What's the best subscription model for an online game?
The game has a hybrid monetization model. There are in-game purchases, and also a subscription plan. Sales are split about evenly between the two.
For the subscriptions, originally they offered 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, and Lifetime subscription plans. When I came on board the first thing I did was eliminate the Lifetime subscription option (replacing it with a 1 year plan). I know from my SaaS background that lifetime plans are a killer. (You collect money from the customer 1 time, but are obligated to provide support to them forever. It's like a ponzi scheme where you rely on money from new customers to keep paying your support staff dealing with old customers.)
However I now have 2 problems:
1) Sales are down. At first I thought it was just a "rain shadow" from all those lifetime subscriptions that had already been sold. (Also the old owner was doing a big sale on lifetime subscriptions before I started, and a ton of people bought it.) But now it's 6 months later and sales are still down.
2) People are always asking me why there isn't a lifetime option. Now some of those people have been around the game for a long time so they would remember we had it before, but some people are new to the game and asking about it. I see some other online games offer lifetime plans, so is that just a thing in the gaming business?
So my questions are... should I offer a lifetime subscription? Should I get rid of subscriptions entirely and focus on in-game purchases? Or something else?
Your thoughts are much appreciated!