News
The App Gold Rush
Cordova, TN; July 13, in the year of our Lord 2015--Family
Friendly Gaming, the industry leader in covering the family
friendly video games is looking at where the app gold rush is
currently at. Like any gold rush it is important to be on the
beginning of the wave. It might be okay to be on the crest of
the wave. Getting in the water after the crest is a bad idea. We
are seeing that with apps. The app market is literally drowning
with too many apps. Too many clones, and too many companies
trying to cash in on what they perceive as a gold rush. There is
another problem with the app gold rush - prices. With any gold
rush prices of materials go up. Don’t believe me? Look at the
cost of materials during the California Gold Rush. What we are
seeing now is overpriced apps and overpriced in-app purchases.
Who out there is paying one hundred dollars for gems in a free
app? Gems that will be used up within a few days to a few weeks.
Anyone spending one hundred dollars within a free app is losing
a lot of money for something they will never own. Companies keep
adding to those kind of free apps. You will never catch them all
in those kinds of free apps. Then there are apps that cost one
thousand dollars. You heard me right. Agro, QSFFStats, and
MobiGage NDI are some examples. These apps are way overpriced. I
would never pay twenty-five percent of that for computer
software, let alone an app. Those may be specialized apps, but
there are plenty of apps costing fifteen to twenty dollars. What
is worse is when they are ports from previous systems. Which
means less development costs and more profit for the companies.
In my mind no app should go above ten dollars. I think most
should not cross the five dollar line. With the limited
controls, and usually limited game play I pay one to two dollars
for apps I purchase. It takes a really special game for me to go
above the two dollar mark. It is has been shown that a lower
starting price means more downloads. Take an app that is selling
for twenty dollars. When they bring that price down to five
dollars they get many more sales. Those sales diminish over time
which is the natural progression. The app gold rush is
essentially over. We are now dealing with the high prices, and
a flooded market. It will take time for this to correct. An
intelligent company executive will notice prices are too high
and bring them down.
God bless,
Paul Bury
Family Friendly Gaming