Games by Andrex

Monetizing 4kg Using Google In-App Payments

I am pleased to announce that 4kg will use Google’s new In-App Payments service.

Before, I was considering making two separate versions of 4kg available on the Chrome Web Store: normal and donate, as I had seen done in mobile app stores. However, this carries a slew of problems: ratings and app installs are not consistent between the versions, and of course it’s always harder to keep two versions up-to-date than one.

But then at last week’s Google I/O, a solution was announced: Google In-App Payments. By adding a few lines of code to a web app, users can buy things in that app in just two clicks, using their Google Checkout account which they’ve already set up for Android Market, YouTube Movies, Google eBookstore, and the many other sites that use Google Checkout.

Now, I can hear some groaning that this means 4kg will have mini-upgrades you can buy, or items and whatnot. Well actually, no. Sorry, no horse armor in 4kg. The only place In-App Payments will be used is on the main menu, where you will be able to buy a “Donate Key.” This key does not do anything, but Google Checkout prevents normal merchants from just having “donate” buttons, so instead, you’ll “buy” the Donate Key. Again, this is the only place In-App Payments will be used in 4kg. In the future, this Donate Key may be used some way in other Chrome Web Store games I make.

I still have not decided on the amount the Donate Key will be, but if allowed I’ll make it user-definable. Otherwise, I’ll offer options for $1, $2, $5, and $10. If I can only have a single option, I’ll probably make it $2.

So now there will just be one free, open source version of 4kg available on the Chrome Web Store. I think this combines the best of both worlds.