Friends who often recharge in mobile games will definitely find that in China, the highest single recharge amount of mobile games is often 648 yuan, and the lowest is 6 yuan. So, why does the amount of recharge have to be 648, 6 yuan? Why can't it be customized? Wouldn't it be easier to calculate by replacing it with an integer like 10 yuan, 20 yuan, and 30 yuan? Or isn't it more auspicious to use 888 or 666?
It all started in 2008. In July 2008, Apple launched the Apple Store, attracting a group of app makers. Most game apps are paid to download, and the revenue received by the makers needs to be given to Apple on a pro-rata basis, and the settlement is uniformly in US dollars. In addition, Apple does not have the right to arbitrarily set prices for game developers.
In order to facilitate international settlement, Apple has set up different gears for developers to choose, with a minimum of $0.99 and a maximum of $999.99.
Later, with the rise of in-app purchases, Apple formulated a maximum price of $99.99 for in-app purchases in order to prevent user errors from recharging too much and making the amount unbearable. Finally, in November 2011, Apple began to support RMB settlement.
The price was set according to the exchange rate at the time, i.e., $0.99 corresponds to 6 yuan, $49.99 corresponds to 328 yuan, and $99.99 corresponds to 648. But at that time, most mobile games were bought out, and they had to hesitate to spend a few dollars, let alone 648.
It wasn't until 2013 that a two-dimensional gacha game from Japan called "Diffusion Million Krypton King Arthur" appeared in China, and its domestic agent operation team was grand, directly according to Apple's official purchase price in the Apple store, and the maximum recharge amount was set at 648 yuan. Never underestimate the allure of a producer to a particular player.
Gacha stuff is really easy to get on. This mobile game from Japan, like the mobile game of the Chinese manufacturer's camp, has the ability to attract money, as well as the attraction of the second dimension to a specific group of people, not only did not die violently, but also reached new highs in revenue. Krypton gold numbers such as 648 spread all of a sudden, and were imitated by domestic manufacturers. In order to unify the price with the two platforms of iOS, domestic developers simply transferred the pricing of Apple's in-app purchase to Android.
Interestingly, the untidy pricing methods of 6, 328, and 648 often give consumers the feeling that the merchant has done a good job in pricing, and has done careful thinking, so as to believe in the reasonableness of the price of the product. In addition, the price of many game items is often not the price of any one recharge stall, and it is often less.
This kind of unfair pricing makes it difficult for consumers to calculate, and some players on the top may have carefully calculated in the first few times, and then directly put it badly, and a few 648 went up. Therefore, game manufacturers are also a little careful about the pricing of game props. Finally, remind all players that the essence of game gacha is gambling, and you must remember to do what you can to restrain your emotions when recharging mobile games.