Buying a game is a daunting task as you may find yourself regretting a purchase. Developers mitigate this issue by introducing demo apps so that users can have a taste of their game and purchase for more. However, it is not easy to build one this demo apps for a developer. You would have to come up with an alternative story or gameplay for the app and manage two different apps at the same time.
Meta introduces Try Before You Buy (TBYB) in their new Quest update for developers to switch on a trial period – i mean literally a switch and no extra coding required. The feature gives developer options to set the trial period between 15 to 30 min. This flexibility is crucial as some game have life span less than 30 min. The timer starts when the game starts and pauses when the headset is removed. 5 min before the trial ends, you are prompted to purchase the app. You lose all your game progress if you don’t purchase and keep them if you do.
Developers can test the waters before going all out on trial periods. Not all games work well with the new TBYB system. Some games are better off with demo apps and cliffhanger endings that generate better conversions. Meta provide two metrics – Conversion rate without free trial and Conversion rate with free trial. The game is better off without free trials if the conversions rate without free trial is more than the other.
Meta features TBYB apps in a dedicated section in the Store homepage. TBYB is not available on PC VR app store or App Lab apps.