidsen]

0:17 - Android on an iPhone *triggered*

[@cordellboss]

😍

[@littlebigballsack2572]

😱

[@thatha137]

danskere som spiller league of legends

[@virtuallyrs3673]

Lmao

[@robertllobrerajr.]

it must've been a Chinese android phone that looks very similar to an iPhone.

[@yashvisharma8897]

BTW in offline games like criminal case or redball 4 you can just increase the time on your phone and your timer will be done

[@rajkumarwadeyar6409]

Always posting great videos

[@LaughS0L0ud]

"Freemium! The 'mium' is latin for 'not really'"

[@dimo9587]

no. It's a combination of free and premium.

[@JarkacPL]

He knows that, hes just pointing out the irony

[@pizzapm]

mium actually means "harmed" in latin, do what you want with this information :P

[@EliasGames7]

its actually italian

[@1lsgaming27]

LaughS0L0ud true

[@AznSupaStar14]

South Park did an episode of this: freemium games make most of their money from a small group of addicted players

[@argh1989]

WoW is not F2P/Freemium. You pay a monthly subscription fee and you have to buy the expansions to enjoy their content (roughly a new one every two years). And yes there are microtransactions, but only for cosmetical stuff as far as I'm aware.

[@lequan9526]

Vox: How free games are designed to make money Genshin impact: *allow me to introduce myself.*

[@z3ronotfund939]

money

[@DaRandomPerson]

Great video by the way!

[@codymondeel7767]

1:49 The answer is 73 cents (Note: I rounded the results)

[@gfox9295]

Yep. I dunno what that incense does, but it better do something other than smell nice!

[@judemijares5741]

g fox it makes rats and birds spawn...

[@FelixAn]

That is expensive for something in a game! I could have bought a can of pop, 3 cookies, 3 mini strudels, or a poster board with that (one of the above only)!

[@adventuretimeness222]

I got that answer as well lol

[@Impetuss]

It was pretty easy to round it to ballpark 1 dollar without calculator, even for me that sucks at math

[@chickencoopowner]

how to avoid: play paid steam games

[@jaydenparker8913]

10/10 answer

[@camigralxd5712]

AE: 😅😰

[@alexrohner1984]

except steam games have microtransactions too

[@TJ-uv6wg]

Æ

[@devote]

Steam ? you mean the website that censors and takes games off the platform if powerful people don't want them on there ?

[@arbabimran4959]

Hy! what software do you use to create a animation like that its pretty impressive

[@CL0UD_9Hero]

I remember paying something cheap so I can unlock the part where I can freely customize my profile as well as beginners top ups, which I regretted spending since I stopped playing it around 2 weeks lol.

[@0rcinus_orca22]

30 Second unskippable AD... I just made you 30 cents

[@bernardyap8143]

That's not how it works, they calculate by CPM

[@audreymcneal]

More like 1/500th of a cent.

[@MidnightBloomDev]

audrey mcneal definitely more. Somewhere around 10cents

[@aidanfredericks6117]

Bernard Yap it’s a joke, in the video they said how it wasn’t simple like 50 currency for 50 cents

[@dante7430]

You made them $.005

[@HaloHunter2552]

we need to do something about the 1%

[@mauricio9460]

how if u can't control the ptw players

[@HaloHunter2552]

SNES Link idk. I was making a nonsensical joke. It has no meaning. Other than referencing Bernie Sanders

[@Phonixrmf]

convince them to put more lures!! and we will #occupypokestops

[@HaloHunter2552]

+StevenGamer123 YT I KNOW THANKS! Salty your candidate didn't make it?

[@TradingFeline]

There's always something up with the top 1%

[@BinCaAlors]

1:48 it cost +- 0.72$

[@Nikg0518]

Thanks for teaching me how to get a vox app

[@odyssease.padoulas4251]

jeusus,everything vox does is interesting

[@Milz]

it's the way she explains it. her voice is subtle, makes you wonder how she sounds when she's screaming, I mean laughing.

[@HiSHNL98]

Armoowasmiddel.. really?

[@solk.posner7201]

Yet butthurt haters call Vox a liberal propaganda channel xD

[@beautifulrainbow470]

I know right.

