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Happy Birthday, Google Play! It was two years ago that Google rebranded the Android Market to Google Play, and little did we know that it would take off to become what it is now. Not only are great apps and games made available from this vast repository of digital goodness, but you can also buy the latest Nexus devices, Google Play Experience devices, Chromecasts and accessories, books, movies, TV shows, music and so much more.
So what’s Google going to do to celebrate? They’re holding a sale, natch. Early evidence of a Google Play Store sale has trickled into the atmosphere, though it doesn’t appear things are quite ready for everyone just yet. Heading to this page should soon take us to a promo page, but for now it’s a dead link. Some folks at Reddit were able to catch which games and apps will be on sale, though. Here’s the list so far:
FIFA 14 is Free.
Disaster Movie is discounted to 99 cents
GQ Australia Magazine Subscription is 30% off
“Theme Park” By EA is Free
“I Came To Say Goodbye” the Book is $4.99 (looks like it hasn’t been discounted yet)
“Heroes of Dragon Age” By EA is Free
“Tiny City by Chillingo” International is Free
“Outback Dreams” the book is $4.99 (looks like it hasn’t been discounted yet)
“The Sims Free to Play” is ….. free
Taste.com.au magazine issue is $2.99
“Need for Speed” by EA is $5.49
“Vanity Fair the Movie” is $0.99
“Bejeweled Blitz” by EA is Free
“The Luminaries Book” has been discounted to $4.99
“13” The Movie is now $0.99
“Blurring Lines” the Book is $4.99
“Dungeon Keeper” by EA is free
“Super Food Ideas” Magazine is $1.99
“Dead Ahead Game” by Chillingo International is Free
“NBA Jam” is $5.49
We should note that a lot of the “free” stuff up there is normally free, and those games will likely come with deals on in-app purchases and consumables. Google will also have specific landing pages for books, movies and music. The following links are currently dead as far as we can tell, though we’re sure they’ll point somewhere relevant once this thing officially kicks off. Here’s what they’ll be serving up before too long:
- 24 hour music deal – https://play.google.com/store/music/collection/promotion_albums_2000529_birthday_deals_music
- Books under $5 – https://play.google.com/store/books/collection/promotion_100023e_books_birthday
- Movies from $3.50 – https://play.google.com/store/movies/collection/promotion_promotion_350est
- 30% off magazine subscriptions – https://play.google.com/store/newsstand/collection/promotion_6000273_subdealsau
We’re not sure what’s going on beyond that, but we have a feeling we’ll be finding out in the hours and days to come (Google Play’s official launch is billed as March 6th). We’ll be sure to keep you guys in the loop as we dig deeper.
A lot of these “free” games listed were already free..
Yay! Nothing good! You know how to spoil me Google!
Bejewel Blizt Free WITH In App Purchase https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ea.BejeweledBlitz_na
looks like a fake free. I would say looks more like a scam.
Some of these aren’t “free games”, some are add-ons for games. Like the offer for Sims Free Play is half off adopt-a-toddler. Please fix your article.
all the free EA stuff has been free. EA is now an IAP vendor, they don’t sell most of their games straight up any more.
Judging by the last holiday sale this is probably what we can come to expect, gone are the days of real apps on sale for .10 or .25… Welcome to the days of freemium games being placed on “sale”..
K, so the free games that are already free and have IAP’s appear to have 50% off the IAP’s, when I take a close look at the photo above. For me it’s still a fail since I don’t do IAP’s at all. Give me the entire App/Game for a fair price otherwise I pay nothing.
Here we go again.
Dude, you do know there are A LOT of PC games that do this same functionality and people don’t seem to have a problem with that.
I would play a mobile game for like a month or 2 before stopping. I’d rather pay nothing instead of like $20 for everything. Or maybe $5 for some In-App things.
Now, I will agree that some apps have ridiculous in-app purchases prices, I will note that. I will also state that some apps shouldn’t even use In-App purchases. Like the Asphalt series. Why would they even go that route?
But to not have the option at all, no I don’t agree. Sorry.
I struggle to see your point. $20 for everything – isn’t that an exaggeration? There are very few titles in the play store that cost that much. Most of the paid apps in the store are actually at or well below the $5 threshold you said you’d be willing to pay. And many of the IAP games require much more than that for an enjoyable experience. Truth is that IAP will end up costing most people significantly more in the long run. If you enjoy the option of paying more then more power to you, but I want an up-front price, and will not spend a dime on IAP.
Maybe you missed my point earlier, I pay nothing on IAP games. Do I play IAP games? Yes I do. But the developer gets nothing because I pay nothing. Therefore the promo to offer 50% off IAPs is a fail in my world. Asphalt series is a great example. Paid for the full version of NFS and Riptide but would never pay a dime for Asphalt’s IAPs. But I play Asphalt games. .
Maybe they should offer a ‘flat rate’ full version and IAP version but that would get to confusing.
Hopefully you see what I am saying.
I could use a free Drake album so I can get all emotional about this celebration.
“need for speed”
which one?
there’s shift, most wanted, and hot pursuit.
Most wanted.
most hot shift
Looking forward to the music deals!
Google Play store must give a per account global setting “Disable In App Purchase”. That the user can set once for all in his/her account.
They do. It’s called:
Password: Use password to restrict purchases.