When Australian developers Hipster Whale released Crossy Road, it could have gone either way… what was essentially a simplistic throwback to 80s arcade game Frogger, however, become an instant hit.
The idea behind the game was to do free-to-play differently; to do it better – and it succeeded. Developer Matt Hall, alongside studio partner Andy Sum used unobtrusive in-app purchases alongside optional in-app ads to make a highly accessible game. Within 90 days, it had made $10 million via 50 million downloads.
“Freemium was a surprise, right? I’m sure it caught everyone by surprise. But there’s a lot of thought that went into it. There’s a lot of my own wrestling with that concept. I really like games the way they were. Crossy Road, I think, feels a lot like a premium game, in a weird way.” – Matt Hall, Hipster Whale Studios
Find out more by reading this article over at Polygon, where the story of the game’s success is laid out with words and wisdom from Matt Hall and the rest of the team.