Whyville Switches from Subs to Microtransactions, Debuts WhyPets

Numedeon announced yesterday a change in the business model of its premiere property, Whyville. The free-to-play virtual world is primarily sponsorship- and advertising-supported, but it also offered a subscription for premium options. Now the subscription has been substituted for a virtual currency called Pearls. Parents can set a virtual allowance for their children, choosing to give them various amounts in Pearls one time or on an ongoing monthly basis, which users can then spend on exclusive items or to access new activities.

"We've had a subscription system for two years. We've consolidated that into a new system we call Pearls," explained CEO Jim Bower. "The obvious reason to do this is that we think that the economic viability of virtual worlds, you need to have multiple different ways to get income. We are and remain primarily sponsorship and advertising based. In addition, having income that derives from the site itself remains a more stable and predictable source of income. "

As with everything in Whyville, stresses Bower, there's also an educational component. With Whypasses, the subscription model, users simply had more options. Now they're given the ability to decide for themselves how to allocate their resources.

"One things parents have regarded as positive about Whyville is the [existing virtual currency] Clam system," said Bower. "Parents have commented on the value of that in terms of kids learning how to manage money, saving up for a Scion or spending all their salary for the month on face parts. This is an extension of that into real currency. In some sense, they're being given the responsibility now of managing both their Clam virtual currency as well as their real currency. It's an educational tool as well as, obviously, a way for the site to derive some company."

The system is built on microtransactions and virtual goods to replace the traditional subscription model, but it bears elements of subscriptions on its own. While parents can buy Pearls on a one-off basis, as with most virtual currencies, many are choosing to rebuy automatically each month for their children.

In the three weeks since Whyville launched the change, 60% of the Pearls purchases have been set up as ongoing purchases. More importantly, it's attracting more people than the previous subscriptions. Bower couldn't share specifics, but he said that Whyville's subscriptions were on the same order as other virtual worlds with 5-10% of active users electing to buy in. The Pearls, he says, are doubling that number.

Some of that may come in flexibility as Pearls can be purchased in varying amounts, but it may be more profitable than subscriptions regardless.

"The Whypass was $4.95. We have $5 and $10 Pearls, and we are seeing a fair number of $10 [purchases]," said Bower. "We're encouraged that this will be a growing source of revenue for Whyville. We're encouraged from what we've seen both in terms of response and participation on the site. There seems to be an understanding even among children that if you want something around, you have to support it. We have a fair number of grandparents in Whyville now, and we're actually going to be sending out an email to grandparents that it might be an interesting gift to give."

That interest in supporting a favored product may be part of it, but Whyville is also making the Pearls attractive with new, exclusive features. The Pearls announcement dovetailed with the launch of WhyPets, which let users buy, care for, and train pets in the virtual world. Eventually users will be able to gift, win, and earn WhyPets in various ways, but for now they're limited to Pearl purchases.

The company says that while other kids worlds have offered pets before, WhyPets are unique in the way that they learn and react to the way they're treated and trained.

"There is a sort of AI base to it. They both sort of respond to kindness from their owners and others. They have a range of behavior from friendly to a little unfriendly. They don't bite, but they can be more or less cooperative based on the kindness they receive and whether they're fed regularly and things like that," said Bower.  "We're about to launch tomorrow a feature for pets where they will be able to sniff out and dig hidden treasure on the site, Clams or projectiles or other sorts of items that you can send your pets out to root around and find. That's something the pet is more willing to do if you have a better relationship with your pet."

The focus on microtransactions, new items, and pets that acquire even more virtual goods seems like a strong emphasis on collecting and managing properties in the virtual world. Bower says that the acquisition of items and aggregation of resources is a motivator for anyone, especially kids, and that it's paying off in Whyville.

"Whyville has very high engagement numbers—the highest in kids virtual worlds according to Comscore. The average login last month was 34 minutes," he said. "Anything that motivates them to be on the site is a fcator, and having them come on and spend time to train their pets builds stickiness. It's a factor for engagement, that's what we specialize in.  It's anecdotal at this point, but I think it's having that effect."