Tag: Mobile games

Future Monetization Trends that Revolutionize the Mobile Game Apps

Mobile gaming has come a long way and now it is one of the most profitable and popular gaming platforms. This has resulted in various transformation in the game’s monetization, therefore the mobile game developers have a range of options in monetization than ever before.  Those developers who traditionally rely on the in-app purchases have […]

Mobile games

Mobile gaming has come a long way and now it is one of the most profitable and popular gaming platforms. This has resulted in various transformation in the game’s monetization, therefore the mobile game developers have a range of options in monetization than ever before. 

Those developers who traditionally rely on the in-app purchases have moved on to the advertisements and the app bidders are seeing an increase in the revenue by reducing their dependency on waterfall optimization. These are some of the significant innovations that have taken place in game monetization. 

Diversifying Revenue Source Leads to Increased Results

The freemium monetization is the model preferred by most of the mobile game developers, which normally generates revenue via in-app purchases. But it has several challenges like it depends on a small amount of in-app purchases made by the user. According to research done by an app testing company, they have found that only 2.2% of the players send and the other 46% is generated by the spenders. Hence, most of the game developers are including advertisements to the revenue source along with the freemium model results in generating revenue from a number of players.

In an interview, a popular game app company has stated that the revenue generated by them are mostly from the advertisements. Therefore, they have offered the players on a freemium basis, so whenever the players watch a video ad, they are rewarded a coin with which they can either access any in-game contents or hints. 

Many game developers and mobile game companies assume that players are annoyed with ads. They assume that they have to either prioritize the user experience or monetize with ads. But in reality, all professional gamers and game enthusiasts are aware of the fact that the ads are an integral part of the mobile games. 

According to the Mobile Game report, when players are asked to decide between seeing ads or paying for the game to play, around 73% of the players are happy with the ad-funded mobile game model. Also, the game publishers and game developers feared that it would impact the in-app purchases in a negative way. However, those who have incorporated ads in their game app have seen greater improvement within game monetization. Most of the players who review the videos, tend to buy those products and they even spend on the micro-interactions within the game application. 

Ad Placements Pilot’s To Greater Retention And Value

The game developers and publishers have found out that testing with ads, like the flow and ad format integrated into the game depends on generating revenue. Identifying the nuances of placing the ads in help in game engagement, the participation of the players, and minimal churn without spoiling the player’s game experience.

The most productive and effective form of advertisements are the rewarded videos, presumably as it offers the players the option to gain reward for watching the advertisements within the game. Generally, the players enjoy receiving additional rewards or points in the game without paying or waiting for it, therefore both the advertisers and the game app receive the goodwill of the players. So, those game developers who are trying to reduce the need for in-app purchases can try the rewarded videos. This results in longer interactions, engaged audience, and greater CPMs. 

Offering native ads gives an integrated experience to the players, and it can be customized according to the game interface. The ad video or a unit-static display can be created by the developers and leverage the metadata from the advertisers of Facebook. As the native ads are designed to resemble the game, they are more likely to get 3X higher user retention.  

Flow Types Are Responsible for User Experience

It is important to study the mindset of the players when they see an ad on their screen while playing the game. This understanding helps the developers a lot in providing a good game experience. 

The players pay attention to the advertisements when they are not focusing on the crucial aspect of the game, therefore the best time to integrate an ad is while the players are locating the notification tab or any other simple activity that does not distract their game experience. Placement of ads in this format are user-initiated, i.e it helps is driving more conversions. 

Same way, placing an advertisement after completing a particular task can more likely gain user attention. For example, an ad engagement appearing after the player completes a level. 

Bidding Improves the ROI For The Game Publishers

One of the outdated ways to connect the ad sellers and buyers is the Waterfall mediation and many game companies are practicing app bidding and are testing the impact of the revenue against the Waterfall system. 

What is Waterfall Mediation?

It is a technology that involves different advertisement networks in a daisy chain and helps the publishers to make more money for every impression. The ad networks are ranked by the publishers based on the historical average price. After a particular period of time, the rankings can be changed after based on the historical performance either automatically or manually. The waterfall can work, but it has many disadvantages, like the inability to know the inventory’s true value, expensive maintenance, complicated setup, and lack of revenue generation. 

