Games War in the Skies - Need help on monetization

Hey Guys, i know that we should had think about this before, but i have a few questions for you and i'll really appretiate any help:

• How do you think that we can monetize our game?
  • Ads?
    
  • Rewarded videos?
    
  • Selling it as a premium game?
    
  • In-app purchases?
• As a gamer, the game catch your attention?

Well, here's the game that we're working on and is just about to be finished:

First, a video for you to check our progress:

As you can see:
- It's a mobile game (iOS & Android) controlled by acelerometer or joystick, were you have to complete missions against enemies in air, ground and sea. Destroying enemy objectives or protecting allies airports or units from destruction. You have to fly around the world fighting against a unknown enemy that will reveal himself as the story progresses.
- You can choose between 3 pilots with different abilities and 3 airplanes that you can customize upgrading their indicators such as attack, defense, energy, among others, adding new weapons or personalizing the skin of your fighter.
- Also you can hire mercenaries with different abilities that will help you to attack or defend the missions objectives.
- We're planning to release a testing build for you to test and i know that is a little difficult to give me feedback before you play the game, but what do you think? any suggestion will be really appretiated :3





Thank you so much :3

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warintheskies

 

I'm strongly opposed to ads in games and if a comparison with Ace Combat is appropriate, I don't see how ads could be successfully implemented in this game if there are not a lot of transitions between game-play elements/screens. Of course ads can always be implemented, but how often will a player be presented with an ad during gameplay, 2-3 times per gameplay session?
Rewarded video ads might be do-able if for instance the player would have to return to the beginning of a long level - unless they watch an ad for one additional life, or some such reward.

In-game optional purchases - imo - are your best option. And the game lends itself to cosmetic options to be purchased - with skins for the planes. However - if the game does not have a multi-player element I'd wager purchases would be low. Cosmetic enhancements perform best when players can 'show off' the purchased elements.

Although in a completely different genre you might consider reviewing Crossy Road in game purchase setup.

 

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I agree with the ads and your comment about skins, that they works better when the player can show off the purshased elements.

I was thinking about video rewards to duplicate the $ won after a level or to hire mercenaries for free to help in each stage.

The game has 23 levels and the user can use the $ reward on each level to upgrade their plane. About the in-app purchases, the only thing that i can think about is to buy additional $ to use it to make upgrades. However, reviewing Crossy Roads, i could put a very cheap in-app purchase to upgrade the plane. The plane can be upgraded buying levels on different skills like Attack, Defense, Energy, etc. that are very cheap at the beggining but it gets more expensive on the next level. So it's a good idea, i think.

Thank you again

 

I think that you did a very big mistake not thinking about monetization since the beginning. Also, I’m not a big fan of games that are relatively big, combat based and with upgrades, skins, etc. And doesn’t have multiplayer or PvP. Your game is destined to obscurity without it.

I don’t know what you can do and I’m sorry if you put your heart and soul in the development of this title, but I don’t see much future on it. But that’s just my opinion.

Maybe if you prepare a version for platforms that have more games in single player like Steam or a console, like Switch, your revenue can be better, but I don’t know

 

You should preface with - this is your opinion and not based in fact.
Several flying games, combat and simulator based games have done exceptionally well, even flying games for that matter created in Unity by solo developers, without PvP - so any destiny for this game will not be related to a lack of multiplayer aspect.

 

I agree with theANIMATOR2b, is not mandatory to have PvP to be a success, the monetization and marketing strategy is the most important part. There are very good games that are perform incredible well and they only have single player.

Also, the multiplayer feature is very expensive to build in cost and time, after launch we'll to provide support to the player and get sure that all is working out ok for everyone. If we get a publisher or investor, i think that we can create the functionality, but for now, is a little far away.

Thanks for your help guys

 

Wow, you obviously put a lot of work into this, so I'm glad you are thinking through the monetization carefully. In my very limited experience, i've found it to be a tricky balance. it also greatly depends upon your motivation for $$ is it your sole source of income? Are you doing it as a hobby to get beer or vacation money? Are you slowly trying to transition your career? there are many other possibilities. In general, a game like this seems like it should avoid interstitials, they seem to intrusive for the flow of the game (just me). IAP's seem like a great way to go, and I love video reward for continuing levels after all ships or lives are exhausted. It is non-intrusive, the user has complete control over whether or not to see it, etc.
Again, it all depends upon your perspective, what you are after, and why. My only other 2 cents is based on connecting with others who use interstitials in more appropriate games (quick level puzzle style, shoot 'em up) - with a small user base and you are just getting started keep the frequency very low. If your user base ramps up to significant levels, try gently nudging up the frequency. But not so much that it would keep you from playing your own. game.

 

Freemium is the way to go with your game in my opinion.

Allow players to play for free but lock some "pro features".

Usually people for simple use they use it with a gem system. You buy a certain amount of gems,transcaction is over then player can do whatever they want with their gems,unlock items,skins,features,upgrades and many more you can think of.

As a single player game i dont think it will matter much if you lock missions behind a paywall either,if the user liked your game he will invest to complete it and support the developer.

 

Thank you for your answers, based on all that you have said i think this is the best choises:
- Video rewards to duplicate the $ won after a level, to get discounts on the upgrade shop or to hire mercenaries for free to help in each stage.
- Small In-app purchases to upgrade one level over the different skills of the plane.
- In-app purchase to get 'game money' and progress faster.

You're great

 

Sorry I'm late in this discussion!

On top of your current strategy, I'd suggest you to look at parental control as a monetization source. Implementing Saferize free parental control Unity SDK you can offer parents a way to set time limits on your game, in exchange for a subscription. Think about something as $0.25/user/month. Let me know if you want more info.

Best,
Gus

 

Nothing wrong with ads at all.... I don't like when people spam them but many ways to use ads properly...one you can have a free game, that has ads... just use them in the UI ..You can also have it where people can get upgrades , points by watching videos.. etc.... Then have a paid version of your game...Which has more content, more skills and can even change what you planes look like..... So again, we make plenty of mobile games, PC and much more and in our mobile games we handle it this way, and it works fine... As far as this game not having PVP, or multi player, so what .... Many people like these games even as single player games, just have a small story behide it and some form of progression...... Again look at the free version, as an extended Trial, if you use your ads properly, and place them properly its not an issue...Just don't spam them every where and have them pop up every 3 seconds while playing...That is where many go wrong...So I disagree, about the whole ad thing.......Many mobile games are free.....So ways to making money is by ads, Skins, upgrades...etc...You could also have for the free version..where they can play the first 3 levels.....Then sell, the levels after that.... or you can sell more content.. Stuff like this does work..



Give people options...If they like your game, they will pay and play it, but if you limit this, people will LEAVE no matter how good it is..