Mobile Income Report#3: August 2017 — Speed IAP
Speed has been the highest earner at this point with little IAP (In app purchases). Speed 3.0 had 2 main goals, retention and increased revenue via IAP. An in game store was create with custom card set, game mode, and avatars all unlock-able by coins. The coins are awarded after each game. Coins are earned from achievement. To get more coins players can watch a reward ad or buy them via IAP. A promo system was created to award items and coins with codes. The promo code system was originally built to create online promotions, but the app stores do not allow this and will ban you from the store. You can only use their promo system which is limited and relies on IAPs. Each IAP approval process requires a code change app store review which can take weeks with testing and deployment. So, a hidden promo code system was added as a backup to resolve IAP issues and testing.
IAP Earnings
Speed 2.0 is the “pre” and Speed 3.0 is the “post”. Speed 2.0 had a single IAP “Full version”. It earned about $300 a month on android. Speed 3.0 “Post” earned about $150 a month. About the same for iOS. Speed 3.0 “Post” sold 1/2 to 1/3 of the IAP units.
There are many reasons why there were less IAP purchased. Possible reason could be:
- Too many options
- Less perceived value (coins vs full version)
- Wrong price points
- App placement (main menu vs in game store)
- Underselling self with reward Ads and free coins for retention.
- Code issues causing too many failed purchases
Reward Ads
Reward ads were also added as another way to acquirer coins. It was add to the main menu labeled as “Free Coins” with a video icon next to it. It would only show if there was an ad ready and at max every 10 min. In September they earned $500 (Android) and $200 (iOS). The eCPM sat around $20, about x4 more that basic full page ads. They did not earn as high as I expected, but this was a first run at it. Better placement such as at the end of a game and better call to action should increase the Reward Ads. For example, 3x coins after a game if you watch the ad or watch add for an item not just coins.
Solitaire
Windows phone is slowing dying out, but the windows phone version is riding a long tail of Windows Solitaire with $825 in the month of September. It site about the 5th Solitaire in the rankings. The android and iOS version of Solitaire also brought in a decent amount of passive income. I build a small following from my Windows version in Germany and Brazil. The problem with Solitaire is that it is very competitive. Many studios earn enough to support a team with Solitaire. Out of the top 30 Card Game apps 15–20 are Solitaire. I will focus on marketing it after I have a few other Card Games up in the store.
August 2017 income report
- Speed — $ 6,080
- Nertz — $1,139
- Educational Games — $270
- Solitaire (iOS/Android) — $ 747
- Minesweeper.io — $8
- Solitaire WP — $825
Total: $9,061
Related Reports
If you find these reports useful, please let me know.