Creating Opportunities for Advertisers and Publishers

Bidding helps the publishers to organize an open and impartial auction over their advertisement inventory, thereby offering each ad an opportunity during increasing demand. Therefore most of the publishers have realized that bidding is the future. Also, accessing the bid in the real-time helps the publishers to exclude the historical mediation stack, prioritize the winning bids based on the data. 

The publishers can also access Facebook’s network of advertisers to increase revenue by offering ads in real-time across through mobile apps, web, etc. And be focusing on user experience, the publishers can take advantage of the integrated ad experience and flexible formats that result in increase life-time value. 

The Top 5 Secrets on Developing Successful Mobile Games

The mobile game industry is the most demanding industry for the past few years. Though there are millions and millions of mobile game apps available on the Play/App Store, the game companies and developers are interested in building more and more games. This is because of the profit the industry has bagged along with it.  […]

mobile-game

The mobile game industry is the most demanding industry for the past few years. Though there are millions and millions of mobile game apps available on the Play/App Store, the game companies and developers are interested in building more and more games. This is because of the profit the industry has bagged along with it. 

Building the game and launching it in the market alone wouldn’t bring success to your game app. There are several factors associated with the success of a mobile game app. 

The secret of Success Behind the Game

The publishers are ready to pay so that they can get their games to reach the targeted audience. There are several ways in which you can promote the game, by using the app store promotions, advertising on social media, etc. If the players are not aware of your game, they wouldn’t consider the game, or download it. Hence, the promotion of a game is the baseline for its success. Even though promotion doesn’t define success, it influences the prosperity of the game among the players. 

Let us see the key elements that you can imbibe in your game that might lead it towards success.

1. Make the Game Freemium

You might have built a bang on the game and if you try to charge the players to play the game, then you might not get the expected number of downloads. In general, people love ‘free’ things, especially when it comes to apps and games that are available online. The reason is, over the years we have become accustomed to accessing the online content without paying for it, hence we expect the same for the games as well. 

The other advantage of freemium is, it allows the user to test the unknown product and get familiar with its features and attributes. So, if the users like the product and when they are interested in its advanced features, they might be ready to pay for it, since they have accessed the core product for free. 

Therefore, while launching your game in the market offer it as a freemium model for the players. Let them get used to the game and its features. The increase in downloads is proportionate to the success rate.

2. Engage the Players 

As the game is available for free, the very next thing that you have to do is to build a community and connect the players. The user base increases with more connections. Make use of the social media platform like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, as it has billions of users. Therefore, the potential players are available within a single space. 

If you are able to build the right channel, then your game gets a lot of exposure. The game has to be hyped and all must talk about the game, doing so will increase the exposure of the game. Players in social media tell their friends and spread the word of mouth about the game. People rely on other people’s views and reviews before getting into a product. Remember, social media is a commercially viable commodity.

3. Maintain Simplicity 

While building the game, see that you maintain simplicity in the game interface and mechanics. Complexity is a bad option when it comes to creating a game. Players expect the game to be easy, interactive, and effortless. Within a few seconds of playing the game, the player should be aware of all the mechanics of the game. 

When it comes to mobile devices, making a simple game is the best way to go; irrespective of the game genre. Games that are considered easy to observe are the ones that disclose the depth. The game should be simple and the potential players must know what they are getting. 

4. Visually Appealing User Interface

If the game crashes at the beginning for 50% of the players, then do not release the app. And if the players take more than 3 clicks to get to the main functionality of the game, you have screwed the user interface and need to modify it. 

Visuals play an important role in game design and they might restore or destroy the game’s look. Even with the limitations of graphical capabilities in mobile devices, it is possible to produce stunning graphic designs. Creativity will get more talking than graphic details. Also, creative visuals help in the marketing aspect of the game.

5. Multiple Platforms Double The Exposure 

Limiting the game to a single platform is not a good option. Instead, build a cross-platform game that benefits in exposure-wise and business-wise. It supports custom game app development that is compatible across all mobile platforms. Targeting many segments helps the game development company to reach more players which eventually leads to increased market share. 

You need not write unique codes for the different platforms because of the reusable code component, so the program developed for one game leverages into different platforms. Also, this reduces more than 70% of the development process time and helps you to adhere and abide by before the project’s deadline.

When you build a mobile game app, imbibe all the tips that we have discussed above to make your game a grand success in the market.