There are already tons of free-to-play mafia games available online and for the iPhone. Mafia games have become a huge success on social networking sites and now they are becoming more mainstream. These games consist of creating alliances with other players in an attempt to defend yourself while attacking opposing mob groups to gain experience points. So what makes Mafia: Respect and Retaliation stick out from the rest of these games?
Mafia: Respect and Retaliation offers a revenue model that is based off of what MMORPG players have been doing for years. Players spend days, weeks and months leveling up characters just to sell them to other players who don't want to put the time in to achieve the highest possible in-game statistics. I know, it sounds ridiculous but there is a market for it. Players may pay upwards of $700 (real money) for a fully leveled up World of Warcraft character.
SGN, the developers of Mafia: Respect and Retaliation, have implemented this model to generate income for themselves.
Mafia: Respect and Retaliation is offered for free at the App Store but it has several other versions available. The free version has players start as a low ranked mobster with zero respect points. Players must work their way up the mob ladder to gain more points. If a player doesn't feel like putting the time in to gain respect points, they can just pay for it.
The game is currently offered at six price points, including the free version. Each price point allows players to start with a set number of respect points. For example, for the measly sum of $0.99 a player can start the game at 10 respect points. If that isn't enough points, SGN offers other versions all the way up to $49.99 which allots players 1250 respect points to start with. SGN has a planned $99.99 model in the works.
This is probably not what most folks had in mind when they thought of premium priced games at the App Store but mafia games have become so popular that developers need to take a different approach to set their game apart from the rest.
What would you pay to start a game a step ahead of everyone else?
