Can I make my game free to testers and then add a charge to download later?

[PocketTech]

Hey peeps,

I've just released my first game at $1.20 on the Google Play Store.

I was wondering if you guys thought it would be a good idea to start off the game for free for say a week and head to this forum and let people know so I'm able to get some reviews on how the game plays on various devices? Do you think that would be a good idea?

If after that week I updated the game and changed it back to $1.20 would the reviews and number of installs remain?

As you can probably tell I'm new to all of this so any advise would really be appreciated!

Cheers!

 

[BillyWestCode]

My understanding is that once you go free you can't go back to paid

 

[Andrei Serban]

more views and downloads lead to even more views and downloads.
One strategy is to launch your application for free, build some hype, then add ads into your app (you cand add ads to your app through an apk update, without losing reviews,downloads etc.). If you want your app to get paid then make another app, re-name the ad-one "title FREE" and give the original name to the paid one.
The difference between launching the game and charging money for it when it has no-name and no audience vs. launching the game when it already has some views can make a huge difference.

 

[kotsoum]

That is a bad idea. Try to keep your app paid or free, do not make changes on that. Try also to boost your downloads from keywords on your description. Make a search about this ;-)