LFTE: A Fair Exchange? (June 12)

As discussed in our feature on game monetization [in issue 230], with the advent of freemium games 99-cent apps, and downloadable content expansions, premium console games face one of their toughest challenges yet. How do publishers convey value for a $60 game in a world where a larger percentage of titles are free or available at a fraction of ­the ­cost?

I don't just speak for myself when I say there is a market of gamers who are willing to pay more for an experience that goes above and beyond the call. The popularity of games like the multi-billion dollar Call of Duty franchise proves that. Those same gamers also prefer experiences that are devoid of invasive ads or built solely for the purpose of taking dollars out of their pocketbook rather than delivering unadulterated entertainment to fill their valuable free time. The real question is, will the traditional $40 to $60 price tag for console games still be acceptable as we enter the next generation ­of ­hardware?

In my mind there is no simple answer, because every entertainment medium - be it movies, TV, or video games - is an exchange. I give them money, they keep me joyfully occupied for a period of time, and when it is over I deem whether the exchange has value or is a rip-off. This is not qualitative judgment of product in the classic game review sense; this is a consumer interaction graded in the rawest of forms: Was the fun worth it?

With free games, it is easy to get to the tipping point of making it a positive value for the customer, but I've still had free experiences where I felt ripped off because my time is valuable. Bad games are bad no matter what the cost. Great games make a player feel like every penny spent was worth it, no matter ­the ­cost.

The solution sounds simple: Game publishers should offer games at a value-appropriate price. Small, simple games (hell, even giant MMOs) can be free. Small, simple games (hell, even giant MMOs) can be expensive. Determining the value and formulating a strategy for selling and marketing your game is a right every game publisher should have. Unfortunately, on consoles they don't have ­that ­power.

The platform holders - in this case Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony - charge publishers and developers a set fee for each game and enforce pricing standards. In effect, they take the decision of whether or not the game is a good value proposition away from the creators. Want to make your game free-to-play on Xbox Live? Too bad. Thinking about porting that App Store game you sell for 99 cents over to Vita at the same price? Sorry, that needs to ­be ­$12.99.

Publishers and developers are not free to make these decisions in the current console game environment, and if it doesn't correct itself other game platforms where the creators are empowered to define price freely will win the battle - not of price, but of value. Premium games aren't in danger of extinction, but archaic control over game pricing should be.