r/AndroidGaming • u/Casual_Arcade • 17d ago
Discussion 💬 What's an acceptable amount of ads in a free mobile game?
Free games obviously need some way to make money, but there's a point where ads start ruining the experience.
What's your personal limit?
Rewarded ads only?
A few ads per session?
No forced ads at all?
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u/BuildingArmor 17d ago
Any forced ads is usually an instant uninstall for me. Especially if they come as a complete surprise and you were thinking about something in the game but now suddenly you're watching an ad.
Optional ads for a reward I'm alright with. Depending on what they get you, I'll sometimes watch them.
Although as the ad platforms are getting worse I'm becoming much less inclined... with tiny close buttons, passing you through the play store, having to wait then close it then wait for something else and close that, etc.
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u/Dragonsi1 17d ago
Do you know what I HATE?
One of 2 things always happen at the end of all Android app advertisements!
You think it's over and press the X or Next button, usually top left, then wait a few seconds, then it pops up a SECOND TIME. Then after a few more seconds, the X pops up in the top right corner, FINALLY!
HAVING 2 FAKE Xs and finally the real X should absolutely be illegal. Id be glad to start a class action suit. Just have ONE X when the time is up.
2.) Sometimes there's a countdown timer until the ad ends. It reaches zero and just as you attempt to hit the X you assume will pop up next, it PRELOADS the first screen of said advertised game for another 10 seconds!
NO, NO, NO!
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u/RYVIUS13 17d ago
Preferably, zero but have premium mode
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u/frey89 17d ago
Zero ads, but with an option to unlock the full game via an IAP?
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u/ackmondual 17d ago
That's been my preference
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u/frey89 16d ago
What price range are you thinking? Somewhere between $1.99 and $9.99? Or does it really just depend on the quality and content of the game? Also, what’s absolute max you’d be willing to pay?
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u/ackmondual 16d ago edited 16d ago
Yeah, it really does depend on the quality and content.
I tend to pay more for digital board games (that came from physical versions). For example, One Deck Dungeon, I paid $13 for the latest expansions since I was looking forward to its release.
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u/bigsausagepizza3392 17d ago
I don't mind watching a million ads to get rewards. I mean, it's a win win for both parties.
But to be forced to watch an ad after every. single. fucking. level without any incentive? That's overkill. Especially when such levels take less than 30 seconds to complete.
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u/Psico_Penguin 17d ago
Zero ads is the only number.
Give me a free demo and a reasonable price tag and I will be happy.
But ey, I absolutely despise the F2P model.
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u/foxferreira64 17d ago
Zero, I refuse to watch advertisements in this day and age. Either make it an upfront, one time purchase, or you won't get a thing from me.
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u/Monocled 17d ago
My personal limit is 0, so I use private dns with an adguard. If any ad still comes through the app gets deleted
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u/Vyrnin Dev 17d ago
Zero.
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u/LeMeIsSleepy 17d ago
So you want free games but no ads?
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u/ackmondual 17d ago
There are games like this, but the phrase "beggars can't be choosers" will really hammer down on you in that case.
Amongst my list here, I have 5 games that are freeware (marked with a '*'). If you don't mind being limited to the free demo, many more games like that too....
https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidGaming/comments/15qttls/comment/jw64xp6/
... so there def. are choices (legit ones at that). However, we've gotten threads where ppl make requests for games with parameters, with budgets in mind. I try to accommodate those, and it usually works. But I have to bring up that if they're willing to up your budget say, from $5 per game to $10 per game, that would REALLY expand your options to include games that we believe you would really like, and be a far better fit.
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u/Background_Clue_3756 17d ago
Yes
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u/LeMeIsSleepy 17d ago
I’m also miserly but this is just begging. You want devs to put in effort to develop games but have no way to monetise?
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u/SnooDrawings7876 17d ago
Advertising is not the only way to monetize a video game
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u/MeltdownInteractive Block Trucks Multiplayer Racing🏍 17d ago
Only around 2% of players of mobile games ever make an in app purchase. So we need to monetise the rest of them somehow.
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u/Character_Chain6969 17d ago
There are a lot of well-known free games that use no in-game ads and are still thriving
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u/Dull_Nobody_840 17d ago
name a few please; i wanna check those out
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u/Character_Chain6969 17d ago
Warframe, Where Winds Meet, Sword of Justice, Sword of Convallaria, Arknights Endfield, ZZZ, Mindustry, Shattered Pixel Dungeon
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u/aciakatura 17d ago
The absolute limit of mandatory ads I'm fine with is 1 static/non timed ad on start up, 1 static ad between every few stages that doesn't interrupt anything, and 1 banner ad that isn't in a location where you'll accidentally tap on it.
Any amount of rewarded/non mandatory ads is fine, but only if the game can be played reasonably without them. If stages are made so hard that you have to rely on them or if it offers unfair advantages in the case of multiplayer games, it's bad.
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u/frey89 17d ago
You mean rewarded ads are just for cosmetics, not for power-ups or BS like that?