[@george6312]

Ur right

[@FloofyMinari]

I hated Clash of clans because of the ridicules wait time which are there to encourage you to buy in game items. I fucking HATE mobile games.

[@theletteregg4898]

I've been playing clash of clans for 2 years and I haven't spent a dime, it's just a game that you play once or twice a day to start upgrades,attack a bit etc.in no way are micro transactions needed

[@SpeedyGonzalesAleksbgbg]

And that, my friend, is why you cheat in clash of clans - I am top 100 in leaderboard with no paying. But with cheats.

[@josuff]

You can't "cheat" in Clash of Clans; trophies, gems, gold, elixer, purchases, etc. are all server based, so you would have to edit the values in the server also which no one has done so far. You can only tweak it so you can get tiny advantages, such as being able to see hidden traps, etc.

[@SpeedyGonzalesAleksbgbg]

***** The more you know... I programmed an autobot in Python that trains barbs & archers and attacks. About 500k of each resource per raid, and 5-6k dark elixir. Easy.

[@josuff]

I thought you were implying that you "edited" the amount of trophies and instantly was put to the top 100. Mind sending the code over? I'll load it up on my Pi and tweak around with it.

[@Latif.Kakule]

As a game developer, I think your making it a lot complicating that we actually intend to make it

[@pawan2647]

I love vox. They present the material so well. It's now my dream firm to work for this organisation. It's beautiful. I particularly love how they make it entertaining too. Like here in the video the anchor here, her frustrations. You doing a good job anchor. I have seen many presentation of yours. Keep up the good work both vox and you. Hopefully this reaches you. Love from India

[@aychtooo3981]

I did the math incense cost about 73¢

[@stvltiloqvent]

but the real question is aside from those living in Middle of Nowhere, why would anyone even purchase an incense? now that we've got Nearby pokestop tracker, which are more likely to spawn rarer pokes, incense has basically become redundant.

[@-beebo]

So I have § in my keyboard but not the cent sign

[@shikamarunara8920]

daaaaamn

[@shikamarunara8920]

+I am retarded but it was a good example

[@rygnyr3083]

wilroth2403 k

[@Roll587]

This is why I don't play mobile games.

[@metroarcher1277]

its not only mobile games, there are some games on sites that are free but you must pay to skip the pain points.Example below, dont wanna advertise this game. Goodgame Empire is a game where you build castles and armies but to build the buildings you must wait alot of time, but you can skip it with red gems its literally clash of clans or game of war but in a site, i played it before, but the wait times were sooo long (like 48 hours each building as i progressed alot!) taht i decided to leave the game before i started to spend money on it

[@rift0tripper]

The Xbox, ps4, pc all have free to play games

[@demi-fiendoftime3825]

+Hector Meneses (radiohm3) Not all free to play are pay to win, I've encountered a few good ones that have just extras or grind skipping items as micro transactions and that isn't too bad but there's plenty of room for both and there still will be years from now as Micro transactions only work in certain genres and most major devs "note I say most" are aware of what they can and can't get away with.

[@porochu8871]

league, cs:go, and a lot of steam games have microtransactions. and theyre almost as stupid as mobile games.

[@ColdBlocks]

+porochu the games you just mentioned which have microtransactions, are purely cosmetic. They song give you anything except make your character look cooler or gun look badass. Nothing more than that.

[@grimzapubgofficial1490]

I can't even imagine how much PUBG is earning everyday

[@hexagonist23]

It's not a whole lot compared to the cost to build that game.

[@kshitizpokhrel7482]

Pubg just has outfit/skin crates though, money can't help in any way to progress your gameplay

[@furiouspuzza7080]

Dang Pokemon Go has been the trend 4 years ago. Time flies fast!

[@insect212]

When free to play games do these kind of things, I have a hard time complaining about it because I'm not paying them anything so they don't owe me anything. I have no problem with this stuff when it's a free game, but what is really despicable is when a game I payed good money for has micro-transactions.

[@MRCKify]

Yeah, you'll always have people who overestimate an opportunity. Smear the reputations of those guys.

[@TheMuse260]

Two times the cash baby! Why not?!

[@andreizedlav7303]

How about when full priced games say they won't have microtransacrions and they add them in later anyway?

