Tapulous targeting pirates with more ads, making a profit
One million pirates providing revenue stream through music purchases and click throughs
Apparently, iPhone developer Tapulous is able to detect how many people have pirated its music/rhythm game Tap Tap Revenge, and it's in excess of one million players.
But the company isn't too worried. It's been targeting pirated copies with additional in-game advertisements, and turned their illicit venture into a working revenue stream.
"We’ve started running ads to the pirate users more aggressively," says Tapulous's Tim O’Brien. "Some of those users, because we sell virtual goods, have become high-volume users."
The pirates are apparently just as keen to buy the in-game music as any users, which is also shoring up a healthy profit for the developer despite these people side-stepping buying the actual application.
Freemium, ad-supported and in-app purchase games are widely considered to be a good way to force pirates to play the game properly, and it seems Tapulous is winning.
