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Making money developing flash games

12.Feb.2009

With the enormous amount of flash games out there, one wonders how they really make money out of it. While some were made as an hobby, there are several producing companies quite successful.

The Gamasutra website interviewed developers on how they were making revenue, and compiled it all on the article Where’s The Cash For Flash?. The first mention is a new licensing platform: Flash Game License.

The Web site claims to have over 960 sponsors – including CareerBuilder.com, Cartoon Network, and Simon & Schuster – of which 200 view the site daily. There are currently about 2,000 games on display, created by the 4,400 developers now enrolled. Since the site was launched in April, 2008, it has brokered over 830 deals totaling almost $956,000—an average of just over $1,000 per deal. Sponsors pay no fees to become sponsors; the site takes 10% of each transaction.

But the most successful approach seems to be mixing up different revenue sources to maximize gains. For example, in the Pixel Jam’s game Dino Run the strategy is:

Stream one involved micro-transactions. [...] Step two involved advertising. [...] The third – and most successful – revenue generator involved licensing [...] Bottom line: The three revenue streams have brought in approximately $40,000 for seven months’ work with more still trickling in.

Other approach, not mentioned on the article, is using user ratings to win prizes, for example, the periodic contests at Kongregate.

All of the sudden it even seems easy making profit out of flash games. However, like in most businesses, it all comes to creating a popular brand and exploring it. The Boxhead creator point of view:

“The brand is the key thing for me; it’s number one,” he explains. “If gamers like the first game in a series, they’ll come back for more when you release the sequels. It’s just like the cinema business. That’s what drives the revenue.”

And that’s the hard part obviously.

If you’re considering entering flash game development, get ready for spending much time structuring revenue sources. Develop and release at some random flash game website won’t be enough, though the additional effort isn’t so hard as it used to be.

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