Games are way cooler when they make you money. So, how do you build an in-app purchase function for your mobile game? How to configure product info for a bigger market? Read on to find out.
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Several months ago, Sony rolled out their all-new PlayStation Plus service, which is home to a wealth of popular classic games. Its official blog wrote that its games catalog „will continue to refresh and evolve over time, so there is always something new to play.“
I was totally on board with the idea and so… I thought why not build a lightweight mobile game together with my friends and launch it on a niche app store as a pilot. I did just this. The multiplayer survival game draws on a dark cartoon style and users need to utilize their strategic skills to survive. The game launch was all about sharing ideas, among English users specifically, but it attracted many players from non-English speaking countries like China and Germany. What a surprise!
Like many other game developers, I tried to achieve monetization through in-app user purchases. The app offers many in-game props, such as fancy clothes and accessories, weapons, and skill cards, to deliver a more immersive experience or to help users survive. This posed a significant challenge — as users are based in a number of different countries or regions, the app needs to show product information in the language of the country or region where the user’s account is located, as well as the currency. How to do this?
Below is a walkthrough of how I implemented the language and currency localization function and the product purchase function for my app. I turned to HMS Core In-App Purchases (IAP) because it is very accessible. I hope this will help you.
I signed in to AppGallery Connect to enable the IAP service and set relevant parameters first. After configuring the key event notification recipient address for the service, I could create products by selecting my app and going to Operate > Products > Product Management.
IAP supports three types of products, that is, consumables, non-consumables, and subscriptions. For consumables that are depleted as they are used and are repurchasable, I created products including in-game currencies (coins or gems) and items (clothes and accessories).
