Here is an investigation into the moving parts of a ‘freemium’ model for tech companies. Conclusions are, to be honest, thin on the ground but it does give a nice outline of some of the levers you need to pull to make it work…

Understanding successful utilisation of the ‘freemium’ model in digital media and games

Intro :
For a number of tech companies, particularly in gaming, the ‘Freemium model’ has proven profitable and risen in prominence in the last few years. For some, adopting this model supplements existing practices while for others it provides almost an entire revenue stream. With the number of independent game and application studios increasing thanks to significant changes in distribution success is more and more dictated by a sound understanding, and response to, sensitive economic factors. With limited academic data available on this developing methodology I hope to better understand the freemium model by examining successful freemium-centric organisations and determining the key features of implementation. Success is spread across a number of very disparate organisastions, however, and because of the differences in their strategies, markets, and products it is difficult to compare their success directly. Instead I will assess these case studies individually, demonstrating how they have achieved success in their field before highlighting features they share and thereby determining some key rules for successful freemium development.