New report reveals in-game purchase habits

Only around two percent of free to play game users spend money making in-game purchases. A new report into buying habits from gaming analytics specialist SOOMLA reveals the -- perhaps unsurprising -- information that those who made an in-app purchase in one game are six times more likely to do so in another.

Yaniv Nizan, Co-founder and CEO of SOOMLA, says, "Attracting payers to your game is like finding a needle in a haystack, but when crossing in-app purchase data from thousands of other games, our payer prediction technology reveals which user segments will eventually convert and what they're likely to buy".

Other insights from the report include the fact that quick payers (those who make a first in-app purchase within 24 hours of install) are nine times more likely to pay in another game. Plus over 40 percent of users who paid $25 or more in one game, will also pay in another game.

For each in-game item users purchase with real currency, an average of 18 additional items are purchased with virtual currency. And while 71 percent of in-game purchases are for 'single use' items, like extra time or ammunition, it's 'lifetime' items such as characters, level packs or advert removal, that account for 65 percent of revenue.

Looking at usage patterns, daily active users increase by as much as 33 percent at weekends, and this occurs primarily on phones, although sessions on tablets are often longer in duration. Patterns differ across game genres as well, with strategy games boasting the highest average session duration of 11 minutes -- 2.6 times more than for other genres. Seasonal factors are at work too with developers who market their apps in time for the holiday season achieving an average revenue per paying user increase in December of 83 percent above the annual average.

If you want more information the full report is available to download from the SOOMLA website.

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