On the Steam bestseller Vampire Survivor did that Surprise jump to mobile last month, not only was it as compulsively playable as its PC and console counterparts, it was also free. And that very unobtrusively. In a sea of ​​aggressively monetized and sometimes downright exploitative smartphone games, it stood out all the more. Developer Poncle now explains that the crappy app marketplace is the reason for this Vampire Survivor‘Freeport ever exists.
Vampire Survivor was himself inspired by a 2021 Android game called Magic Survivalbut its explosive popularity on Steam early last year led to it its own clones in the App and Google Play stores when players were looking for a game that didn’t already exist on the platforms. “Months went by and a large number of actual clones – not like ‘games’ vampire Survivor,‘ but actual 1:1 copies with stolen code, assets, data, progression – started popping up everywhere,” Poncle wrote in a recent Update late 2022 on the game’s Steam page (via PC gamer). “This forced us to release the mobile game as quickly as possible and has put a lot of stress on the development team who shouldn’t be doing the mobile at all.”
The developer said they’ve tried searching for a business partner to work with them on a mobile version of the game, but no one they’ve spoken to is on board with the “non-predatory” monetization. The biggest app and Google Play Store games are all free, but most are still racking up their pound of flesh in a way. Lots of gate progression unless you wait a set time or pay, while others monetize gameplay perks aimed at milking regular customers affectionately known as “whales.” Some work like thinly veiled slot machines. Vampire Survivor uses none of it. Instead, it relies on completely optional ads.
Continue reading: 5 beginners Vampire Survivor Tips to easily kill the Gothic Roguelite
The Hit Bullet Hell Roguelike lets you fight against ever-increasing hordes of monsters while collecting upgrades. Each game ends after 30 minutes no matter what, but the better the gameplay, the more gold players earn to unlock permanent upgrades and features they receive. The free mobile version of Vampire Survivor benefits from it in two ways. In the long run, you can “cheat” and get a second life by watching an ad. And once you die, you can watch a second ad if you want to keep more of your gold. The fully optional trade-off makes the excellent mobile version even better.
“If you’re like me [and] sought vs on cell phone you would have happily paid a few bucks for it and called it one day; but the mobile market doesn’t work like that and make it through vs With a paid app, I would have discouraged many new players from even trying the game,” Poncle wrote. “That’s why we’ve gone for a free-for-real approach, where monetization is minimal and designed to never interrupt your gameplay, always be optional, and backed by a few “watch ad” buttons below Being in your control and not doing so you have one of those real money sinks that mobile cash grabs are usually designed around.
The developer says the experiment has been a success so far, with high user ratings and many new players joining through word of mouth. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out how to implement it Legacy of Moonspell DLC that costs $2 on PC.
“The issues we face are the same as those mentioned above: how do we make it fair, but also accessible to players who are only into free games,” Poncle wrote. “We will come up with something and release the DLC as soon as possible!”
Correction 1/5/22 5:33 pm ET: A previous version incorrectly referred to the inspirational game Vampire Survivor as Magical survivor.
