Matt, it's a complex argument since top-grossing games tend to be established franchises or much larger-budget titles. However, I agree people shouldn't ignore top-grossing iPhone games - that's the only App Store-related chart we run weekly on Gamasutra for a reason.

I still wonder why so much people flock to develop to iPhone, only to complain, but continue on that market... Even my last job was that (I worked for a iPhone-only game company, the owner was always complaining about the rush to the bottom, the slow approving process, the difficulty with marketing, how apple store is clutered and only the top100 games actually sell... but he still believed that he would make millions on that market...)

We tried $0.99 for our recent title Spooky Spirits: Puzzle Drop!!, however as it stands we actually sell slightly more units at $1.99. The total sales figure is laughable though.

The AppStore is a high-volume low-margin business for most developers and that does not leave a lot of room for adequate marketing. Marketing is what would set "good enough" titles apart. For me, marketing could include the concept/theme/title of the game, key words, relations with journos, connecting your game with Facebook for virality and drive sales backwards (like Bejeweled Blitz), appealing to a certain demographic visually, super-slick interface etc. Marketing an iPhone title that does not "sell itself" on release is probably more work than creating the actual game.

Also to consider, there is so much other fun stuff you can do with your iPhone so gaming is probably not the core activity for most users, beyond downloading the occasional title from the top-25 list, loading it up and never playing it again, many users probably use their iPhones to check twitter and Facebook feeds instead.

Yes, given the shear volume of apps on the market, it's incredibly difficult to be seen at all. And now that all the big name publishers and brands are here, it makes many of the top charts useless to us. Most surfing and learning about apps is right on the device itself, inside Apple's sandbox. It's a tough marketing nut to crack.

I'm getting pretty tired of hearing this complaint by now, what developers need to realize is that making a good game on the iPhone isn't a direct path to short-term economic success. It represents something very different, being able to compete with the long-established "big boys" on a now-leveled playing field (for the time being!) Before iPhone I'd never heard of Capybara and Critter Crunch - now because of that, I am well-aware of their game, their style, et cetera. I'll absolutely go out of my way to see what else they've done, and I am inclined to spend "more than a couple of bucks" because of the quality experience that their name represents. This is the case with several companies and games by now (Minigore, Canabalt, Drop7, Hook Champ, and on and on). Yes these are "the exceptions" compared to the literally thousands of shovelware apps dumped on the iPhone since App Store speculation began running rampant, but if not for this style of market then this whole new niche wouldn't exist - no one would know/care of any of these titles.

Devs, take this time and use it wisely. If you desire immediate return on your invested time and energy, spend the time seeking out funding to put out a game on Steam or PSN or whatever and all the time/ energy/risk that involves. Or hang tough in the new emerging mobile-casual market, as we all learn what makes it tick; eat a couple of years at the cost of being able to run your own program and develop connections with each other/publishers/your audience, assemble some decent quality games for a platform where it's not completely loaded down with 9s and 10s yet.

This is a war of attrition!

If you want to telegraph the perception your product isn't worth much, lower the price. You will probably sell fewer units.

If you want to telegraph the perception your product is worth more, raise the price. You will probably sell more units.

This ain't rocket science. People have known this a long time.

It's not that simple. As I stated this is a new type of consumer dollar that we are chasing. A common rule of thumb is "I'll check out anything for a dollar" whereas, even in XBLA and such, people will gripe if something costs close to 10 dollars (see Pac-Man:CE). Making matters harder is when the likes of Konami or Namco reduce the prices of their own apps to < $5 as well (even down to just $2), and the fact that you are competing with decades-old IPS from publishers your grandparents might know.

We put out our app for free, temporarily, as a holiday special and very aggressively marketed it (within our means). At this point getting people to even download a free, complete app by a no-name developer that doesn't tell much from a screenshot is extremely difficult.

I think quality iPhone/mobile-casual/DD prices will raise higher than they have after this initial madness winds down, but it's never going to follow the traditional model based on how the market has historically behaved. Can it ultimately prove lucrative? Of course - just not in ways that one might expect.

I'm not sure that this race to the bottom actually matters to consumers. I've seen no reason to think that people are more likely to buy a game if its $1 than if its $2.

There's eleventy thousand things on iTunes for 99 cents and they're mostly crap. When you price your game at 99 cents, you don't stand out, you haven't undercut ANYONE, and you've openly declared that you belong in the gutter.

Tons of people see it this way. More expensive things are "better". This is a culture where "you get what you pay for" is a fixed phrase.

The theory seems to be that you can get people who are just browsing to buy it because they'll buy "anything for a dollar", however considering HOW MANY apps there are in the store, I don't think you'll get anywhere this way.

I'm not aware of a viable plan that actually depends on your app being a dollar.

Hey readers,

Just a couple things to clarify, since it's me quoted in the article.

First off, the main crux of my argument wasnt WAHHH 99 cents WAHHH... it was that developers feeling pressured to price at 99 cents, even though they feel their game would be fairly priced higher is "frustrating and terrible". There are many games that are priced fairly at 99c, but for the most part acquiescing to the push to price at 99c when you feel that it would be fairly priced at 1.99 or 4.99 or 9.99 is hurtful.

Secondly, i think the devs that are hurt most by the perceived push to 99c are indies... Large publishers (like those that own the top 10) can afford to price high because they are all large-name brands... no one questions spending $10 on Call of Duty or Tetris. Games like Canabalt, Eliss, Edge and so on, who price their games fairly, should be the norm for app store pricing IMO.

Lastly... the original context of the quote wasn't included in the title of this post... the crux of my argument was that while its very frustrating to see fellow independent devs feeling pressured to devalue their work, they should feel confident to price their games fairly, and we all should be thankful that we have that power.

-Nathan

PS. I am still amazed that people even care about what i have to say. crazy.

Tetris for $10! are you kidding me?! No way! Would never pay that!

I've worked with some pretty large publishers in the past, and with the budget allotted, I'm extremely surprise that they can even make their money back, let alone a smaller indie company.

In any case I say if you want to sell your game for more, come out with a very enjoyable lite version. Once the customer is hooked on the game, they will be more then happy to buy the game for more then 99 cents.

I think Thanhda has a point. If your App is worth $4.99, sell it for $4.99 and spend the time investing in a lite version that will hook your players. I recently bought the relatively expensive Assassin's Creed game because of the excellent lite version demonstrated it's actually a decent platformer (just what I was craving.)

How could arcade games back in the day only charge a quarter or two? The .99 price point simply means that many more people will play your game. The iPhone/Touch market is pretty big, .99 price point is good for marketing shots and allows more games to be sold. If a kid has a $10 gift card, they can buy one $10 game or 10 .99 games. I think the .99 games are still good for indie and allow a bigger game market. It is a balance but games at a higher price point still own the top grossing. I actually think the .99 price point is helping move lots and lots of content. That is good for this industry.