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.

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.

Key To Moving Forward

I’ve been a rather active member in the flash community for some time now. I know a lot of people, I’ve helped a lot of people, and I’ve done it all for the learning experience and because I’m a nice guy like that. I’m not a crazy believer of karma, but there’s definitely a great reward to be had to anyone who maintains a good reputation in any community. Whether it be friends, sponsors, or strangers you help out, the good deeds definitely do come around.

Not too long ago I stopped working with my last partner for a number of reasons, this left me in a place many developers should always try to avoid, alone. Although I continued to work on my own, and have learned  a lot since then, it’s always better to have a partner or partners to work with, it’s just far more productive. Yesterday I was contacted by a friend out of the blue with some very good news, a partnership of sorts that would have me back in a group environment and working on set in stone projects. This isn’t so much a success story as it is a lesson, so let’s take a look at how this happened. I met this particular person many months ago on the FlashGameLicense forums, to my memory the time we first clicked as friends was when I expressed a certain opinion on my reason to switch from AS2 to AS3. Since then we talked a lot, reviewed each other’s games and so on. This is a single contact, but it paid off.  This kind and honest behavior of many months ago has now put me in a much better position than I would have been had I never done such things.

Here’s another example of how a good personality and reputation pays off. My last sponsored game Tower of Greed was through Lars over at King. Aside from business, Lars and I spoke rather casually and got along well. We kept in touch after the game was released and eventually started talking about future titles. The positive nature of these conversations and the games success have lead to a new relationship with a very high up sponsor. Good attitude here has lead to a partnership of sorts that can’t be gained any other way.

In addition to the above, helping random strangers in the flash community can also pay off. As some readers may know from previous posts, I gained my first flash development partner through helping out a complete stranger. He was asking a question in the Newgrounds Forums pertaining to some coding in his new game, and I tossed him the code with an explanation of how it worked. Two weeks later I saw him again asking yet another question, I answered it yet again and we then talked of working on the game together. This eventually lead to many projects and could potentially lead to more down the road.

In the end it’s rather clear how important being a positive member in the community is. There’s always times when you yourself will need help, and you’re much more likely to find that help if you’ve been out there helping others when possible and maintaining a positive image. Benefits include finding a new partner to work with, having connections with sponsors to sell games much quicker, or just having some place to go to chat with people who share common interests. Either way, maintaining a good reputation is definitely worth while and can eventually be key in moving your career forward.