Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Game Payment Methods
Chapter 1 mentioned a little bit about payment methods. There are a few
different payment methods you can consider for your own games, and it really
depends on the overall quality and size of the market that you are aiming for.
For example, a commercial MMO may have anything from 10 to 200 people
working on it at any one time and so will need to find ways of creating a steady
income from the game when it
s released, whereas an MMO made by an
individual for a few friends will most likely be free. This is not a hard and fast
rule and there are many examples of small development teams selling their
games on various market places.
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Some of the payment methods available to you are as follows:
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Free-to-play:
Considering the large number of MMOs becoming
available as well as the long shelf life of MMOs in general, in some
cases lasting more than 10 years, it
s difficult for new MMOs to keep a
strong user base. Charging a monthly subscription for some of these
MMO games is becoming increasingly difficult. This has led to a greater
number of free-to-play MMOs. In a crowded marketplace, it is easier to
attract people to a game if it is free at entry (there is no payment to
go online and play it). There may be other ways for a company/creator
to obtain some form of financial payback, including in-game advertising
and micro transactions.
n
Monthly subscription:
Charging a monthly fee is typically something
that only the larger and more commercial MMOs can do in this increas-
ingly busy market. You will not find non-commercial or independent
MMOs with a monthly charge in most cases, because the cost of making
a commercial engine that can justify a charge is in the tens of millions.
Unless you are working on a costly commercial engine with popular or
well known intellectual property, it is best to investigate other methods
of payment. The normal price for a monthly commercial MMO is
$12
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16 per month. The cost of these monthly subscriptions combined
with the amount of playing time means that many players subscribe to
only one or two MMOs. It is possible that many MMO players wouldn
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t
pay for two full priced monthly subscriptions but would pay for a full
priced MMO and a smaller scale MMO with a smaller monthly
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