micropayment / version split

[cliffski]

Micropayments!
I have been adding new features to my game 'Democracy' ever since the day it went on sale. Up until now I have just added the features, updated the demo and given a free updated file to any old customers who asked for it. However, I am interested in investigating other ways of working in the future, especially as more and more gets added, and the $19.95 seems really low.
One option is obviously to carry on as before, the game improves with each update, and presumably the conversion rate goes up slightly over time.
Another option is to split the game into 2 or more versions.I can keep the existing copy as a 'standard' or 'classic' edition, and keep charging $19.95 for it. Meanwhile, all new features go into the 'deluxe' or 'gold' edition, which is $24.99 or even $29.99. When people click the buy button, it shows them a page that summarises the differences and lets them choose. Technically this is very little work.
Another option would be to really go to town and work on a strategy that lets the player basically select from a list of features what they want, and have prices to match. if they want autosave, thats $1, if they want random countries thats another $2 etc.
I can see some drawbacks, people will automatically assume that they should get everything on the 'menu' for the lowest price (because they can buy civ2 in their local store for $10 blah blah), but I can also see the potential for maximising revenue, by getting people really into the game to pay that much more. Maybe I am biased because I'd love to see all games sold this way (I'll pay for random maps and unit variety, nothing for campaigns, backstory or FMV).
Im not quite yet at the stage where I can make such a change, but I'm thinking ahead. any thoughts?

[Tertsi]

I'm going to make a version split for Battles of Norghan.
There will be Full Version and Gold Version, however I'll be supporting both versions with patches, but there won't be many if any new features added to the Full Version after the split.
I'll give the option for the Full Version users to upgrade to the Gold Version for less than $10, likely less than $8 and also sell the Full Version and Gold Version separately.

I like the idea of micro payments, however the transaction fees for those are too big on my payment options so I shouldn't consider the idea any further.

[revve]

I'd say rather use the Classic version and Gold version. I've seen several payment processors that allows micropayments, but because of the high credit card charges, they normally require a minimum deposit of $10 or up. You then buy things from affiliated websites using your credit at the processor. I don't think this will be practical for people that might just want a couple of extra features.

[george]

nice try but :D ... it probably will apply better to other fields other than software/games (or maybe online-based games, but not regular shareware)... first of all, it seems too time consuming to build and maintain such a system -- time that could otherwise be spent on programming/business. there is just no guarantee that it will pay off (sure maybe you will get more dollars here and there, or maybe even an average of 3-4 dollars extra per purchase), but is that worth all the work (and weirdness) when you can get $10 extra maybe every other purchase by offering a second version (i.e. gold version)? plus, you may be offering certain features for extra $$$ that users feel should already be in the game (get ready for lots of complaints from potential customers)... game purchases should be simple -- offering the customer 20 choices (which all cost extra $) just doesn't seem smart... the whole thing just seems toooo clunky....

just do it like you said, a regular and deluxe version -- just like everyone else does it (windows xp pro, quicken pro, game-xyz gold, etc.). you can even have expansion packs, but per-feature payments don't seem right...

or maybe you're right and you're on to something... ;)

just MHO...

[soniCron]

If I had a choice between a "Regular" version and a "Gold" version for 50% more, I'm going for the "Regular" version unless "Gold" has hell'a lot more features. Instead, perhaps you could save up all these updates and release a new Democracy every year. Either way, you'd still need to experiment with the price to truely find the sweet spot. However, I think that $19.95 is too cheap for a game of this caliber. (Hell, what do I know? ;))

[lexaloffle]

If you're willing to commit to some serious ongoing development and patching, check out Mistaril's subsciption model too:

http://shorthike.com/buy.php

[tunca]

I think the gold version must involve much better features. Useful features such as autosave shall be standard for every product. Let's assume you are a customer buying a BMW 320. The seller cannot convice you to pay more for ABS or air-conditioning because they are useful and not shall be optional for today's cars. But a sun-roof or automatic gearbox may be optional since still some people do not want them. This is also similar with the games. The gold difference should depend on customers' needs. As soniCron stated %25 or %50 more shall require a lot more features. For the car seller case, s/he would offer BMW 530 for %50 more.

[Jack Norton]

I never charged customer for updates, even bigger ones. I think that is a strong selling point of my games.
UBM passed from version 1.0 to 1.2.7 and has 3d boxers, lots of new features/stats, but the price is the same and users who bought version 1.0 can have the latest for free :)