As a game developer, I would welcome industry standards that force games to have labels indicating the maximum amount of money a player can spend in the game.
Saying a game is "free" and then charging for in-game goods is disingenuous. Saying it's $1.99 and then having $100s of shit to buy inside the game is also disingenuous. It should say the game is "free" with "no limit".
If you have a free game with a single expansion pack, then it should say "free", "up to $5" for the expansion pack.
This kind of information is magnitudes more important than the stupid ESRB ratings we have for console titles.
I would personally try many more games if they had these labels. I would also be more comfortable developing "real", one-time fee games, if the competitive landscape were straightened out like this. As it stands, freemium games make boatloads of money and the industry will continue to shift in that direction until something is done about it. The only thing I can think of is to make the consumer more aware in advance.
Saying a game is "free" and then charging for in-game goods is disingenuous. Saying it's $1.99 and then having $100s of shit to buy inside the game is also disingenuous. It should say the game is "free" with "no limit".
If you have a free game with a single expansion pack, then it should say "free", "up to $5" for the expansion pack.
This kind of information is magnitudes more important than the stupid ESRB ratings we have for console titles.
I would personally try many more games if they had these labels. I would also be more comfortable developing "real", one-time fee games, if the competitive landscape were straightened out like this. As it stands, freemium games make boatloads of money and the industry will continue to shift in that direction until something is done about it. The only thing I can think of is to make the consumer more aware in advance.