Jorge Torres Resource Exploration: Money Money Money

So you just developed a game, and now want to share that with the world, but you suddenly stop and think. The game you just made seems too good to be true, and perhaps even revolutionary. Then you realize the opportunities that can be had with this game, and you decide that you want to capitalize on this great game. But being a savvy Action Script Guru doesn’t really help you find your way around the business world. Do not lose hope, for I have found a few sites that are willing to help you, and package your idea to make you a millionaire.

Some people might consider creating Flash games a difficult, tiding, and patient process, and for the most part those people are right, but I feel that the hardest part of Flash Game design starts right after your done developing the game. You don’t really hear of the success stories of thousands of flash games making millions, and this could be due to a lot of things. The game could be unpopular, or it could not be accessible as much as it should be, or it could just be that flash games are not popular. If none of these are the problems then the problem might be you have not chosen the appropriate monetization model. A monetization model is how you transform traffic (people using or showing interest in your game) into cold hard cash.

Here are a few sites listed here that are willing to work with flash developers to find a monetization model that might work for you. MochiMedia offers the model that uses advertisements on your website (http://www.mochimedia.com/developers/). The one thing to think about when deciding to use this model is to ask yourself if you are ok with the idea of annoying ads to be in your game, and if the ads being used are to your tastes. I mean if you are a hardcore Coca-Cola fan, you wouldn’t want your game to advertise Pepsi. But let’s say you don’t care about what advertisements are put on your game, is this way even worth any money? The ads are a risk reward model; if your game is very popular then the ads will get a lot of exposure and those companies paying for you to put your ads will be happy and probably pay you more. They can also add a counter that will find out how many people use your game and see their ads. If your game is somewhat popular, but advertisers aren’t happy with the numbers, they might not be interested in you for long. So this model is a real risk reward model.

Then there is the sponsorship model. Armor Games (http://armorgames.com/page/sponsorship) offers such a model, and popularity isn’t as important to them. What is important is the quality of the game, so you mainly just have to impress a small group of people rather than a large audience. This however gives the sponsor all the control on how much you are going to be paid. The monetary value offered by Armor Games ranges from $1,000 to $7,500, for your game (note: Armor Games are very picky about what games they sponsor, and they don’t regularly deal with amateur flash developers, but you never know). Other sponsor might offer much less, and some will offer much more if the game turns out to be hugely popular. MediaTonic is a studio who started out with few developers, and then hit it big when their games became very popular. Now they have a contract with several clients like Cartoon Network. Sponsors like armor games will also let you keep your programming code private, so one else can copy your material.

There are several other models you can use, the subscription model, portal model, licensing model, premium model, and the patronage model. All these models deal with different ways of turning your traffic into cash. For more information on these and other models please visit http://www.gamasutra.com/ the art of video game making and business. This blog post was to offer something different that your usual coding resources, and studio explorations. This is to provide you and inspire you to jump into the Flash Game community, and take advantage of the opportunities out in the interwebs.