Are subscriptions in mobile games no longer relevant?
Subscriptions have been coming up in conversations a lot lately. WN Cyprus was no exception: in one discussion, we found ourselves talking about subscriptions in mobile games again.
I’ve become fairly skeptical of them. In service-based products, a subscription makes sense: you pay for access to content or a service whenever you need it. Even if you don’t use it today, you might need it tomorrow. That’s what makes continuing to pay feel worthwhile.
Mobile F2P is different. Alongside a subscription, players are usually offered plenty of other purchases tied to specific needs in the game. Against that backdrop, a subscription becomes less effective as a retention tool. Canceling a subscription and requesting a refund have also become easier, so relying on players to subscribe and forget about it is no longer much of a strategy.
Compared with auto-renewing subscriptions, one-time purchases for similar time-limited access are becoming more appealing: they give developers more freedom. You can change what’s included in the next paid period and test different prices without running into conflicts with players who signed up under different terms. You can personalize offers with discounts and upsells. And, in general, it’s easier to convert a player to a one-time purchase than to a subscription.
Are there even cases left where a subscription works better in F2P than a one-time purchase for similar content?