Porter's World

Click Through Rate

Recently a lot has been on my mind concerning the approach I should take when designing games. I’ve learned a lot as of late concerning shaping my games specifically for this industry, things such as the importance of mouse support and catering to the desires of casual gamers. Despite my knowledge of what works well, and what works not so well, I still have a desire to create retro styled games that stay true to the classics I grew up on. Despite the fact that I won’t be making as much money, I realized that games of that nature are the reason I got into game design; A few extra bucks (okay, perhaps a couple thousand, whatever, I’ll keep eating cheap Ramen) isn’t enough of a reason to stop creating games the way I love them. Such thoughts got me to asking myself questions such as, do sponsors care about more than CTR (Click Through Rate)? Do they care about more than getting their money back directly from the games they sponsor?

Many developers may be under the impression that the answer is no, but after a bit of thought, and a quick interview with Lars, the games acquisition manager of King, I realized there’s a bit more to it. My primary question pertaining to this matter was this; is sponsoring a game that doesn’t perform well in returning it’s sponsorship cost through click backs beneficial to the sponsor? Here’s what Lars had to say on the matter,

“CTR is very important, but not everything. The quality of the traffic is equally important because sponsors want traffic that like their site, and traffic that returns to play again. High-quality games, and a wide array of games, help with this retention since players only return if they like the games. Moreover, publishing high-quality games that end up with high ratings and front-page features (achievements, etc) obviously increase the brand presence of a site ‘out there’, which in turn increases the likelihood that previously acquired traffic returns. Hence, the answer is: No, CTR is not everything, you need quality and success to attract and retain visitors.”

It was refreshing to hear that there was indeed still a place in sponsor’s hearts for games that are of high quality, but don’t necessarily perform so well as far as CTR goes. The value of a game that is high quality and low CTR can easily surpass the value of a medium quality game that has a CTR of 40%. Having a very diverse game that can’t be found anywhere else is definitely something sponsors want. If you have something original and of decent quality, than it’s of high value, even if the money earned back directly from the CTR of your game isn’t nearly as high as other games. Sponsors want variety to attract the most players possible. If your game is in a genre that doesn’t normally do well among players as far as ratings, but is superb for it’s type, sponsors want that because there is in fact an audience for the genre, one they want to control. Sponsors want quality traffic, traffic that doesn’t just click an in game link because it was well placed, but traffic that clicks those links because they agree with the sponsors taste, traffic that will become a long time visitor.

As my original plan was, I shall continue creating games both to get myself enough cash to survive, and because I love doing so. I’ll mix things up between what sponsors want, and what I want. It’s good to know that even what I want has a place in the world if it’s of great quality, despite how well it may treat the sponsor directly with click backs, because to be honest, the flash industry has far too many rules for me to completely express my creativeness. The fact that Lars said that King looks for a great variety of games definitely backs up my thoughts on the importance of originality. If you find yourself having any trouble deciding whether to follow the various guidelines to help you produce more cash, or going with what your passion for game design wants you to create, think back to the above information, there is always a place for your game if it’s of good quality, despite all the rules.

Quantity vs Qaulity

The phrase “Quality over quantity” probably isn’t new to your ears, you’ve most likely heard it a couple hundred times in your life thus far. It’s something I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately, in regards to the flash industry that is. As much truth as there is to the phrase, there are times when both quality and quantity must be met.

I’ll start off with an example of where quality over quantity truly does apply. My personally run flash portal PrincePorter.com currently runs entirely off of a model based on this thought. My current plan for the site is to just collect as many quality games as possible and truly leave out anything that isn’t of great quality. The idea here is that when you click on a game on my site in a category you appreciate, you find a game that you will enjoy 9/10 times. Sure I could toss on a couple thousand games, get more Google traffic and perhaps make more money, but in the long run this does my site no justice, the quality of games is what keeps people around, or at least keeps those who do visit pleased with their experience.

Quality over quantity is something that flash developers definitely keep in mind. I myself am a perfectionist and refuse to produce a game under my name that isn’t of high quality. Often times I feel that although this is a good thing, there are definitely a few negative aspects to the matter. First off, many average games can be made in just a weeks time, earning the developer a couple hundred dollars at a fairly constant rate. Rather large games can potentially earn thousands upon thousands of dollars, but they take a lot more time, and unless that game is a huge hit, they often end up earning only slightly more than two average sized games, which takes far less time to create. There’s a certain balance that must be had when creating games concerning the size of the project as well as it’s quality, and with the increase of quality flash games on the rise, this balance is becoming harder to obtain as a developer. The simple truth is that in order to survive as a professional flash developer, you must not only release quality games, but you must continue to release these games at a constant rate.

Although some may feel that having a single huge hit may be the way to go, I think most flash developers that are in the industry for a living will agree that committing to a schedule and knocking out successful game after successful game is the way to go. There once was a time when one could simply get by with a large array of average games, but as the industry is stepping up a notch, so must it’s members. In the end, it seems that both quality and quantity will be needed to stand out as a successful flash developer.