Source: Candy Crush Saga via Facebook
Freemium gaming is a fairly recent phenomenon, a way of marketing games that has risen to prominence during the smartphone era. In simple terms, it is a pricing strategy that allows the user to download a game for free. After that, there are opportunities to pay money for additional features such as levels, upgrades, characters, and other virtual goods. Although freemium games have sometimes been accused of forcing players into spending money to excel at the game, the major advantage is that they give players a taster of the title before having to spend any money.
Popular Freemium Games
Freemium games have been hugely successful on mobile, and they account for around 79 percent of the overall revenue generated by games on the platform. To say that, in 2016, the total earnings from mobile gaming equated to $41.5 billion, this is a remarkable achievement. Some of the best-known freemium games have also been the most successful apps for mobile over the years. One of the original and most famous titles was Candy Crush, which has been downloaded more than 2.7 billion times. Players were able to play for free but, if they ran out of lives, they had to wait until they were restored. Alternatively, they could buy more lives along with other power-ups for the game. The offering from King sparked a number of other titles which used the freemium model. These included games like Clash of Clans, Hearthstone, and League of Legends. For mobile gaming, it has proved to be a sound pricing scheme.
The Impact on the Online Casino Industry
The online casino industry has taken the idea of the freemium pricing system and used it to allow players to try games out for free before playing. This makes sense, as a lot of online casinos are now available to play from mobile. Go to and get trueblue casino real money from well-known online casinos like Betway, Spin Palace Casino, and Casino Room often come with practice play options, allowing players to get the hang of the games before they use their own money. This is useful for online slot games, which frequently have different rules and feature, and helps players know exactly what to do when they have a decision to make concerning winning or losing money.
In addition to free play offerings, many websites also gift players free spins to use on online slot games. In fact, by using sites like free-spins.ca, players can find a wealth of different places that offer free spins for Canadians. The slight difference between this and the freemium pricing system is the fact that, on most of the free spins promotions, players actually have a chance of winning some money, just as they would if they were staking their own funds. It is worth reading the terms and conditions first, though, as these free spins are often subject to wagering requirements.
Freemium is a pricing system that suits the world we are living in now. With the wealth of different apps and games available for smartphone, players need to be able to try something first before they part with their hard-earned cash. Expect this trend to continue for years to come.