[@chrismejia2836]

+Andrei Zedlav *cough* *cough* Payday 2

[@emmanuelkumi8299]

Chris Mejia *cough* *cough* *cough* CSGO

[@JuanTheBone]

In a couple years we will see lifetime movies and documentaries about freemium game addictions like we saw with gambling and slot machines at grocery stores.

[@juansantiago164]

JuanTheBone South Park already did it with the Terrance and Phillip mobile game episode

[@JonesJr876]

Really good video.

[@kokolwin199]

Thank you so much.

[@noakii1771]

0:49 Kid: OMG FREE CREDIT CARD

[@sricharan2078]

XmodVGamer lol

[@pink1536]

XmodVGamer lol

[@czajkowski2352]

lol XmodVGamer

[@melitopiia4730]

XmodVGamer lol

[@DanJFilms]

Is it real

[@erkkalehtonen5107]

who else has bought games but never spend anything on purchasing stuff inside the game

[@rabbitpiet7182]

zupermiez minecraft

[@hamuu9835]

ha Why would you play free to play cancer?

[@hamuu9835]

Good.

[@dicksonyurmouf5477]

Burning lamp I mean fortnite is pretty lit...

[@spacegiraffe686]

zupermiez vice versa for me

[@gabut341]

Thank you very much

[@FluffyDoggie]

This editing is immaculate

[@mariohds86]

I have none of these on my phone, no thank you.

[@saatviksingh727]

you should try clash of clans, I have never purchased anything , and still enjoying

[@floydsteel1703]

same

[@nishtagram2802]

same

[@theflourishcrisis]

same

[@0Clewi0]

I have phone games but not those, anyway the lack of a credit card is a great break before your first purchase

[@JamesR624]

So basically, Vox explains why the mobile gaming market is now a complete dumpster. If you want a "give us your money" app that has a colorful skin, then there are plenty of """games""" out there. If you want *actual games* though, both the Play Store and App Store have nearly ZERO these days. Or in other words. Casinos have turned into Game Developers so they can get kids to legally gamble, as well as take advantage of people's addictions without the cost of actually building a casino. Xcode or Android Studio costs much less than a casino building contract.

[@blammers]

Exactly. Freemium "games" have ruined mobile gaming.

[@marcomedicates5798]

well said

[@pianoonparade]

not really, mobile gaming has always been casual gaming. it's great for the current generation because most of them aren't willing to spend money on something they're not fully comitted on. commited? committed.... anyway. if you want an "actual" game, then there are still games out there that can offer you what you want. They're buy-to-play or subscription based.

[@needmusic3289]

Not just mobile gaming market, it is more like 'free-to-play' games in general

[@PurpleH4z3]

no no no, free to play games in pc are good becouse pc is great and don't do anything bad

[@Argothedragon]

Honestly learn more in some of this videos about marketing /business then some of my business classes at Collenge .

[@DogerBeaner]

Here Find the unit rate. That will find the price of one of the currency. Multiply the price of the item and the game’s currency. Example 100 gems for 1 dollar. Unit rate: 1 gem for one cent. Price of something: 10000 gems. So it is $100 for “something” Correct me if I’m wrong.

[@tailsimp]

One of the things I like about pokego is that it never asks me to buy anything. if I run out of pokeballs, they just don't appear on the screen for me to use. It's the first mobil game that doesn't badger me to spend money on it.

[@Thebobwil]

This is terrible for gamers. Whats worse, microtransactions are starting to appear in full console and PC games too. You as a gamer have to say no to this garbage, otherwise all games will end up infected like on mobile!

[@thefirsttime7759]

0ddMonk3y but games are starting to be like clash of clans

[@marielcarey4288]

A undercover penguin come out sir

[@jachughes608]

+A undercover penguin FULL PRICE games get the shitty micro transactions not just free

[@jachughes608]

+0ddMonk3y because they are designed to slow down fun gameplay and try to lure you to spend more

[@minbcraft]

That's why I have my 3ds and I am playing rhythm games on my PC...

[@syedshayanrecitations6790]

I don't get why I got this video recommended after 3 years when it's the question i ask myself everyday.

[@sushenamatya9878]

I like Joss's narration.

