Flash Game Monetization

The Flash Games Market Survey of more than 1,1000 participants found a global developer community consisting primarily of hobbyists, but with a substantial number of success stories and a growing base of professionals who make a significant amount of money off of developing games. Highlights of the study include:

* Developers are largely male (97 percent of respondents); come from all around the world (34 percent from U.S., 14 percent from U.K., 8 percent from Canada, 4 percent each from Australia and Russia, and the rest spread out around the world); and are often (37 percent) publishers as well as developers.
* More than one-third of developers work full-time making games; and 20 percent of all respondents make more than $1,000 per month off of their games. Five percent of developers make more than $5,000 per month, with 2 percent making more than $10,000 dollars.
* New talent is pouring into the Flash gaming market: Almost two-thirds of all developers responding started making games within the last two years, and three-quarters of publishers started their portals within the last two years.
* Multiple revenue streams; nearly one-third of developers are monetizing their games in four different ways, and half are using two;
* Ads in games is the most popular (58 percent) revenue stream, with sponsorship next (43 percent), followed by licensing (26 percent), ads on their Web site (20 percent), custom game development (20 percent), and micro-transactions (6 percent), though the study was conducted before Flash game micro-transaction platforms were released later in the year.

The study also found that most developers have made 1-5 games total (64 percent), while 13 percent have made more than 11 games.

Developers are also generally independent, with only 8 percent working at a studio or other game developmnent company.

The vast majority work on their games alone (60 percent), and a significant, but small number work in independent teams (29 percent).

Developers are also most comfortable with the technical aspect of making games, with 74 percent citing coding as their strongest aspect of developement and game design next at 66 percent. Most were less well-suited for the creative and business side of developement with 40 percent naming game art as thier strong suit, with business (partnerships, advertising, sponsorships) next (21 percent) and game music last (15 percent).

Game development cycles are considerably short, with almost half of developers building games in 1-3 months, and another 23 months building games in less than one month. Lastly most Flash game developers currently work exclusively on Flash, with a small number building on other platforms, but nearly one-third have aspirations of developing iPhone games.

Detailed Survey Results:

Follow up:

Created and proceed by Mochimedia.