Problems in Game Land: IAP Fees Get Gamers Up In Arms

09. Angry Birds: Space - Rovio

It is not at all surprising to find that gamers - and in particular gamers in the mobile games sphere - feel a high level of loyalty to the studios that produce the games that they really like to play.

They are so loyal in fact that they will wait lengthy periods for a game to release and then excuse many of its worst offenses!

That may indeed be ordinarily the case, but the trend does not apply to Angry Birds: Space, which has infuriated gamers thanks to a combination of an overly aggressive in-app purchase scheme and what is worse, a profit scheme that they widely feel was a lie.

When Space finally released - after months of high-pressure promotions - gamers were badly disappointed when they experienced its very heavy advertising content, and aggressive in-app purchases.

The straw that broke the Pigs back though was the discovery that, after paying for the game, some of the levels are still pay-only and require that the player pay additional funds above and beyond the cost of the game.

The notion that a studio would charge players $20 for a game, and then have the nerve to include in that game pay-for-access levels? That move generated the same level of anger and vitriol that is applied to studios that pack loads of DLC onto the game disc and then force the players to pay to unlock it later.

Unfortunately the pay-for-access levels, heavy advertising, and aggressive in-app purchase scheme was not the end to the matter - as players who paid for the game discovered that the cost of admission did not include unlimited Mighty Eagles!

In the previous games that particular resource was not charged on a per basis - which was a good thing because grinding to 100% completion of a level can require a fair number! The Mighty Eagle is now part of the in-app scheme for the game, and a source of significant profit for the studio.

The results of this are simple -- what should have been the best game to date from developer Rovio turned out to be their worst -- leaving fans feeling betrayed by a company whose cute pigs and angry birds were previously only a source for joy and happiness.

To add insult to injury, Angry Birds: Space was not just created by Finish-Studio Rovio, but rather it was created in a partnership between Rovio and the US Space Agency NASA?!

One disappointed gamer summed up the situation nicely in an online post on Rovios OWN Angry Birds forum, saying: “If Rovio wants more money they can sell merchandise, but don't turn your wonderful games into a virtual Wall-Mart.”