[@Brollic]

3:28 when you have android on iphone Im mind blown

[@masterfordayzz2201]

Brollic 😂

[@vmarzein]

nEw PhONe LeAkEd

[@demanhemzelf4431]

*New in store the Iphone galaxy s11*

[@omerfarukbykl6097]

they have made it like that because they dont want to advertise android or iphone that's both of them

[@randomboi665]

🐵

[@Honovi007]

great video. do one about how snap chat makes money

[@MRCKify]

Instagram is a middleman. www.inc.com/darren-heitner/how-amanda-lee-earns-5000-per-instagram-post.html

[@MoViesDProductions]

+Fetty Chicken wrap by* credentials*

[@sohpa09]

ads with filters

[@kevinrockz5]

I started online gaming when I was 16 and I knew that my parents won't let me spend on it and I decided that I'd spend the day I earn but when I got a part time job I hesitated and with conflicting thoughts I did spend on them but seeing my balance drop and being conscious about saving all my life I felt really bad and its still hard to control myself against the offers they give

[@0siera045]

On 2:25 Dungeons and Dragons is now really generous with its magic stones, I have the app and because of the events I have over 100 of the stones without paying a single penny on the game.

[@Shawnator19]

.72$ for 1 incense... Not that hard math yet you said you don't know either... 550/80 = 6.875, incense from 5$.. Then continue with finding the price of only 1.... 4.99/6.875 = 0.72..... One good thing about Pokémon go is that you can EARN the currency by owning a gym, thus not needing to purchase coins...

[@zxKrookedxz]

the max you can get is 100 coins a day

[@Shawnator19]

Still, earnable.

[@zxKrookedxz]

***** not if you live in the suburbs...

[@mrhaveaniceday6230]

It makes you question how much gas is really spent going to all those gyms as opposed to buying the coins

[@Shawnator19]

True lmfao

[@Warm_Ice0]

What about half-assed games that are free but you must pay for the full or the next part of it to play? and then gives you hindrances to fvck you up so that you would pay?

[@waseealam7136]

No one plays those, just wait for reviews

[@DanPantry]

you mean Ubisoft games, right?

[@jeppel1972]

You mean demos?

[@Warm_Ice0]

***** son?

[@mrmangbro6842]

Ya bud those are called demos or trials

[@scertel9148]

One incence is 80¢, the more you pay the company will add bonus currency to make you think it has higher value but it's really ones and zeros

[@j.4957]

*how free games are designed to make money* Me: wow, who would've knew.

[@jafs65]

You can calculate the real price of the incense, with a 3 simple rule First the percentage. 550--->100% 80 ---> X% (80*100)/550 = 14.54% Now the real value using the percentage 100%---->$4,99 14,54%---->X (14,54 * 4,99)/100 = $ 0.725 so that's how much an incense costs Remember that if the game allows you to get more coins and makes a discount or gift you coins based on how much they sell to you, the price of each article drops directly implied by the ammount of money you saved within your transaction.

[@williamchinchankar5821]

Another way to calculate it is to find how much one pokecoin is worth when you use that purchase. 550 pokecoins / 499 cents = ~ 0.9 pokecoins per cent So that's how much one pokecoin costs. Then all we have to do is multiply that by how much an incense is worth (80 pokecoins) 0.9 * 80 = ~ 72.5 So when you use that purchase, an incense is costing you about 72.5 cents. You were right, this is just another way of doing it : )

[@theodorboon]

What I did was 4.99/550 to see how much a pokecoin is in dollars. Then, multiply by 80. You get 0.725.... Simple

[@KitsukiiPlays]

Ain't nobody get time for that!!

[@surricata]

Bish, I did that while watching those few seconds, what do you mean no one got time for that?

[@lilystic9623]

Okay, you could've done it faster and more easily XD

[@PikaPetey]

needs more whales

[@vidamate09]

true dat

[@gregmiller9710]

..i was thinking.. more cowbell....

[@whales0310]

you talking to me

[@eddybolanos754]

- Developer

[@Brandonian]

Pikapetey Animations I’m a whale. But I’m a Clash of clans whale. I’m also a sexy Clash of Clans whale. Give me a good raid in the game sometime so I can say we had a “whale” of a good time. 😏😂🤣 please donate your dark elixir before I raid you and take it by force. Lol jk

[@lukasmihara]

I don't know much about other games, but I think Pokemon GO is pretty fair when it comes to money.

