Look at the App Store or Google Play and you’ll see that free-to-play games are by far the most popular apps. Nevertheless, there are signs of a backlash, plus some countries like the UK, US and Japan. If you are a game developer who develops free-to-play games, here are some tips that will help you avoid this backlash.
Don’t use misleading ads
The first thing you should do is make sure your users know that your game displays ads and avoid serving misleading ads. A good way to do that is to put a disclaimer in your game’s description and state that you can’t always control which ads your players see. In addition to that, you have to do everything you can to monitor your ads to make sure you don’t violate any of the App Store’s and Google Play’s policies.
Respect your users
We all know that you are hoping to make money from your free-to-play game. But this doesn’t mean that you have to treat your players like money generators. Treat your players with respect and make sure they get a good user experience. Avoid intrusive advertising, make it easy for players to submit feedback and remember that people should be able to play your game without having to pay anything. A lot of so-called free games require people to make an in-app purchase straight away and that’s not a good practice.
Don’t build clones
When Flappy Bird got discontinued, a lot of developers started creating clone games in hope to jump on the bandwagon and make some easy money. Don’t be tempted to release clones because that can damage your reputation and destroy users’ trust. Work on your own game, make it a top quality one and never be dishonest with your users.