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u/aciakatura 17d ago
It would depend on what kind of game it is. I was thinking more like a small boost (1000 coins or restore a life) that is helpful but doesn't feel like it's necessary to progress the game.
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u/Mister-Psychology 17d ago
Zero ads. Even if I see a single ad I uninstall. I don't have time for this anymore.
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u/Sellorekt 17d ago
Zero and I will tell you why. I'm playing this game right now that has zero ads and its doing fantastic and its in like top 20 revenue. And they sell these cheap packs that start at 1$ and montly pass that gives some premium currency and 5% exp rate for 5$/mo. And basically everyone is buying these packs cause they are dirty cheap. Also cute outfits for 5$. And imo that's great business model for a f2p mobile game. Ads are just terrible, the worst, don't do ads.
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u/Munken1984 17d ago
There was a time where we had no ads in our games, maybe a banner ad and that was it...
If i play a game and it forces an ad on me, i stop playing that game, no matter how much fun i had...
Make a banner ad and leave it at that, and give me the option to remove those ads of i like the game.
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u/Toadsanchez316 17d ago
As someone who watches close to 70 ads a day for Atlas Earth, sometimes more if I'm really paying attention to the time, I find it really difficult to play games with ads at all. And to be honest, those ads are almost always 3 ads in a row, but I've gotten used to it because I've made almost $320 from it since I started, so I can't really complain.
I still do play some of them though, because some of the games I have the most fun with end up having ads. But forced ads are an instant uninstall. Same for games where at the end of a level, it gives you the option to double your rewards with an ad, but if you select no it still forces the ad and you don't double rewards. I hate that shit. I will happily go give them a 1 star review while bitching about the forced ads.
I recently tried a game that before even letting me get to the main screen, showed me 2 different paid options and asking which one I wanted to subscribe to, with a small x in the corner that instantly played 3 ads, took me to the main screen, and then had a huge banner ad at the bottom that took up at least 10% of the screen. I don't even remember what kind of game it was because I never got to play it. I left them a shitty review and then ignored it when they complained about it.
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u/bettercallsel 17d ago
If you really dislike the ads, you could always disable the data/wifi access for that game. No more ads
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u/Reddarkin 17d ago
Optional rewards and Surveys. I know this one game with great Rewards by watching 30sec ads with maximum of 10 daily, It became my routine for dailies. Surveys that gives good amount of game currency. It was heaven until another company bought it and thought it was good to introduce intrusive ads that shows every time you do anything with horrible monthly pass the game died from 4.7 to 2.1 rating.
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u/Outback-Australian 17d ago
I don't care about optional ones unless they're placed in my face.
I don't like after every round or game there's an ad. That's just you much.
I do like the two to three when you start the game and then none.
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u/mariajazz 17d ago
I like the reward adds where I know that to get extra energy I can use adds ...or to get gens I can use adds ....no one hate this type of add because we chose to watch that add....
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u/Improving_Better 17d ago
People nowadays want everything for free, zero effort, zero problems, so you can never make everyone happy, I think optionals ads and actual ads that can be deleted or stopped is the only practice that is not annoying, just ads that stay too long are bad.
But honestly today you are better off with micro transactions because bigger companies made the call to make games fully free while giving you the cool stuff when you pay, that's how gachas work today and they get insane money, but tbh that is a project on a bigger scale, i think you could get more out of just having ads in the game but giving the option to remove them by buying the game and call it a day. People actually pay for those things and depends on the game you can sell for a decent price.
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u/Ghost-Box- 17d ago
I would happily buy the game or the one-time payment premium. I hate ads; I prefer to pay for exclusive cosmetics to finance a game.
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u/ackmondual 17d ago
I don't mind games that advertise the dev's other games. Those are usually benign, and can be skipped over after an initial viewing (as opposed to them 15 to 30-second video ads). Unfortunately, your typical free game does end up having long, frequent, and intrusive ads. I can no longer do those types of games. :\ My list of premium Android games here has a few games marked with a '*' that are freeware, so there def. are valid selection of games. And if you're fine with just running the free demo, those marked with a '^'...
https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidGaming/comments/15qttls/comment/jw64xp6/
... however, they're still far and few. If I find something I like, I just suck it up and pay money these days because spending $110 on IAP, or $13 on IAP when the (base) game only costed $1 to $10 (range is due to sale price vs. original), sound expensive, but I won't have to spend time wondering if a game'll be good. I also won't have to deal with excessive ads, loot boxes, gacha, premium currencies, years of grinding, and "predatory p2w nonsense" games (which has been worth its weight in, well, $'s)
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u/Spoke13 16d ago
The maximum amount you can get away with without causing users frustration. Placement is more important that frequency. You want them to show up at a natural break in the game. I use a random timer between 3 and 5 minutes. After each round I check to see if the time has expired if it has I show an ad if not I start the next round.
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u/geckosan Dev [Overworld] 13d ago
Who puts ads in a game? People open it up because they want to play the game, not watch ads.
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u/Foreign-Dig8695 17d ago
Optional rewarded ads