Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Hybrid
As each title has a story of its own, and for the sake of completeness, we also men-
tion the most popular hybrid forms of mobile business models: the Freemium plus
Ads supported which we already mentioned and the Premium plus in-app purchase.
The possibility to download a game for free (Freemium), which display banners (Ads
supported) but offers the option to pay to remove those banners (IAP) is an example
of a very smart, very hybrid, mobile business model!
Choosing the right business model
We would like to close this section about the mobile market and its business models
with useful hints to help you choose the correct business model for your next mobile
game.
To begin with, we are happy to tell you that after so many cold numbers and analysis,
we finally go back to the pulsing heart of what we love to do. In fact our first piece
of advice is that although we make games for money (and obviously because we
love them!) never put the monetization policy interests ahead of your game interests!
If the business model you choose doesn't fit the characteristics of your game, take
a step back and change it. The fact that the Freemium model is the most popular
and (sometimes) profitable one today doesn't mean that you must implement it at
all costs. Sometimes the old way (read: premium) is still the best way. Consider that
the industry giants, such as EA, Popcap, Zynga, and Gameloft invest a lot of money
on the games they make and part of that money is spent to support their business
models. You are not likely to be able to compete with them on their field! Our second
bit of advice is to consider the decision about the business model to adopt as part
of the game design process itself. The earlier you think of your game in terms of its
monetization policy, the better you can embody the business model into the game
mechanics.
A game well-designed around its business model offers more chances for players
to spend money on it, as you can read in an article about Supercell's Clash of
Clans monetization policy at http://www.salon.com/2013/04/17/
this_is_how_you_win_the_internet_economy/singleton/ .
The following screenshot shows Clash of Clans, courtesy of Supercell:
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