can I ask my users to pay for an medium upgrade ?

[ManuTOO]

Hello,

I have a dilemma.
I'm working on Tennis Elbow 2005.
It's a big work of several months. But the 1st version release won't have so much more than the current 2004 version :
- it'll be possible to have resolution higher than 640x480 (but it's a 2D game, so the visual improvement won't be so huge)
- new menus (their beauty will depend of my limited artist/designer skill ... :) )
- new tournaments of 2005
- a little bunch of secondary things (ex: cleaner ingame HUD)

The next releases, later in the year will include extra things, like online ranking (but not online play), double tournaments in world tour, and maybe more varied AI, and more realistic ball trajectories.

My question:
Do you think I can charge EUR 10 / USD 12 for this upgrade to my current users, when the 2004 version cost them EUR 19 / USD 19.95 ..?

I wouldn't like to "shock" them, but on the other side, they paid for the 2004 version, and not the all the future extras of this new 2005 version...

what are ur 2 cents ..? :)

[Sybixsus]

My gut says new menus, higher res and a few new tournaments aren't enough to warrant a paid upgrade, and I can't imagine you'd get many takers. Even with the extras you have planned, it doesn't sound like a great deal.

If I were you, I'd offer it all as a free upgrade to registered owners. But, what you could do to make all that work pay you back is offer a time limited free upgrade for new customers ( hopefully that will bag you some customers right now by worrying them they'll end up paying more if they wait ) and then release a "Gold Edition" when you have the next update done and price that at, say $24.99 USD. Hopefully you'll get some more sales in the short term and you'll be able to justify putting the price up when the next update is done. Whether or not you continue to sell the non-Gold version is up to you.

[ggambett]

I've been thinking about this... I think it depends on what you add. I wouldn't charge $10 for features that doesn't have real impact on the game, like "prettier menus" or "more realistic ball trajectories". On the other hand, when you add internet multiplayer, $10 sounds reasonable, since that's a significant feature. The key point here is that it doesn't matter if it's a feature that took you long to develop or it's technically impressive, but the impact it has on the user.

The problem is that in a way you are penalizing your early customers, since they have to pay $20 + $10 to get the same features your new customers get for $20.

Maybe someone who has already done this can comment?

[Andy]

what are ur 2 cents ..? :)

No.

PS. It's informed me that "the message is too short" :eek: . So here is the continue - No-no. :D

[Sillysoft]

I would not charge for it unless it adds some significant new features.

Don't forget that there is value in keeping your existing customers happy by giving them free updates. Satisfied users are a good asset for a business to have.

[MirekCz]

nah, not enought changes to charge.

It's rather a good idea to use it as a marketting tool.

Simply release a new game (or get into some cooperation), then release an upgrade and ask all your customers to visit your site to download the upgrade.. and of course show them the new game... good way to get some good early sales for your next product.

[DavidRM]

Until you have a signficant number of users, the income from the upgrade fee isn't going to be significant enough to make it worthwhile to annoy them. Go for the good vibe.

On the other hand, you could offer a free upgrade for anyone who purchased the original in the preceding 3 months, and anyone else has the upgrade fee. Some people won't upgrade right away, but after a few more updates and they may go for it (assuming they can still pay $10 to get it).

-David

[ManuTOO]

Thanks for all these answers...
But my dilemma is still there.

If I do a free upgrade now, I will never be able to do a paid one later, as the further additions won't be more than the 1st ones planned here.
But someday, hopefully, the addition of these additions will worth be the 10 bucks (or maybe even more if I can find a cheap pixel artist :p) .

GGambett summarizes and emphasis well my thoughts.
My guess is to consider the current customers paid for the 2004 versions, not the further upgrades (except the small ones), and I'll make them pay but a bit less than planned.
The last customers (from a couple of months) will get the new version for free, and the "angry customers" will get it for free, too, but after they won't get any further updates...


@ MirekCz:
ur idea sounds nice, but it's practically not realizable, coz 1) I don't have a new game, and 2) Tennis fans would easily buy a tennis game, not another kind of game, so the CR of this another game would be a lot more low than the CR of the upgrade.

@ GGambett:
So far, I'm not planning a real Internet play, else I wouldn't hesitate so much ! :)
It'll be only an offline competition : every week I'll propose tournaments to play (the ones from the real life), and each player could play one of them, then upload his results, and get points for his performances. And I'll show the rank of everyone on an Internet page. Nothing very fabulous, but hopefully, it should have a nice effect... :cool: