1. #1

    The Big Mistery: How is Ubisoft making money out of this

    There is something that keeps bugging me: is Ubisoft actually making money with Trials ? Or is just one "experiment" ?

    Lets face the challenge: keep a online infrastructure running, for some million users on Android alone, forums, moderators, support thikets and so on, then the selling of gems / coins, the contracts with KTM or whatever other sponsor may pop up. Of course make the game and keep it with new maps updated.

    And on the other side, maybe a few thousand people actively playing the game which for the larges part never ever paid a dime. And of course the game is free.

    I can understand why candy crush makes a killing. Giant potential users base. But Trials ? Where you need to be skilled as hell to get anywhere ?

    I remember when Sugar Daddy came out. I looked daily at "another 543 left" or the like - maybe they sold 100 ? Or there is a huge pool of people regularly forking out 10 bucks for a evening worth of play ?

    In my dreams I always hope Ubi comes out with the "Pro" Package that for 50 bucks gives you all tracks and all maxed out bikes and a separate LB (or in the normal LB you get a "star" to indicate you have the Pro package) so we can all play like we used to do. Or maybe we would not play at all anymore because the spinner wheel, the grind for coins for upgrades etc is was really keep us playing...
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  2. #2
    Yes they make a lot of money. In my eyes they are a big franchise. I pay nothing. But on my friends list i have a few whales. And holy moly they buy the lot!
    So yes they make bank.
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  3. #3
    It's less about in-app purchases but more about ads that you keep watching over and over
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  4. #4
    xitooner's Avatar Senior Member
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    I can understand why candy crush makes a killing. Giant potential users base
    Same structure as Trials for the most part. Ad revenue, and traditional F2P micro-transaction enticement to spend to get ahead, because you are always soooo close..... Those guys are masters at it; make RL's model look inefficient, really.

    Trials makes money from non-paying folks via ads. Events force people to play a lot which forces ads. For those that do pay... well if you pay even once, the prices are pretty freaking steep, so all they have to do is frustrate/entice folks to buy one purchase, and it pays for... a lot. Trials is continually having "sales" on bundles, and for any aspect of the game that holds you back due to lack of supply of coin/gems/tickets/time... you can always purchase something to help. And lately its looking like they might make some money off of "sponsored" events/bikes (examples being KTM being a real bike, Mission Impossible movie connection to AgentBike/event). In other words "pay us some money and we'll put awareness of your product in our game for our players to see".
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  5. #5
    PL-k4kshi-TFG's Avatar Senior Member
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    idc how much they make, i would even be happy if they make alot
    if they make alot of money it means the game will be supported
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  6. #6
    I'll chip in $10 to $20 every couple of months, because I like the game and want to see it supported.

    The "Sugar Daddy" outfit was a complete flop, but do you remember how quickly the "High Roller" outfit sold out? It took an hour or two. That's 750 outfits, at $50 each. This was probably their biggest payday, ever, but the developers aren't living in their mother's basements.
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  7. #7
    For free games Ubisoft onky need 1-2% of big spenders which should cover the costs but will earn more money from those who occasionally spend here and there.
    Also don't forget the ads that is could sponsorship.
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  8. #8
    Ubi-JollyCharly's Avatar Community Developer
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    Hi everyone,

    I can't give any specifics (mostly because I don't know the data ), but I can tell you that in general the "free-to-play-with-in-game-transactions" economic model works pretty well. And it has nothing to do with being a Ubisoft game or not, it's just that this business model became a strong player in the gaming industry because it is accessible to everyone.

    JollyCharly
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  9. #9
    PL-k4kshi-TFG's Avatar Senior Member
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    Originally Posted by Ubi-JollyCharly Go to original post
    Hi everyone,

    I can't give any specifics (mostly because I don't know the data ), but I can tell you that in general the "free-to-play-with-in-game-transactions" economic model works pretty well. And it has nothing to do with being a Ubisoft game or not, it's just that this business model became a strong player in the gaming industry because it is accessible to everyone.

    JollyCharly
    i hope there is alot of paying players so the game can be supported longer im gonna stay till the end
    or till tier 2 & 3 legendary bikes, this will be just unexeptable
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  10. #10
    Ubi-JollyCharly's Avatar Community Developer
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    Originally Posted by PL-k4kshi-TFG Go to original post
    i hope there is alot of paying players so the game can be supported longer im gonna stay till the end
    or till tier 2 & 3 legendary bikes, this will be just unexeptable

    Hi PL-k4kshi-TFG,

    honestly, I never heard of such a project yet, and I passed on your comment about it.
    I am obviously not promising anything here because I am not in the production team, but for now, you shouldn't be concerned about this

    JollyCharly
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