[@aces_high9220]

I miss early mobile games like temple run,angry bird,subway surfer,jetpack joyride,hillclimb racing,fruit ninja and more

[@HiSHNL98]

Pokémon Go is actually great when it comes to in-app purchases. It will give you advantages but even without buying you don't have that big of a disadvantage. It's just a little easier to buy, I love this so much about Pokémon Go.

[@MeLikeBigBoom]

"If incense costs 80 Pokecoins and a batch of 550 Pokecoins costs $4.99, how much real money does incense cost?" Uh, like a little less than a dol- "Yeah, I don't know either" oh ok

[@belkYT]

72 cents

[@theowillis6870]

1 dollar can get u 110.

[@theowillis6870]

so 80 would cost you around 0.70-0.75 cents

[@belkYT]

@@theowillis6870 0.72

[@theowillis6870]

@@belkYT 73 cents

[@1103MusikBerlin]

very awesome video here

[@ablemansunday4847]

Really interesting

[@cliffworsfold1994]

Just play B2P games. Spend $5-30 on an actual decent game and never worry about microtransactions (unless it's EA)

[@noshairmir7927]

Cliff Worsfold are you stupid? What a sheep “unless it’s EA” think for yourself moron, a lot of game developers do this. Battlefield is an EA game with no micro transactions yet CoD has micro transactions back and forth. Grow up and stop riding the hate train. EA don’t even make the games. Pathetic. No i’m not supporting EA, i’m telling you how stupid you are.

[@sagablade6554]

Cliff Worsfold ahahahhahahahahhahhahahahahahahhaha..... Spend a little for B2P you are the reason good company went bankrupt. Meanwhile, there is is someone who spend $70000 just for mobile games.

[@velcranoxofficials9970]

What the hell is B2P?

[@yuanzhang4399]

Velcranox Naziri I guess buy to play

[@rgz_geno1938]

@@yuanzhang4399 Yeah

[@FernandoCruz-ge2ht]

im here to make a world a better place but instead im here watching videos

[@spacecadet2827]

it seems like you need to work out where "here" is. you seem to be here twice

[@eriche95]

Burying the popular comment... >:-)

[@goldenfugnugget]

Which world anyway?

[@aryehisaacsaul0399]

I didn’t need to watch the whole video! It just summarised it in the beginning😂

[@galleryg998]

Interesting... I love Vox Observatory!

[@suburiboy]

This was mentioned right at the end, but bares emphasizing. PokeGo does a pretty good job of not monetizing hard. If you live in a location with enough pokestops, or at least play where pokestops exist, then the act of walking, which is how you find pokemon, also puts you in contact with pokestops, which will keep you up on your balls. Unlike systems where there are timers that you pay to cut off, the act of playing the game get's you pokeballs at a fair rate. Lures and incense increase spawn rates, but if you are far away from places with pokemon spawns already, then it's not really going to help that much. Incense and lures accelerate the effect of playing the game as intended, by walking in populated areas, but does not really allow you to avoid going out into populated areas and walking around. Even lucky eggs, xp boosts, are really only effective if you couple them with the core gameplay, catching and evolving pokemon. Plus you can't currently buy potions(necessary for PvP), or higher level balls or berries(for increasing capture rates). Overall the monetization is surprisingly non-aggressive, and where it does exist, it reinforces the core mechanics. It certainly avoids being "freemium" or "pay to win" in the pejorative way that gamers usually use the word.

[@mathboy_]

It's only slightly monetizing, it's not extremely monetizing is not a good argument. Just because it's a little doesn't mean it's not bad.

[@suburiboy]

+Mathboy Most gamers' issue with monetization is the so called "pay to win" concept. IMO PokeGo does a very good job of not being pay to win for a variety of reasons.(good items still need to be acquired at stops, ball acquisition from stops is well balanced for non-paying players). Game critics often don't like monetization because it clashes or conflicts with the core mechanics. IMO PokeGo's monetization does not clash even slightly with the core mechanics(Even the accelerator items like lures/eggs/incense only accelerate effectively if you are still engaging with the core mechanics). Monetization is not bad in and of itself, rather monetization is bad when it is shoehorned into a game in a way that hurts the end product.

