Applied Media Research - Onteca

The second question for this module was set by the company Onteca, based in Liverpool they are an independent games development company who produce games and apps for Nintendo Wii, Iphone/Ipod/Ipad and Android. Many of their apps have made it into the Ton Ten including the Big Pub Quiz, an app I actually have on my Ipod!

They lure people into their apps in a clever way, making the app free allows for people to become invested in the game, but the content actually costs. A clever way to make money, by exploiting peoples need to want more. I recently became extremely invested in an app called 'Tiny Tower' while the content is free, you can get extra coins by paying £0.69, a small fee I was willing to pay because I needed the coins and didn't want to wait to earn them. Now, think of people having that same thought by the thousands who download the app, pretty soon the money adds up!

Onteca asked the question:

What new models are there for selling media? When people download so much media freely, what are people willing to pay for and how? What are and what can we learn from the best monetization mechanics for Freemium games on mobile? 

I can understand why this question was asked, we want everything for free nowadays and often don't see why we should pay for a lot of things.. So how do people make money? While I see the need for this question it does not interest me enough, i'm intrigued as to what makes certain apps popular and why people become so invested in them.. But trying to figure out what people would be willing to pay for and why did not interest me... So far, Digital Fiction Factory has my attention.