Monetization Guide

This lesson will have advice and tips on how to help your game make money. It will cover some monetization methods and ideas from previous lessons.

Study Similar Games

A great starting point is to research similar games and note their monetization methods. Some research questions to keep in mind:

• What are items that players are willing to purchase?
• Which items are not being monetized?
• Do the items seem fair for the benefits they give the player?
• What type of players are spending money? Big spenders or small spenders?

Using other games as a guide will help suit your monetization model according to the target player base.

First Time Buyers

One of the hardest hurdles in making money with games is usually convincing players to make their first purchase. Starter packs can give new players a free purchase or a really good deal for their first purchase. Once a player makes a purchase, it is much easier for them to make another purchase.

An example in Core is the game Online Piece by Eskil that has a starter pack aimed at first time buyers.

User Interface

Making a purchase should be easy and smooth. The player should never feel confused when trying to make a purchase. A shop’s user interface needs to be easy to find and simple to understand.

Celebrate Purchases

If players have a rewarding sensation when making a purchase, then they are way more likely to do it again. This can be as simple as adding a sound and animation once a purchase is made.

A cool example of celebrating a purchase in Core is the game All Hail Big Number (BETA) by Heavy that displays the latest donor’s name on a mountain.

Player Motivations

Understanding the motivations of a player can help establish monetization methods that coincide with them.

Progression

Time is money. Players will often pay if it means it saves them time grinding the game.

Power

Being more powerful in a game is a usual goal. Players may want to spend money to feel more powerful than other players.

When selling power to players, it is good practice to make sure the power can be earned over time by non-paying players.

Collection

Having a collection of items can encourage players to complete a set. Having a rare set may also drive the player to make bigger purchases.

Personalization

Players usually enjoy cosmetics within a game. It can show prestige among other players, as well as individualism.

Timely Offers

Purchases should be offered whenever a player may need it most. Tutorials for first time players are usually not the best time to mention purchases. When a returning player enters the game, it may be nice to show the daily events such as a daily free purchase. Another example is when upgrading weapons to display an option to purchase better upgrades.

An example of a timely offer is from the game Anime Kingdoms by Noangy. An infinite bag can be purchased once the player’s backpack becomes full.

Events

Having timed events can keep the player coming back for better prices. This can be a daily sale, weekend special, or a season pass. Prices being static will be harder to sell than events with sale prices.

Limitless Purchases

There are different types of spenders in games. Some players will only ever purchase one item, while other players are willing to make many purchases. There should be no restrictions on the amount of perks a player can buy or creators will be limiting their profits.

One example in Core of limiting purchases is the game Minigolf by Divide. It is a very fun game but the shop has only two options for purchasing Limited-Time Perks, so the player can only purchase a maximum of two items.

Analytics

Once a monetization method is established in a game that does not mean it’s over. Creators should constantly be looking for feedback on how to improve it to make more money. Looking at the comment section or creating a Discord can be great ways for player feedback. There is also a built-in window in the Core editor named Analytics that has info on perks purchased in game.

Community

Player feedback is incredibly invaluable to look for recommendations once a game is published. Creating a Discord for a game is a great way to gather information on player experiences. Creators should reach out to their players and ask questions to look for any improvements. A fun way to promote your game’s Discord is to have a secret code only found on the Discord server that can unlock content in the game.

Here’s a Discord promocode example from the Core game Honey Magnate by Kirch.