With the many ways to sell and market your social games, Failbetter Games met recent success.
The game — Echo Bazaar — is a social role-playing game in which players encounter grim mystery in Gothic London. Since 2009, the game has met critical success and has earned acclaim from sites like The Escapist and The Guardian, but it has only recently established a freemium price model.
The subscription model — entitled Exceptional Friends — increases the amount of actions players can do per day, as well as removing ads completely. According to a press release, over 90 percent — approximately 350,000 words — of Echo Bazaar’s content is free. Previously, Failbetter was selling additional Fate, an in-game currency that let players purchase additional actions.
Freemium lets people play the game for free but purchase extra content once they want it. This differs from microtransactions in which players can always buy items to expedite the playing process, such as buying better items in Zynga’s FarmVille. Failbetter’s profits have allegedly doubled since moving to freemium two weeks ago.
The switch to freemium was initially met with dismay from fans; the players quickly adjusted to the new model. Complaints on forums dwindled shortly, and the game has never been healthier.
“Yet as this move shows,” the press release stated, “even indie RPG social browser games that are almost entirely text can turn a healthy profit on the right transaction model.”
