Porter's World

The Power Is Yours

“The Power Is Yours!” is not only an awesome catch phrase of Captain Planet’s, it’s also a concept developers really need to understand. The most commonly asked questions by beginners in the flash game industry is, “How much should I sell my game for?”. While some people can help you estimate a price for your game, you should never let a sponsor do so, unless you are very close and have previous work experience with them. There’s a big issue in the game industry right now, game developers aren’t getting the right amount of respect for their hard work. There’s a hierarchy being shown to people that isn’t correct. Publishers and sponsors aren’t at the top of the food chain, developers need to stop acting like that’s the reality.

The first thing we all need to recognize, is that the flash game industry is new, very new. Yes flash games have been around a while, but it wasn’t until the last few years that it’s actually been recognized as a real industry. The young age of the industry is where the complications are coming from; wealth and greed are taking place, as they will in all industries. Those with money want more money, those supplying the fundamentals of that money aren’t getting their fair cut. Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t a fierce battle going on between developers and sponsors, not in the slightest really, but changes do need to be made, and current progress is proof of this concept.

I don’t know the exact dates of growth in the industry, I can however explain some huge growths in general that have happened over the last few years. There was once a time when people made flash games entirely for fun, there were no ads, and even no sponsorships. As we all know, sponsorships did indeed rise, and that was the beginning of where we are today. Everyone also knows of Mochi Ads, they’ve been around awhile now, and are a big name in the flash game industry. They weren’t always around though, or widely accepted for that matter. Once Mochi came around, there was an adaptation of allowing ads that didn’t happen over night. Users hated them, games and movies were voted down on portals such as Newgrounds, and so on, they simply weren’t welcomed. These days, you’ll find Mochi Ads all over the place, as well as other companies such as CPMStar; not only that, but these ads are actually widely accepted and not nearly as frowned upon as they once were. Ads aside, there was also a huge leap forward in the industry when performance deals were introduced. Performance deals allowed developers to get a significantly greater portion of the earnings on a game, compared to the usual upfront lump sum that basic sponsorships call for. For instance, if a game is in a performance deal and becomes the next hit game on the internet, the developer is going to see a lot of money, where as in a normal sponsorship deal, the original payment is about all they’re going to get, aside from a bit of ad revenue. In addition, there’s also the current battle (as of writing this) for microtransactions. For those unaware, microtransactions refer to the sale of in game items for real cash, a popular marketing model in free to play MMO’s that’s slowly making it’s way into the industry. It’s only a matter of time until this model is entirely accepted in the industry, but it’s up to us developers (or you the future developer) to fight the good fight. For more information on the fight on microtransactions, hear what Chris Hughes and a few other big names in the industry have to say over at the Way Too Casual Podcast (Skip ahead to 33:30 to get straight into microtransactions). With the above knowledge, we know that in the last few years we’ve gone from nothing, to sponsorships, to allowing ads, and now we’re getting into microtransactions. What does this mean for you specifically as a developer? A lot.

You may be a grade A developer, you may be someone new in the industry, or you may be somebody reading up on material thinking you want to join in, regardless of your status, we all hold equal power for the progression of this industry. For every developer that forgets that they are in control of their work, and not those looking to buy it, struggle is added to the change in this industry. Each and every developer needs to be educated on what is right and what is wrong, what options we do and don’t have, and what options we don’t, but should have. I’ll stress again that there isn’t exactly a war going on between sponsors and developers, but there is tension; as the Way Too Casual Podcast stated, the word “Microtransactions” definitely stings the ears of some, and that’s something that needs to change. If you’re a new developer, learn your rights, and practice them. If you’re an experienced developer, avoid selling your game for anything less than what you deserve, no matter what the circumstances; it may give you some extra cash quicker, but it slows down not only you, but the entire industry in the long run.

Here are this week’s useful links posted by me, for you, check them out,

1.) Finite State Machines: A look into FSM (Finite State Machines) by the one and only Colby Cheese.
2.) Interview With Vortix Games Studios: An interesting interview with Vortix Game Studios.
3.) Concept First: A quick reminder of why you should plan your game fully before you build it.
4.) Sockets and IE7 Trouble: A look into some issues IE7 has with dealing with sockets.
5.) What would you pay for?: An interesting article that poses the question, what would you pay for when it comes to micro-transactions?

Check back with the Prince often, because I love you.