NaturalMotion’s horse sim leaps 500k daily users

Games technology firm NaturalMotion is buzzing from its success with the free-to-play business model, having reached half a million daily active users on its new iPhone app My Horse.

The equestrianism game was NaturalMotion’s first gallop into the freemium game model. Previous paid-for iPhone games, such as Backbreaker, were nonetheless a relative success, but it appears the Oxford based group is more excited by the potential in making a game free to play.

“We’re seeing more than 2 million daily sessions [on My Horse],” said company CEO Torsten Reil in an interview with Inside Mobile Apps.

“This is an incredible sign for us as we have barely spent anything on user acquisition,” he added.

When trialling the free-to-play system for My Horse, Reil and his team discovered that customers were willing to spend $150 to $300 on virtual goods.

NaturalMotion has not disclosed its revenue intake for My Horse.

The game, developed by San Francisco based MunkyFun, features ‘console quality’ graphics and allows the player to feed, wash and train their horse and enter it into competitions.