Flash Game Monetization

During the existence of Elite-Games.net, I have sponsored few games. Successful sponsorship of games hinges on effective distribution, so I decided to write a short tutorial on the method I use to distribute Flash games.

So... once you’ve made a game, found a sponsor and received money from him, what do you do after that?. After the sponsor has reached his exclusive period, usually a term of one week, here are a few things to remember:

1) Track Your Success.

Your first assistant in distributing your game should be MochiBot. MochiBot is an invisible and free embed in your game that enables you to track how many people are playing your game, and where it’s being distributed across the Web.

2) Make Your Game Easy to Spread.
Before releasing your game, make sure you add a link to your game’s main menu to make it easy for the player to download or embed your game. In my game Elite Forces South Esetia, I added the link “Add to your blog or site”. See the Example.

Follow up:

3) Use In-Game Ads and Popular Game Distribution Programs

This goes without saying, but don't forget to insist on having your own in-game ads for the game.

If your sponsor allows you to use the service, you can use the MochiAds Distribution Program, FGD , and GJ to help push your game across websites through their game distribution feeds. It'll take you about an hour and your game will be taken by 100 + portals.

You will have to make 2 different versions of the game. For the MochiAds, create a version with MochiAds advertising only. For GameJacket, you can use MochiAds inter-level ads but they do not allow advertising in the pre-loader. If you’re able to, include the MochiAds Leaderboard in your game because it leaderboard-enabled games perform better in distribution. Make sure that using these programs works with any sponsorship contracts that you have agreed to.

4) Upload the game to major portals.

I recommend uploading your game to NewGrounds and Kongregate. Once you’ve uploaded both games, send the 2 links to all your friends with a request to give you 5/5 points. Your task is to establish a high rating with points at least in the beginning. There is a network of portals that will take games from those portals, so long as they have a good rating. Don't forget that your sponsor is your best friend in all relation as to your game. Send him a link to your game from NG and K, ask them to vote for it (and HIS friends too). Receiving a high rating and distribution are as important for him as to you.

5) Communicate with the gamer community

The previous steps will take you about 5 hours, but afterward make sure you take part in the discussion of your game. Be polite. Don't insult anybody, don't take comments personally and don't pay attention to the stupid and offensive comments. Learn from the feedback where it’s worthwhile and use that to improve your next game. You can create a lot of fans when the creator of the game is actively responding and taking part in a conversation.

6) Get Your Sponsor To Help

Your sponsor is your friend in the task of distributing your game. He also has friends with the portals. Remind him to ask his friends to post your game and if possible to get a featured position on their site. Some portals do not work with the developers, but only with the other portals - Ask your sponsor to contact these portals as well.

7) And now the difficult part – submitting your game to other portals

Here is a list of game portals you can submit to 45 + .

Tip: Check your MochiBot. Don't spam those portals when they already have your game up, so you don’t irritate the portal owner when they already have your game up. You can also email portals from this list .

Do not forget to exclude portals where your game is already available.

8) Submit your game some more.

If you look on forums and other sites, many other developers have shared access to their MochiBot stats. Look at their data and pay attention the top 20 domains. Noticed some high-traffic portals where your game hasn’t spread? Contact them and correct the situation.

If I’ve forgotten something or made a mistake, please let me know what you think by commenting please!