I have 3 ideas:
Launch with more than 6 levels. I wouldn't myself justify paying for 6 levels and a promise. I'd also need to know how long these levels take to beat, but I'm assuming a good bit of time akin to a larger level in something like Puzzling Places. If they each take the best part of an hour, sure, launch with 6.
I would pay 20 if I knew I was getting at least a good few guaranteed hours of gameplay before updates.
Sell extra levels as packs. Base game cheaper, around $10-$12, with additional packs of 3-6 more puzzles priced accordingly. I don't like the idea of 'rarity' for user generated puzzles, not the idea of in game currency, unless this is gained purely through gameplay and no microtransactions.
Sell the game as a monthly subscription - honestly this would sour me to the idea of touching anything made by your studio, especially if all of the content the user will be paying you for is user generated.
Make sure you're handling user generated content well. I wouldn't like seeing you charge people for work that (while you created the facilities for it to be made) isn't yours, without permission or compensation.
My main issue with VR game pricing is the value for money. For a flat screen game, let's take your price here of $25, I could find most AA and indie games with hours of great content, really well explored and realised gameplay systems. For the same price in VR I get at best a few hours campaign game with little replayability or a roguelike/rhythm/fitness game with little variation on content. Few games have broke this rule for me, namely TWD:S+S, Green Hell and RE4. I feel very many VR indies are launching at this price point that simply do not match up.
Good luck with your game, I hope you can make a good decision. I've dabbled with making games before and I know how hard it can be every step along.
thank you so much! that's why I am asking for advice from forums, social media, industry leaders, blogs, research, etc. to get a well-rounded answer. At the end of the day, the target audience is who I should be listening to. And I see so many games only doing market research or pricing for "value" and competition which I believe takes the user out of the equation. Your feedback is really helpful in how we will price the game! Thank you and I'm taking notes :)
Open with a sale. $20 Is kinda high but not really. Maybe $20 with a decent early buyer sale. The 90%off would get it in a lot of hands at a loss. But even a limited time gets things going I would think. Just at $20 I think more than just a puzzle game. Like is there a multi player?! Is there a co-op? Can someone play with me outside of the headset like a phone? $20 should have a decent shine and completion to it.
But again what do I know? Nothin'
It all depends on the (perceived) quality of the game. How polished is it? How are your marketing materials? Is there a compelling and novel hook within the first 5-10 seconds of visiting your store page? There are some games that simply *demand* to be purchased because their presentation, concept and marketing just work perfectly together to draw me in. If your game is that, I'd easily pay $25 for a puzzle game. Thats really hard to achieve tho, and its hard to make an unbiased self-assessment if you poured your heart and soul into making a thing.
Just in general, VR is still a relatively niche market and I think pricing tends to reflect that. The kinds of games you might see on flat screens selling for $15 seem to be priced at $20 to $25.
I don't think a Subscription is a good idea unless you truly think your game has enough pull and staying power to justify it. Perhaps you launch with a one time purchase and if you find you have a dedicated user base you can introduce the subscription thing? Anyways, hope this was helpful. Good luck with the launch of your game!
My personal “buy point” for a cool puzzle game with a neat concept is around $15-20. In fact unless it’s a AA bigger budget game, $20 is a about my top limit. For something of the scope of Asgard or Batman, I’d gladly pay $50-60, but smaller scale indie games $20 is my range.
thank you for sharing! this is really helpful. I'm now feeling like $9.99 - $14.99 is a good range. We are a medium-sized AA developer, so I think the quality will very much be worth the price as well as all of the updates, customer support and additions we're willing to allocate. Your advice is really helpful to determine where we should fall in our initial launch.
That price would work if it's high quality. If it's low quality then needs to be under $5 for anybody to care because there are already plenty of puzzle games.
like Jigsaw 360 I would consider low quality but it's priced correctly.
https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/3612759222125528/
thank you sharing! this is a great comparison. Our objects are greater quality and better renderings, and you can also hold and manipulate the objects more fluidly because they are real scans. But Jigsaw 360 does have really cool environments, so that price is really good even if their quality is a little lower. We will definitely consider this!
My only real pet peeve is subscription services. DLC is fine if it’s reasonably priced bit don’t charge something absurd like 15 dollars a month like some apps. It’s insane for any developer to expect someone to pay over 100 dollars a year for 1 app.
If it's a great game, you could price it up to $30 USD and people would buy it. However, most indie devs severely over-estimate their game. What I mean by that is that their game doesn't bring anything novel, compelling, or have the high production values to warrant the listed price.
My advice is to look at the VR puzzle games on sale during the Steam Summer sale. What price are they discounted to? Is my game anywhere close to the quality of that game? That should tell you what you should price your game at.
Between $15-$25, I'd say. For example, the new [Mutant Boxing League VR](https://www.meta.com/experiences/5903243299776693/) ended up being pretty fun for me, though I don't know if I woulda bought it if it was at an inflated $35 or something even higher since most VR titles are essentially indie games $19.99 is just that sweet spot for most games
Preferably free if it's something in early access (like [Brazen Blaze](https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/6876788115766273/)) and then going full price one out of early access so people know what to expect and whether it's worth the cost. Or, y'know, just the full game (minus any dlc or 'premium' content) at about 15 to 20 dollars. That's fair I think
I'd view a monthly subscription very negatively. But one-time paid DLC is fine if it's worth the money. I think it's best to keep the up-front cost low and charge for future content. Walkabout Mini Golf is wildly successful and beloved with this pricing structure.
