Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
However, there are some drawbacks to social gaming sites. First, sites like these contain rating
systems that will probably not be kind to your game, no matter how good it might be. The
communities on these sites are very opinionated and are looking for very specific games and
genres (e.g., ultra professional-looking zombie defense games) that might not jibe with your
creation. For this reason, the comments and ratings might not be as helpful as the exposure to
your game gets in general. If you can stomach the ratings (and by the way, they could be very
positive, especially if you hit with the right game at the right time), these sites can be a great
way to find out how your game will play with a general audience. Some portals also have
periodic contests that award developers cash for the best-rated and most-played games over a
certain time period. However, there are pitfalls to contests. We will discuss some of them in the
next section.
Selective portals
Many commercial portals, such as MindJolt.com and AddictingGames.com allow developers to
upload their games for approval and publication. Some of these portals are very popular but also
very selective about the games they publish. This is both an advantage and disadvantage for
developers. It's an advantage because if your game is published, it can be played thousands or
even hundreds of thousands of times. For sites that allow in-game ads (e.g., mindjolt.com), this
can mean some significant ad revenue for a short time. For sites that don't allow ads, such as
addictinggames.com, it means many plays, notoriety, and links back to your web site but no
money (unless you get sponsorship, which is explained in the next section). The disadvantage, of
course, is frustration. It can be very frustrating to have your games rejected by these portals.
Portals reject games for many reasons, which don't always have to do with quality. Selective
portals try to add games that fit certain categories and try not to dilute their offerings with too
many of the same title. Also, these portals are in the business to keep players coming back as
often as possible to play as long as possible. Because of this, games in popular genres will get
picked up faster than other games. However, there are also many games being produced in
those genres. Generally, to get your game one of these portals, you need a great game, a lot of
skill, and a little luck.
Before uploading your games to a portal, be sure to read the fine legal print posted on the site so
you know what you are getting into. Many commercial portals claim legal rights to your
submissions as soon as you click the upload button. Be aware of the following words in terms of
service agreements, and make sure they fit the site to which you are submitting your game:
Irrevocable
Perpetual
Exclusive
Royalty-free
Fully paid
Sublicenseable and transferable license to use
Ability to modify
Prepare derivative works of
We are not saying that you should not submit your games to portals; just be sure to read the legal
terms and know what you might be doing when you submit your game.
