Research Finds That Freemium Apps Account For 98% Of Play Store Revenue

Everybody loves free stuff, but would you love it as much if there were ads splattered all across it? Or if you had to fork out more money to progress in a free app like a game? There are some, like myself, who would happily pay full price for an app and leave it at that, but it seems that we might be a minority because according to the latest figures, it would seem as though freemium apps are currently dominating the Google Play store, with a whopping 98% of revenue coming from freemium apps alone. The remaining two percent go to paid apps, and paid apps with in-app purchases.

The numbers shared are worldwide as well and it appears that South Korea is currently leading the way as far as freemium apps are concerned. For those wondering what freemium apps are, they are basically apps that are free for download, but in order to unlock certain features or to remove the apps, the developers are asking users to pay a small fee. These in-app purchases can sometimes lead to the user spending more money on the app than they normally would had the app been a one-off purchase, which is why we suppose developers love the freemium model.

Companies like EA have expressed their belief that freemium is the way of the future, but companies like Nintendo have in past stated that they have no interest in freemium games whatsoever. However with analysts predicting that freemium games could rack up as much as $10 million a day, we can certainly see the lure. What do you guys think? Are you pro-freemium or wold you rather pay a one-time fee and be done with it?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Android, Apps, Google