Report finds free-to-play microtransactions make up 79% of U.S. app store revenues

If you want to make money on mobile, give away your game — especially in Japan, Australia, South Korea, the U.K., and the U.S.

Microtransactions from free-to-play games accounted for 79 percent of all revenue on the iOS and Google Play app markets in the U.S. in January, according to a report from app-tracking firm Distimo. That’s up from a 66 percent market share from the previous year. In January 2012, that figure was only 46 percent. This is in line with the rest of the world, where free-to-play is dominating mobile revenues in both established and emerging markets.