If you thought the App Store was spammy and scammy before in-app purchases, it was nothing compared to apps distributed for free, that then conned, pressured, and manipulated customers into spending way more on add-ons.
Within a short period of time, the App Store model had found its way to Android, along with the same in-app purchase experience. Although increasingly unpleasant for consumers, this was clearly not just a chump-change business opportunity for app vendors.
At $4.99 per month for a family, [Apple Arcade is a great deal]. For less than $60 a year, an entire family can play a wide selection of games at will, with no additional fees, no interruptions, no upsells, and no buyer fatigue… From a consumer perspective, these new subscription programs represent a higher level of curation and reduced hassle, all for the annual cost of one triple-A console game. Subscribers are, by the very nature of the service, protected from constant upsells…
As we come to see how well consumers adopt these programs, we’ll have a much better insight into what may be possible into the future.
MacDailyNews Take: The $4.99/month is a no-brainer for anyone who’s tired of being pestered to make in-app purchases to continue playing a game they like – and that’s basically everyone!