When it comes to mobile games, a standard method in which they all make money has been devised, and that is of course, the in-app purchase. Used by apps and games on both Android and iOS, developers and publishers alike find themselves making much more money with these in-game purchases than they do from outright purchases that often end up being a one-time payment. It’s tough for developers to make too much on platforms like Android and iOS without already spending a lot of money on advertizing, and this is an approach that Game of War took quite aggressively throughout last year. For a time, it was difficult to even escape ads for Game of War, with the developer, Machine Zone, even taking out an ad during last year’s Super Bowl. Perhaps it was this aggressive approach, or perhaps it was the sudden large amount of money he found himself with, but Kevin Lee Co managed to spend $1 Million on the game.
Mr Co was found guilty of, over a period of 7 years, embezzling $5 Million from his job as a controller at Holt California. As Co entered a guilty plea, he also itemized what said money was spent on, and buried in amongst all of the listings was almost $1 Million on purchases for Game of War. You might be wondering what a million dollars in a game like Game of War actually gets you, and the answer to that would be quite simply; not a lot. Game of War is a game that asks players to pay for more of the same they can get from hard work, but they will end up with more of it and more quickly. As such, that $1 Million was probably spent on more soldiers and more weaponry for Mr Co to build his empire upon. The only problem with this, however, is that none of this is permanent, and there’s a good chance that it was all lost the moment he lost a battle against someone else. Of course, when you have $5 Million lying around, what’s one-fifth of it to go on your favorite smartphone game?