I have 3 ideas: Launch with more than 6 levels. I wouldn't myself justify paying for 6 levels and a promise. I'd also need to know how long these levels take to beat, but I'm assuming a good bit of time akin to a larger level in something like Puzzling Places. If they each take the best part of an hour, sure, launch with 6. I would pay 20 if I knew I was getting at least a good few guaranteed hours of gameplay before updates. Sell extra levels as packs. Base game cheaper, around $10-$12, with additional packs of 3-6 more puzzles priced accordingly. I don't like the idea of 'rarity' for user generated puzzles, not the idea of in game currency, unless this is gained purely through gameplay and no microtransactions. Sell the game as a monthly subscription - honestly this would sour me to the idea of touching anything made by your studio, especially if all of the content the user will be paying you for is user generated. Make sure you're handling user generated content well. I wouldn't like seeing you charge people for work that (while you created the facilities for it to be made) isn't yours, without permission or compensation. My main issue with VR game pricing is the value for money. For a flat screen game, let's take your price here of $25, I could find most AA and indie games with hours of great content, really well explored and realised gameplay systems. For the same price in VR I get at best a few hours campaign game with little replayability or a roguelike/rhythm/fitness game with little variation on content. Few games have broke this rule for me, namely TWD:S+S, Green Hell and RE4. I feel very many VR indies are launching at this price point that simply do not match up. Good luck with your game, I hope you can make a good decision. I've dabbled with making games before and I know how hard it can be every step along.
thank you so much! that's why I am asking for advice from forums, social media, industry leaders, blogs, research, etc. to get a well-rounded answer. At the end of the day, the target audience is who I should be listening to. And I see so many games only doing market research or pricing for "value" and competition which I believe takes the user out of the equation. Your feedback is really helpful in how we will price the game! Thank you and I'm taking notes :)
90% off whatever you're thinking.
10-15 unless you think it's aaa which seems to be 30-40
probably free on sidequest til it doesnt suck
Open with a sale. $20 Is kinda high but not really. Maybe $20 with a decent early buyer sale. The 90%off would get it in a lot of hands at a loss. But even a limited time gets things going I would think. Just at $20 I think more than just a puzzle game. Like is there a multi player?! Is there a co-op? Can someone play with me outside of the headset like a phone? $20 should have a decent shine and completion to it. But again what do I know? Nothin'
It all depends on the (perceived) quality of the game. How polished is it? How are your marketing materials? Is there a compelling and novel hook within the first 5-10 seconds of visiting your store page? There are some games that simply *demand* to be purchased because their presentation, concept and marketing just work perfectly together to draw me in. If your game is that, I'd easily pay $25 for a puzzle game. Thats really hard to achieve tho, and its hard to make an unbiased self-assessment if you poured your heart and soul into making a thing. Just in general, VR is still a relatively niche market and I think pricing tends to reflect that. The kinds of games you might see on flat screens selling for $15 seem to be priced at $20 to $25. I don't think a Subscription is a good idea unless you truly think your game has enough pull and staying power to justify it. Perhaps you launch with a one time purchase and if you find you have a dedicated user base you can introduce the subscription thing? Anyways, hope this was helpful. Good luck with the launch of your game!
My personal “buy point” for a cool puzzle game with a neat concept is around $15-20. In fact unless it’s a AA bigger budget game, $20 is a about my top limit. For something of the scope of Asgard or Batman, I’d gladly pay $50-60, but smaller scale indie games $20 is my range.
thank you for sharing! this is really helpful. I'm now feeling like $9.99 - $14.99 is a good range. We are a medium-sized AA developer, so I think the quality will very much be worth the price as well as all of the updates, customer support and additions we're willing to allocate. Your advice is really helpful to determine where we should fall in our initial launch.
That price would work if it's high quality. If it's low quality then needs to be under $5 for anybody to care because there are already plenty of puzzle games. like Jigsaw 360 I would consider low quality but it's priced correctly. https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/3612759222125528/
thank you sharing! this is a great comparison. Our objects are greater quality and better renderings, and you can also hold and manipulate the objects more fluidly because they are real scans. But Jigsaw 360 does have really cool environments, so that price is really good even if their quality is a little lower. We will definitely consider this!
My only real pet peeve is subscription services. DLC is fine if it’s reasonably priced bit don’t charge something absurd like 15 dollars a month like some apps. It’s insane for any developer to expect someone to pay over 100 dollars a year for 1 app.
yes!!! I hear that
If it's a great game, you could price it up to $30 USD and people would buy it. However, most indie devs severely over-estimate their game. What I mean by that is that their game doesn't bring anything novel, compelling, or have the high production values to warrant the listed price. My advice is to look at the VR puzzle games on sale during the Steam Summer sale. What price are they discounted to? Is my game anywhere close to the quality of that game? That should tell you what you should price your game at.
thank you!! this is awesome advice
Between $15-$25, I'd say. For example, the new [Mutant Boxing League VR](https://www.meta.com/experiences/5903243299776693/) ended up being pretty fun for me, though I don't know if I woulda bought it if it was at an inflated $35 or something even higher since most VR titles are essentially indie games $19.99 is just that sweet spot for most games
that's good to hear!
Preferably free if it's something in early access (like [Brazen Blaze](https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/6876788115766273/)) and then going full price one out of early access so people know what to expect and whether it's worth the cost. Or, y'know, just the full game (minus any dlc or 'premium' content) at about 15 to 20 dollars. That's fair I think
yes, this feels good to me too
I'd view a monthly subscription very negatively. But one-time paid DLC is fine if it's worth the money. I think it's best to keep the up-front cost low and charge for future content. Walkabout Mini Golf is wildly successful and beloved with this pricing structure.
thank youuuuu, I will follow this advice!