Tag: micro-transactions

Mobile gaming survey sheds light on problems that gamers have

| January 26, 2013

Mobile Gaming surveySurvey highlights the issues that gamers have with mobile gaming

Mobile gaming has become a fun and important pastime for a wide variety of consumers all over the world. Like other consumers, gamers are a very picky bunch, and anything they perceive as a significant challenge to their gaming experience could have major consequences for mobile gaming. A new survey from Ebuyer, an e-commerce retailer based in the United Kingdom, highlights the challenges that face mobile gaming, and what gamers consider to be one of the most significant problems with most of today’s popular mobile games.

Poor controls cause irritation for gamers

According to the Ebuyer survey poor controls are one of the most problematic issue facing mobile gaming today. Given that the vast majority of these games are developed with a touch screen in mind, creating a control interface that can be both accurate and effective has been a serious challenge for nearly all developers of mobile games. Touch screens are not designed specifically for games, thus have limited functionality when it comes to gaming. According to the survey, 23% of gamers said that controls were often so irritating that they refused to play mobile games.

Micro-transactions and bugs are also a top issue

Controls are not the only problems gamers have with the mobile space, of course. The survey shows that 20% of gamers claim that micro-transactions are problematic in some regard. These gamers suggest that micro-transactions are either completely unjustified or that they are too difficult to use. In some cases, a poorly implemented micro-transaction system has led gamers to spend significantly more money than they had initially intended because of their repeated efforts to get the system to work properly. Bugs and glitches were also a problem for gamers. Approximately 17% of the survey’s respondents claimed that bugs were irritating enough to stop them from playing games.

Advertising proves to be the most problematic issue

The chief issue that gamers have with the mobile gaming space, however, is in-game advertisements. More than 40% of the survey’s respondents claimed that these advertisements were a very problematic issue and that they would be willing to pay significant fees in order to not have to see these advertisements at all. While these problems represent aspects of mobile gaming that are well on their way to becoming infamous, finding solutions to these problems is likely to be a difficult task for developers.

Amazon expands micro-transactions service

| January 25, 2013

Amazon mobile gamingAmazon expanding digital services for the game industry

Internet retail behemoth Amazon has begun expanding its digital services into the game industry, with a particular focus on mobile gaming. The Amazon Digital Games Store has become a very promising marketplace for such games, giving developers yet another avenue through which to find success in an increasingly crowded market. Amazon has announced the activation of micro-transactions through in-app purchases for the games that are part of the company’s digital store.

In-app micro-transactions will receive more support from Amazon

Mobile game developers often rely on micro-transactions to generate some kind of profit with their titles. Most mobile games are either available for free or for a very small price, making their ability to generate revenue through initial purchase very limited. In-app micro-transactions are seen as the best way for these games to find commercial success, as the majority of these transactions are very inexpensive, thus making them more attractive to gamers.

Company expands services to PC, Mac, and web-based games

The Amazon Digital Games Store has had the ability to facilitate in-app micro-transactions for some time, but Amazon has been disinclined to fully support the service across all gaming platforms. The service has typically been reserved for mobile games for the iOS and Android platforms, but Amazon has begun expanding its availability to PC, Mac, and even web-based games. Amazon expects that expanding its service to these platforms will help game developers build their businesses and reach new audiences.

Developers relying heavily on micro-transactions

Game developers often create games for a wide variety of platforms in order to engage the largest number of people possible. This can be a costly endeavor because of the fundamental differences that exist from platform to platform. Micro-transactions therefore take on a greater importance for developers, as they not only represent a way for a studio to generate profit, but also recover from the costs associated with game development.