Mobile online games generate 70-80% of revenue for mobile app storers, and the most successful games earn several million dollars a day. They are very different from classic PC games. The cell phone (tablet) is always at hand, but the relatively small screen and lack of convenient controls do not contribute to a long period of time spent on mobile games. Mobile games are characterized by frequent but short gaming sessions.
Now there are more and more mobile games, which themselves are free. But in the course of the game the user is constantly being offered to buy something – some quality of the character, some necessary item, etc. Of course, it is theoretically possible to play without this, but then the passage of some levels will drag on for a very long time.
Research has shown that if the game introduced any intermediate currency between the buyer and real money, such as “game crystals”, it becomes difficult for the buyer to estimate the price of the transaction. Additional auxiliary objects, or “layers”, make it even harder for the buyer’s brain to accurately estimate the situation, especially if the player is under additional stress due to the lack of time, “lives”, or other game resources.
Essentially, the player is placed in a very uncomfortable or undesirable situation, and then is offered to get rid of the problem for some amount of money. This money is almost always spread out in several “layers,” because if the buyer is shown openly the total price and the buying process, most likely he will not fall for this trick and will simply quit the game.
Comparing this short-term “headache relief” to the long-term value of the game is a mental work involving activity in the prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain usually completes its development by the age of 25. So consumers under 25 will always be the most vulnerable, and the younger they are, the more at risk they are. While players over 25 can also get caught up in well-built models. forced monetization, especially if they are unfamiliar with them (such as first-generation social media players), the target audience for these products is generally under 25 years of age. For this reason, these products are almost always presented with cartoon graphics, child-aged characters.
While monetizing underage players (under 18) is associated with an increased risk of payment cancellation, adult players under 25, whose described brain part is not yet fully developed, are considered adults with full rights. It is unlikely that someone of that age, who has already tasted the pleasures of adulthood, will go to the bank for a refund with the words “I’m not old enough yet.” That is, this group is the most vulnerable buyers, unprotected by law from impulsive spending of money, and therefore the methodology is aimed precisely at them.