[@NikDavis]

I'm just not ok with in-app purchases period. It makes it very difficult to track spending habits and I feel like if I played these games I'd just be worried which would distract from the game. Like common! Buy a game once, play it, buy another game. Why do we need this crap. Ranty ma bad...

[@facepuncherjoe7091]

Well, think of it as with most popular MMOs; a monthly subscription is used as to generate a steady income in order to be able to further develop the game, only instead of that they use in-app purchase. A one time fee couldn't be used in this type of game since they aren't going to make sequels, they'll just add more content. Most people prefer a completely optional purchasing mechanic too a monthly subscription. A game where you can't get the full experience is another thing but, in the case of this game, it's still (pretty much) the same amount of work even if you pay and you can still get access to all the same content even if you don't. I think making a blanket statement about any topic is a bad idea, all things have nuances. I dislike this type of game model in general, but I find it completely tolerable in this game.

[@princessunikitty3061]

Lmao I put on an in app purchase restriction on my iPhone and forgot the password... 😂 YOU CANT TRICK ME ANYMORE!!! 😂😂😂😂

[@literallynustiu]

...

[@LoxSilver]

Ha

[@halo4don907]

Georgian Matei dude ur an idiot

[@literallynustiu]

Halo4don What did I say ?

[@quitebad459]

Princess Unikitty that's quite dumb...

[@deeps.]

Valve f2p games (Dota 2, CSGO, TF2) are great because they're not pay to win, skins are well just cosmetics and completely optional

[@piyushdiundi9661]

Aren't there loot boxes in them?

[@deeps.]

@@piyushdiundi9661 Yes, but unlike the games shown on this video the skins you'll get doesn't give you any advantages

[@mariaerdgzn]

I honestly stopped playing Pokémon go because I was on vacation in San Francisco when it came out and there were Pokémon everywhere, but when I got home the app wasn’t released yet and when it was there were almost no Pokémon to catch

[@superbros1690]

We all that is supercell has mastered this

[@falsevacuum4667]

Well yeah but everyone already knows that.

[@falsevacuum4667]

***** I don't mean to sound pretentious it's just.. how does someone not know that the reason they are free is because of cash shops?

[@scottverge938]

The interesting point isn't that they have shops. It's all the stuff going on in the background. How not calling it money encourages spending. How they incentive you to spend to skip grinding or to use a continue. And all the rest of the stuff mentioned in the video. Most people aren't really aware of all that stuff.

[@sgtsnakeeyes11]

it gave lots of details and examples dummy

[@falsevacuum4667]

***** That's true.

[@z.k.r9914]

Every developer gangsta until the hacker comes in....

[@cyi.02]

Don't forget about the monetary sources from the ads

[@mfashion1232]

yes i know those things but what surprises is that there are so much impatient people in the world who spent money on just mobile games than just wait to complete.

[@caribreeze]

At the end of the day people will spend money on things they like but to others it may seem ridiculous. I used to spend a lot of money on phone games but now I rarely do. Frankly I am a gamer and most of what I spend (extra money) goes towards video games but for others they may like to spend money on clothes, make up, shoes, art, etc. So before you judge someone on their spending habits take a step back and look at the things you like to spend money on.

[@C.Ezra.M]

1:48 To calculate, compute how much money do 100 PokéCoins cost. But there is a free option to buy them: $0.99 for 100 coins, but buying 550 of them doesn't save your money: you could first buy 500 PokéCoins with $4.95 (as opposed to, and then having a Pokémon knocked out of a gym in your team that has defended for at least 8 hours and 20 minutes (you can get at most 50 free PokéCoins per day). That can be combined with Pokémon in 5 gyms that have a gap of 1 hour and 40 minutes of walking, which is 11 2/3 km in between them on a one-way road if only one trainer goes through it 1 minutes and 40 minutes away. Each Gym will give you 10 PokéCoins for each defeat. Since 80 is 80% of 100, then one Incense in a single purchase costs $3.99.

[@arcticular]

Knowing how to code, I just edit the game files if I have to, which kind of rare for me to do.