Everyone loves a deal when they’re gaming online, and, thankfully for players, there is a real scramble underway amongst games developers and publishers who all want as big a piece of the market share as possible. They pursue this by putting together innovative and interesting promotions and special deals, all of which means that gaming becomes more accessible and cheaper for gamers wherever they happen to be in the world.
Free Trials are online everywhere, as games developers and publishers use the concept to attract swathes of gamers to their titles.
Here are some of the varieties of promo which are currently being aimed at online gamers of all shapes and sizes as the online gaming revolution continues apace on peoples’ top of the range monitors and mobile devices.
Free Trials Offered in Different Ways
The free trial is hardly a new concept, with the marketing technique having been around ever since second-hand car dealerships used them to lure people to shiny motors. Free Trials are online everywhere, as games developers and publishers use the concept to attract swathes of gamers to their titles.
The first variety of these tends to be the free trial periods, which are becoming ever more popular with cloud gaming platforms and streaming services. The likes of Google Stadia offer a free 1-month trial for their Pro product, and PlayStation Now have a slightly shorter 7-day free trial on offer for their base package. Meanwhile, away from console games, there are others whose gameplay dynamics allow publishers to be a little more inventive, developing new ways of allowing players to sample a game such as via packages of free spins or time limited bonuses. Similarly, there are also online platforms like Steam that give players the opportunity to play the gaming equivalent of a movie trailer before they commit to purchasing the full version.
Packs and Packs of Games
Another nice way of hooking a gamer is to offer them an array of games for a cut-price deal. Historically, this used to mean a new console or PC coming with a whole raft of games that no one wanted anymore and which had probably been filling valuable warehouse space somewhere.
Things have changed these days, as gamers are far pickier about the titles they want to spend their time mastering. This has meant that sites have sprung up specializing in putting gaming bundles together for their customers. Some of these include the likes of Humble Bundle, One More Bundle, and Cubic Bundle. On top of the game bundles they offer, these sites will also throw in other nice little goodies that gamers will love.
Games That Are Completely Free
Of course, the other way that some developers are making their games super attractive is by making their games 100% free to play.
This business model first shot to prominence when Fortnite came on the scene as the battle royale’s creators realized they could monetize the game simply by offering things like avatar skins for a price. The concept took off and now many rival developers are following suit.
There are also some online platforms that specialize in showcasing weird and wacky games from unknown independent developers. This means that some real gems both for PC and mobile can now be played at places like Itch.io.
Of course, the other way that some developers are making their games super attractive is by making their games 100% free to play
Another thing to look out for is games that might need to be paid for on PC or console being offered completely free of charge to play on mobile devices. PUBG was always the most obvious and well-known of these, but there are plenty more besides.
Dodging In-Play Charges
The other way that plenty of mobile games companies reel players in is by offering a game for free in the first instance before then requiring the player to pay in order to advance through levels or to get powerups. So as to avoid disappointment, it is always worth a player checking what will be asked of them monetarily before they get truly invested in such a game.
