Okay, a friend has developed a game that is a new twist on an old simple child's game. It is a more complex version that should engage adults due to its simplicity to play, yet intriguing strategic and tactical challenges. Sorry if this is confusing, but I do not want to announce the actual game concept as of yet. Accept the following assumptions/facts about the game: 1. It is a two-person game; no more, no less. You MUST have two players to play. This makes us think that it must be an online game (versus a downloadable application that can be run on a PC by itself.) 2. This is nothing that a true gamer would be interested in. Too simple. In fact, it is more of a relaxation item for adults. A way to engage with someone else in a competitive environment without long learning curves or time commitments, etc. So, the question is how would we actually monetize something like this? I do not see us charging a membership fee, since it is only one game. We could try the AdSense route, but I am not sure how well that would work. The audience would not be very targeted and therefore harder to push the right ads to, in my opinion, but I could be wrong. I have also thought of selling a link to a branded web version of it to businesses that would like to offer it as a promotional item to its customers and prospects, but I am not sure how successful that would be. So, the challenge, all of you creative DPers, is what would be the best way to monetize this new concept? Thanks and I look forward to the responses!
Create something like this site for it: http://www.igl.net/gtgolf/ Makes the competition more fun and can built a base of users quicker. Put some ads on the site and now your making money from it.
Thanks, ahuddy, that will be a great feature to add to the site. But is ad revenue the only way for the game to make money?
Well, depending on how successful the game is going to be, you may be able to sell the preloading screen for a pretty big amount, as if there are going to be thousands of players then the preloading screen will get viewed every time someone plays the game... This will require a professional to forecast the success of the game, though.
Thanks, kiteguy. I agree that the price that you can charge for advertising or sponsorship goes up as traffic increases. I just wonder if there are any revenue-generating alternatives other than selling advertising, be it Adsense, banner ads, sponsorships, etc.
Well, when you say an online game what do you mean exactly? As in an application game (such as Freecell, Counter Strike etc) or a flash game which will be accessable to anyone? If it's the first, then I'm not sure, but if it's a flash game, then will it be available on your website only or on other websites, too? If it's on just your website then you can use PPC programs such as Adsense and Adbrite or affiliates on your webpage, but if it's available to any site then you should put the advertisements in game because otherwise you wont get any revenue..
I should have been a bit more clear. The game can be implemented however we want. What I am most interested in, at this pont, is if there are any other innovative thoughts as to how we might obtain revenues from the game. So far, it seems like advertising, of one sort or another, is the only suggestion?
Hmm, well, I've got an idea, not sure if you like it but I'll say it anyway You could always have two sections to the game. One part is good, but not amazing, then the other part, the premium section, has a load of added features so it's basically more enjoyable. Get it popular on the free version and people are bound to sign up to the Premium Membership. Charge small ($5 per month or something) and try and get a lot of people to buy...
That's a very interesting idea. I will need to think about how to implement a lite and a full-feature version. But it could work. Thanks. Would be interested, of course, to hear more ideas on the subject.
Since the nature of the game is competitive, you could sell some "add-on features" to the players, e.g. ability to have avatars, photos, ... (for a small price, they can have something other people don't have) Call that "donations" and people will be more inclined to spend their money.
Have a list of 'high' scores online, i know its a two player game, but have some stats online. the best stats could get a prize. this has got me quite a bit of traffic to my online games..
Buntoo, that is a great idea for making the game more interesting. Thank you. What I am really stuck on is whether there is way to make money with the game other than membership fees (I don't think that anyone would pay a fee to a one-game site) or advertising fees (be it AdSense, banner ads, etc.) I am hoping that there is an innovative way to monetize this 'product'.