Gun Bros is a poplar top down shooter that is currently available for free on the App store. It was released in 2010 as a game to bring hardcore gamers at the age of 9 + on the app-store together in a multiplayer shooter. In December 2010 it has been reported that 2.8 million but currently it has been announced on Pr Newswire that over 6.8 million have been downloaded with 5.5 million being from iOS devices. As a Freemium game Gun Bros has different in game ways of purchasing content, the main method is purchasing 'Warbucks' a type of in game credit. Orginally 'Warbucks' could only be bought using real life money but currently it can be earnt in the game but the idea is that if you pay u can unlock items that might take you weeks or months to unlock.

In game there are various weapons that can be bought either by coins which are the basic in game currency that are collected throughout playing the game as a standard or by 'Warbucks' usually the 'Warbucks' items are better than the once that can be bought with normal currency as the players haven't had to spend money to get the item, e.g. its more beneficial to spend money. Other items work in a similar priceable with armour and power-ups are also available to buy in game.

I have been playing and looking at all the items on the game using my Ipod touch. The game play is relatively simple and its mostly about playing to collect credit to then purchase items to upgrade yourself. This then pushes the want for weapons that are the best to save on time playing as it soon gets repetitive as the gameplay doesn't change. The better the extras the faster you earn credit and the faster you get the next items.

Here are some screenshots of the items:



This image shows different power ups that can be purchased in game.



This shows Armour that can be bought in the game, on screen is currently showing different types of helmets can be bought.



This image shows weapons that can be bought in the game, this is also interesting because currently there on sale to get more players to buy the virtual images. This isn't the only reason why they are interesting because this screen next screen shot will explain why.



'The kraken' is the last weapon on the list and it is also the most expensive costing 3499 Warbucks. Converted into real money the virtual gun would cost £308 or $500. This is crazy due to the fact you could by a new games console with this or a new ipod or iphone for that much money but in this game its the cost of one small piece of virtual data.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/gun-bros/id393404730?mt=8
http://www.glu.com/category/category/gun-bros
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/appsblog/2011/aug/04/gun-bros-final-fantasy-tacticshttp://toucharcade.com/2011/08/03/glu-adds-500-unlockable-gun-to-gun-bros/ http://blog.flurry.com/bid/67748/Consumers-Spend-Average-of-14-per-Transaction-in-iOS-and-Android-Freemium-Gameshttp://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/glu-announces-continued-strong-downloads-of-gun-bros-and-deer-hunter-challenge-at-gdc-2011-117303428.html
http://www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/Glu+Mobile+news/news.asp?c=26023
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/gun-bros/id393404730?mt=8
http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com/game/53610/gun-bros/
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/gun-bros/id393404730?mt=8
http://www.shacknews.com/article/69571/free-to-play-gun-bros-unleashes-500-kraken

Freemium Games

Freemium Games
The term ‘Freemium’ is a business model that offers goods for free but has premium content that can be bought. This premium content varies depending on what the ‘Freemium’ good’s is and the business strategy. Freemium Games are similar to Free-to-play games but offer more when money is pend on the game.

Freemium is a popular business method for digital goods as programs such as Skype allow people to download the software and talk for free across computers but you pay for computer to phone calls. The popular website Deviantart ( Online forum to post art) uses a Freemium method as you can join for free allowing you to post art and see others but if you purchase the ‘Premium Membership’ you can get access to extra settings and content.

Good Examples include the popular ‘Freemium’ Rune Scape (2001), the game is known for being a subscription based game but the game is free allowing players to play under restrictions. Premium content can be purchased to enhance the game play creating a game that is both available to players that what a simple experience without the cost and those who want to play a continuous game with full dedication.

Freemium games can also be related to Game Demos and trials. These are usually small sections of games made free and downloadable to get people to download the game to play and hopefully get hooked so that the will want to buy the game. In this scenario the Premium content is the full game. Its a marketing method that allows games to draw in a mass audience of all ranges to hopefully get a bunch that would buy the premium content rather than hoping that the advertisements for your game has worked effectively and people are willing to pay for the game.

Thanks to the boom in Micro-Transactions, Freemium games have dominated the games market as all platforms have ways of selling premium content. Micro-transactions have allowed for more variations of premium content of individual items that players can buy. This has increased the amount of games using Freemium business methods.

‘Freemium games on iOS and Android continue to dominate the app economy, now accounting for over 65% of all revenue generated among the Top 100 grossing apps in the App Store alone.’ - Jeferson Valadares.

Freemium games have a made a hugh impact of different areas of the gaming industry as they were the reason why Social games took off as people could play with each other for free and with such a large audience playing for free there will be people who want more and are willing to pay.


Freemium Games info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium

http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2006/03/my_favorite_bus.html#c15324948

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuneScape

www.Deviantart.com

http://blog.flurry.com/bid/71993/Mobile-Freemium-Games-Gen-Y-Plays-but-Gen-X-Pays

http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/the-ten-best-freemium-iphone-and-ipad-games

http://freemium-games.com/