We explore the phenomena of game companies offering to pay users in "virtual" benefits to take actions in-game that earn the game company revenue from third parties. Examples of such "incentivized actions" include paying users in "gold coins" to watch video advertising and speeding in-game...

In the mobile video games industry, in-app purchases are a major source of revenue. A common in-app purchase is for additional "moves" or "time" in puzzle games. We call these in-app purchases "bonus actions". In some games, bonus actions can only be purchased in advance of attempting a level of...

While reading to children affects the development of their own early reading skills, the set of numeracy activities studied here and undertaken by Australian parents with children before they start school had no impact on their Year 4 achievement in mathematics. It is possible that other,...

A common practice for freemium games is to launch with a simple and intuitive design and release premium features over time in the form of in-app purchases (IAPs) to monetize players.We propose an optimal control model that yields insights into the optimality and economic justification of such...