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Square Enix considering lowering the cost of its mobile games

The price of change

Square Enix considering lowering the cost of its mobile games
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Following critical feedback in the West, Square Enix may adjust its pricing strategy for its mobile games in the future.

You see, while the majority of App Store sellers currently favour the 69p / 99c price point for premium games, Squeenix has no qualms about charging £12.99 / $17.99 for a port of an old RPG.

The Japanese developer has defended its inflated price tags in the past, but it looks like things might be about to change.

Speaking at Casual Connect in Kiev last week, Square Enix's general manager for mobile for Europe Anthony Douglas shone a little more light on his company's Western pricing strategy, and hinted that those hefty price tags might be replaced with 'lighter' ones in the future.

"I think that the Japanese view of this is that we have built quality games, whether they're for handheld or for mobile... the business model is not set in this world. Everything is free-to-play right now, tomorrow it could be different, [and] it'll change the day after that," Douglas said.

"$20 for something you can play for 30 or 40 hours is still cheaper than what you can get on a handheld. [Square Enix] Japan are trying that and seeing how it works, and it works very well in Japan.

"It has been commented on quite a lot in Europe in the West, [and] they're responding to it. They're seeing the feedback, and there will probably be changes in the way that it's structured."

Whether the Final Fantasy creator picks it prices according to perceived value, as Douglas suggests, or potential profit (I suspect the truth lies somewhere in between), there are many European and North American gamers who would welcome the chance to purchase a Square Enix title for under a fiver (or its equivalent).

Square Enix has dabbled with both freemium and paymium models recently (see Guardian Cross and Demons' Score), so it does look like waters are being tested (albeit with some controversial results).

We'll have to wait to see what form the changes Douglas mentions take if and when they appear.

Gamezebo [via DroidGamers]
James Gilmour
James Gilmour
James pivoted to video so hard that he permanently damaged his spine, which now doubles as a Cronenbergian mic stand. If the pictures are moving, he's the one to blame.