iWin launches new membership club and Premium Games

iWin shook up its membership club and pricing structure this week with the introduction of the new commitment-free, $6.99 per month Club iWin, a new Premium Games category, and a general cash price drop to $9.99 for than a hundred titles in the catalogue.

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iWin shook up its membership club and pricing structure this week with the introduction of the new commitment-free, $6.99 per month Club iWin, a new Premium Games category, and a general cash price drop to $9.99 for than a hundred titles in the catalogue.

Club iWin and cash price drop

Club iWin replaces the previous three-tiered membership offerings (Silver, Gold and Platinum), which were priced at $6.99, $7.99 and $9.99 per month based on the membership commitment period. Now, the monthly membership is being offered at one price of $6.99 with no minimum purchases or time commitment required. Customers can cancel their membership at any time. Existing active iCoins members will automatically be converted to the new membership program.

Customers who join Club iWin pay a monthly charge of $6.99 and receive 1,000 iCoins to use toward the games they want.  Nearly all of iWin’s games are priced at 1,000 iCoins or less.  Other Club iWin benefits include:

  • Sneak Peeks on all iWin-developed games
  • Double Opals for playtime on purchased games
  • 500 Opals for every game purchased
  • Steals and Deals with games at up to 85% off list price.

For players who don’t want to join the club, iWin has also reduced the cash price on more than 100 games from its 800-game catalogue to $9.99.

Premium Games

iWin also introduced a new category of titles called Premium Games – titles that iWin defines as "high quality, big budget games." These games will be offered at higher prices that, according to iWin, reflect the quality and depth of the game.

The first of these Premium Games to launch is the iWin-developed Jewel Quest Mysteries: Trail of the Midnight Heart, which came out today, July 16, 2009. Premium Games will cost $19.99 (2,000 iCoins, or $13.98 with Club iWin).

iWin is comparing Premium Games to hardcover versus softcover books. Much like the way best-selling books come out in hardcover first and are later reprinted as cheaper softcover books, certain games will be introduced at a premium price but will eventually be rolled into the catalogue at cheaper club prices at certain points in their lifecycle.

"With the industry trend of downward pricing, iWin also wanted to ensure that developers, whose development costs continue to increase, were able to get a fair market value for high-end games," the company said.