Written by AndrewH
The rather enjoyable side-scrolling arcade game Don’t Run With A Plasma Sword will be getting a new version in a few days and this one will be a free-to-play version. Developed by XperimentalZ Games, this game was originally released back in September 2013 and it has remained a premium game since its release.
When this latest version of Don’t Run With A Plasma Sword arrives, the present premium version will even remain on Google Play, so prospective players will have the option of downloading either one. Why would be the developers deciding to release a free-to-play version? It is actually about getting traction on Android which, compared to iOS, continues to be difficult for XperimentalZ Games, despite all of the coverage in media.
We’ve recently passed the fir million players cap across all our games on iOS, 75% of those players originating from DRWAPS. Although this number may be regarded as significant by indie standards, getting traction on the Android market has been much more difficult, with only a little fraction in our downloads and 6% of our revenues coming from this platform (10% of our paid game revenues). Hopefully, this release will help us to lessen that gap.
On iOS, we always had an hybrid approach with monetization models, either launching premium games or lightly monetized freemium games. Displaying a F2P form of our games alongside its premium version gets into that direction. What about a F2P version will let us reach a crowd more accustomed to free games and generate more visibility for the premium versions like a side effect. When compared to premium version, the F2P version is a little more grindy and based on ads and IAP (with free ways to obtain currency, like rewarded videos). – XperimentalZ Games
While the brand new free-to-play version of Don’t Run Having a Plasma Sword is going to be supported with ads and also have a few optional IAPs in it, if you do not want to have any of that inside your copy from the game, you still have the ability to buy the premium version which has no ads or IAPs in it for $1.99. Giving gamers the choice regarding which way they would like to go is definitely a good thing.
For those of you who wish to get the disposable version, it will land on Google Play next Wednesday (February 25th, 2015). We’ll post an update if this arrive.
Don’t Run Having a Plasma Sword (Playboard) | Don’t Run Having a Plasma Sword (Play Store)
