Lately we've been getting more frequent questions about how creators can determine how much perks should cost for players to buy. Should a game's first perk cost 100 credits, or 500? Are players more likely to buy quick, low-cost perks or are they looking for longer term (and more expensive) value?
The key is having a plan for how you find the right prices for your game and its audience. There's no one answer that works for all games. Even within a game, players’ needs change over time! But with the right plan you can be confident that your revenue will grow. Here are some building blocks for how to approach pricing.
- WHAT: Identify what items you plan to sell. In general, price permanent perks higher than repeatable perks. Cosmetics can scale based on awesome-factor and complexity. If you're selling limited time perks, longer ones can typically be more expensive. Most importantly, talk to your players. Ask what they've bought or are interested in buying. If you have a Discord (which you should), ask about perks there. Your players want you to be successful, and will give you valuable feedback.
- HOW MUCH: Give players multiple options at different price points. Cast a wider net to capture more types of spending, and see what sells best by checking your Perks Analytics. Price a single type of perk, such as an XP boost, with multiple tiers. For a good example of providing multiple options, check out Hero Academia. Eskil provides three packs at three token amounts, and is able to see which one of them players like most. This helps immensely with pricing future perks.
- WHERE: Make sure your Perks are visible. Pricing doesn't matter if nobody knows you have perks for sale. We've noticed a trend where creators tend to place their perks deep in menu systems, and sometimes in a totally separate room or game. While this may work for some cases, such as a VIP room with unique items, when first starting err on the side of obvious. For a good example of making them visible, check out Idle Champions by Datonare.
- EXPERIMENT AND ITERATE: The bonus of giving players multiple options is you can experiment with different prices and value. Test different perks types, different content, and different times that you show the perk to players. Check your Perks Analytics often.
Don't get discouraged if your perks don’t take off right away. Everything you do gives you data and experience unique to your game. Once you find something that catches your players' attention, you'll have