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Is it possible to pay off mobile game?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Vefery, May 10, 2019.

  1. Vefery

    Vefery

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    I'm developing mobile game, which core mechanics driven by a really expensive asset (90$). Now I'm using pirated version of the asset, but only for testing and developing, I'm not going to publish the game with pirated asset. I was told recently that it's really hard to earn on mobile game: advert services can break up with you because your game doesn't make hype, Google play may not show your game, etc. But I'm in the middle of developing and it's going well, plus it's 50% off on the asset in May.
    So my question is: could you tell me from your experience - is it possible to pay off at least 70$ (that much I would spend on the asset + developer account)? My game is a ragdoll based 3d side scroller, something like timekiller, which you can play on breaks at school, for example.
    P.S Sorry for my eng
     
  2. Ryiah

    Ryiah

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    Android and iOS game development is very much like gambling. You might be able to make the money back but keep in mind the majority of games don't make money, and you definitely will have a hard time making money if you don't bring attention to the game in some way. We're long past the point you can just release it and see the money roll in.
     
    Last edited: May 10, 2019
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  3. Antypodish

    Antypodish

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    Of course is possible. People does it.
    But being realistic, most of mobiles devs, wont see any $$$ this days.

    Edit: chances are, you are not alone, using same asset. Meaning, you will have quite few competitors already. Not to mention others more advanced devs., and companies, which do things for leaving.

    And asset alone won't make you successful. Just keep in mind.

    Never the less, be positive ;)
     
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  4. Joe-Censored

    Joe-Censored

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    Sure it is possible. Just depends on the game and the people you bring to it.

    Personally, I avoid the mobile markets because they appear dominated by pay to win and barely not gambling monetization schemes. Which I think are unethical and will eventually attract government regulation. Ad revenue is pretty low compared to what it used to be as well, but if your goal is just under $100, then I don't see why that wouldn't be attainable.
     
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  5. AndersMalmgren

    AndersMalmgren

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    I have paid of all my assets plus made a couple of thousands dollars on top of that. But I wouldnt be able to live on it. (not mobile game)
     
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  6. Antypodish

    Antypodish

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    We talk about mobile games ...
     
  7. AndersMalmgren

    AndersMalmgren

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    Is todays saturated Steam market alot different though?
     
  8. Murgilod

    Murgilod

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    Entirely, yes.
     
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  9. Joe-Censored

    Joe-Censored

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    A terrible Steam game without any advertising can easily make back a $100 investment just by throwing it on 90% sale every 2 months. That doesn't mean it will put food on the table or pay your rent though.
     
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  10. AndersMalmgren

    AndersMalmgren

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    Not what he is asking. He asks if he can get the asset store investment back. I'm saying you can easy make a few thousand dollars on it. But its not something you can live on. So I already statet that it cant pay your rent

    edit: At the same time I have heard people making 1 dollar per month on their mobile games so I guess its a difference

    edit: Also I do not understand why you have that low goal, but thats another discussion
     
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  11. Joe-Censored

    Joe-Censored

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    I said that in comment #4. I was responding to your Steam comment here. Just saying making the $100 investment back on Steam is virtually guaranteed. I don't think the same can be said for the mobile stores.
     
  12. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    Which is very different from the mobile marketplace.

    With Steam, up-front payment is generally expected by consumers, and while they often want stuff to be cheap they're still willing to pay something for games. On mobile "freemium" is now very much the norm, people often only get games that are free, and the developers need to use something like adverts or in-app purchases to make money from people after they've got your game.

    The difference between up-front and freemium game commercialisation permeates everything about the game, from concept to design to marketing to implementation.

    So yeah, for the games typical of each platform, Steam and mobile are very different from a developer perspective.
     
  13. Vefery

    Vefery

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    Well, you guys saying that it's easier to earn on Steam? I've never considered Steam as good market for indie developers and thought that it's much easier to earn on mobile games since even S***ty games are popular (I mean search for horror in google play, choose any and you would see that it was downloaded more than 500k times). But now I'm pretty interested in it
     
  14. Question is for how much and over what period? One year? Five years? Ten years? It matters.
    Also if you're talking about F2P, 500k is not a great number. Monetization nitty-gritty applies and usually it does not make that much money. When it comes to Ad-driven games, the number of downloads also does not mean anything, the daily views do. You want to financially successful, don't you?

    I'm not a mobile developer (it's disclaimer too), I have one endeavor on the territory, it was more than enough. So try to get some real numbers from sources you trust to see if you can put together a game with numbers you can build upon.
     
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  15. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    I can't say. I haven't tried both recently. I just know they're different.

    I suspect that this is selection bias. Even when you're doing a search I get the impression that Google Play strongly preferences stuff that's already popular.
     
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  16. Vefery

    Vefery

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    I've never thought in that way, I guess my analyzing skills are weak. But yes, I've never heard "Oh yeah, my game is pretty successful, I'm making 100-300$ per month" from mobile developers. Also I know guy with YouTube channel about mobile games (about 100k active subscribers), he made mobile timekiller and even with such audience he made only 15$ in 3 months
     
  17. Ryiah

    Ryiah

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    Just keep in mind that it's getting harder every single day. Below is a video from last year where the author broke down the money most developers are making. I highly recommend watching it for a rough idea of what the platform will be like. One thing to keep in mind is that a niche audience can be good potential, and there are a lot of niches on Steam.


    We've had someone recently create a thread and mention that they were making at least that amount per month on a single game, but it's important to understand that they started at a time when there weren't that many competitors and have been at it for at least a decade. Below is their thread.

    https://forum.unity.com/threads/a-warning-to-new-indie-developers-in-general.665140/
     
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  18. Vefery

    Vefery

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    Thanks for video, I think I'm not ready for steam after all
     
  19. Vefery

    Vefery

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    Ok guys, thank you all for replying!
    I decided to freeze my project (second time lol) since I'm not sure about pay off and it's my first game.
    I think I will make a simple game without expensive assets for mobile to see how it's going on google play (or even earn some money for my more ambitious projects)
     
  20. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    Are you doing this for money, or do you like making games?

    Learn your craft before you try to make money from it.
     
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  21. Also don't forget that you need to invest if you want to make money. Either/or time and money into marketing, contacting press, paying for FB campaign, whatever you think works. But don't release and wait for people to play with your game, they won't notice. Also there are more clever people than me to learn from about game marketing.
     
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  22. Vefery

    Vefery

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    I just like making games (and I want it to be successful of course), for pure earning I'm trying to sell 3d models
     
  23. Antypodish

    Antypodish

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    If you got interesting, good and niche models, chances are, you will make more from them, than your mobile game :)
     
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