Non-standard ways to monetize gaming applications

The standard business model of a free-to-play game is a combination of in-game purchases and in-app advertising. This model still justifies itself, but there are alternative ways to monetize mobile games. For example, the company WINR Games offers users to play the virtual lottery in the application, and the player receives the prize in real money.

The game of this company - Big Time - works like a regular lottery, encouraging users to buy virtual lottery tickets. At the end of each week, a winning ticket is randomly selected. The prize fund is $ 1000. Unusual? Yes, definitely. But it may work, because users buy virtual tickets for real money, and the more users, the higher the profit generated by the application. There are other interesting options, we will talk about them further.

Mobile game developers are starting to use more and more interesting models of monetization of their applications, which we welcome in Appodeal .
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We break the game into separate episodes

The idea : with this model of monetization, the developer breaks the game into pieces, for each of which the user needs to pay. Moreover, the total cost of episodes for the user is slightly less than the cost of the whole game, if you buy it all at once, entirely. For example, a game priced at $ 24.99 can be broken up into five episodes, with a price of $ 4.99 each. The benefit is minimal, but users appreciate such small discounts.

The most successful game that is distributed on this model - The Walking Dead from Telltale Games. The same company uses a similar model for Game of Thrones sales.



This business model is great for games with a linear plot, designed for one player. In this case, the player continuously maintains interest in what is happening. Here the player himself wins, who can spend much less money than would be spent on the whole game.

The developer who minimizes his risks also wins. So, if the first episode turns out to be a failure, then the creator of the game can save a lot of time and money by stopping further work on the project. There will be losses, of course, but they turn out to be much smaller than the losses that a developer would have received if he created a big game with a complex plot and multiple levels.

In addition, the developer can analyze player reviews, study the statistics for the episode, so that each subsequent part is even more interesting for the user.



An additional advantage is the availability of any episode for almost any player. The fact is that mobile games for iOS and Android, which cost about $ 5, are sold much better than the more expensive ones. And here there are great opportunities for developers planning to release a big game: it can be divided into episodes, each episode is estimated at $ 5 and get many more buyers than could be attracted by launching a great game with a price of $ 50.

Disadvantages : as mentioned above, this model is only suitable for games with a linear plot. An example is The Walking Dead . For casual games with a non-linear plot, this model is not suitable.

Subscription

Idea : Netflix and similar video services offer a subscription to the user, opening time-limited access to specific groups of video content. What if we offer a similar model to gamers?

It makes sense. Companies can group games and offer a limited subscription for the whole group, not for each individual game. There are pluses for both the buyer and the developer. A player for $ 5 gets 20 games at once, and all game content is available immediately. Now gamers do not have to pay for in-game content, as it should be done in many freemium applications. And for the developer, such a business model is a guarantee of earning a stable income. Do not forget that a subscription in a month will need to be extended in order to maintain access to your favorite toys.


Illustration for Amazon Unlocked

Disadvantages : the main problem here is to get consent from the application catalog to create and use a subscription model. For example, Apple has long and successfully avoided subscriptions.

In addition, not all gamers will confirm a subscription after the end of the subscription period. Yes, and those who do not make in-game purchases, will still use freemium toys, without paying anything.

So far this is a business model being tested. For example, Amazon Unlocked is a subscription program for groups of applications and mobile toys, already mentioned above. Now it is not clear whether the subscription to groups of games will be a real alternative to the freemium model.

Cash reward

The idea : players use real money to get a win. An example has already been given in the announcement: WINR quite successfully uses such a model.

But there are other companies working with similar ideas. For example, Skillz - a new developer platform - allows game creators to embed gambling elements into their applications. For example, a player can bet (from $ 0.25) on what results he will pass the next level of the game. This idea is great for sports simulators, including bowling, football, etc.



Andrew Paradise (Andrew Paradise), founder and CEO of Skillz, believes that a developer can increase his income from games offered under the freemium model.

Cashplay , another platform, allows developers to create tournaments in their games, the results of which players put real money. Income from using such a business model often exceeds revenue from embedded advertising or sales of the application.

Disadvantages : this is a fairly new model of monetization of applications, and the developer must carefully deal with the API of such services. Also, to obtain a stable profit, he needs to be well oriented in the theory of probability.

Conclusion: the modern mobile gaming market is very large, the ecosystem is sufficiently developed so that the developer can test various monetization schemes. With the right approach to business, one of the listed business models can generate higher income than using standard methods of monetizing gaming applications.