An offer made just for you
- 99-cent starter packNever paid49.99 bundlePaid before
Two friends open the same game in the same minute. One sees a starter pack for 99 cents. The other sees a bundle for 49.99 dollars. Neither sees what the other sees. It is the same game with two shops, and each shop was built for the person looking at it.
- What you didWhich group you are inWhich offer you see
The game sorts players by what they have done. Never paid. Paid once. Pays a lot. Gone quiet. Each group gets its own offer, priced to what that group has already shown it will pay. Nobody chose your group. Your taps did.
- Never paidBiggest spenderEveryone
Who is shown the 99-cent starter pack?
The biggest spender, as a reward.
Not yet. A player who spends 50 dollars a month is shown 50-dollar bundles. Showing them a 99-cent pack would cost the game 49 dollars.A player who has never paid.
Right. The pack is tiny and cheap because its job is not the 99 cents. Its job is the first purchase, after which the player is in a different group.Everyone. A shop is a shop.
Not yet. A shop that showed everyone the same thing would be leaving money behind on both ends: too dear for the new player, too cheap for the whale. - 99 centsFirst purchase9.99 and upOffers after it
The first purchase is the one the game works hardest for. A player who has paid once is far more likely to pay again than a player who never has. So the first offer is tiny, almost free, and the ones after it are not.
Move the control to pick a player. The offers are made up, but this is the shape a real shop follows.
Never paidStarter pack99 centsNever paidNever paid: the shop shows this player one thing. A starter pack: 500 gems and an outfit for 99 cents. The other players do not see it.
Paid onceBundle9.99 dollarsPaid oncePaid once: the shop shows this player one thing. A bundle at 9.99 dollars, with a badge saying best value. The other players do not see it.
Pays a lotBig bundle49.99 dollarsPays a lotPays a lot: the shop shows this player one thing. The biggest bundle, 49.99 dollars, with bonus gems on top. The other players do not see it.
Gone two weeksFree chestPack4.99 dollarsGone two weeksGone two weeks: the shop shows this player one thing. A welcome-back screen: a free chest, and a 4.99 pack shown under it. The other players do not see it.
A player spent 50 dollars last month and then stopped opening the game. What does the shop do?
Shows the 99-cent starter pack.
Not yet. The starter pack is for players who have never paid. This one has paid 50 dollars, and the shop knows it.Shows a welcome-back deal, priced near what they paid before.
Right. A player who has paid 50 and gone quiet is worth more to win back than ten new players. The free chest is the knock on the door, and the pack under it is the reason for knocking.Hides the shop until they come back on their own.
Not yet. A player who has gone quiet may never come back on their own. The shop reaches out first, with a message and a gift, because waiting costs it the player.Move the control.
- To the app store30 of every dollar spent inside · 30%
- To the game's makers70 of every dollar spent inside · 70%
Real numbers. The phone's app store takes a share of every purchase inside a game: 30 cents in every dollar, or 15 for small studios. Of a 4.99 pack, about 1.50 goes to the store before the game's makers see a cent. Every price in the shop is set with that gone.
- Paid9.99 dollarsStore keeps30 in 100Makers get?
A player buys a 9.99-dollar bundle. The app store keeps 30 cents of every dollar. About how much reaches the game's makers?
dollarsRight. About 7 dollars. The store's cut is why the same gems often cost less on a game's own website than in the app, and why the biggest games have gone to court over it. A studio tests two prices for the same pack on new players. At 4.99 dollars, 10 in 100 buy. At 5.99, 9 in 100 buy. Tap the price that brought in more money.
Tap the part of the picture that answers it.
4.99 dollars10 buyers in 1005.99 dollars9 buyers in 1005.99 dollars
Right. Nine buyers at 5.99 is about 54 dollars; ten at 4.99 is about 50. The higher price lost a buyer and still won, so the higher price is the one everyone sees next week.4.99 dollars
Not yet. More buyers, but less money: ten at 4.99 is about 50 dollars, and nine at 5.99 is about 54. The studio counts dollars, not buyers.- Bought a chestStarter packgone
A player bought one chest last week. This week the 99-cent starter pack has vanished from their shop. Why?
It was a mistake in the shop.
Not yet. The shop is the most carefully tested screen in the game. An offer that appears for one player and not another is the shop working, not failing.It sold out.
Not yet. A pack of gems cannot sell out; gems are a number. If the offer is gone, the game took it away on purpose.They moved groups. The pack was for players who had never paid, and they have.
Right. One purchase changed which shop they see. The offers from now on will be priced to a player who pays, because the game now knows they do.
Lesson complete
The shop is made for the person looking at it, priced to what that person has already shown.