Flash games have really become popular in the past few years. Social gaming is really on the rise, with Nintendo’s Wii console and DS, and social sites like Facebook making games of accessible and appealing to a wider audience than ever before, there is a massive growth in the industry. As a Flash designer you can cash in on this by adding Flash games to your portfolio, and what better way to do that quickly and easily than with our rebrandable Flash games source code?
Now, the most obvious way of profiting from Flash games is to develop them for clients. The freelance sites such as Freelancer.com or ScriptLance have daily listings for client requiring Flash game development work, but if you’re already doing any kind of web design or development work then you probably already have clients you can pitch. Not only will you earn directly from the project, but by adding that game to your portfolio you’ll attract more clients in the future!
Sponsorship is another way to earn from Flash game development. A sponsorship deal involves adding a company’s branding and links to your game (which can be either exclusive or non-exclusive) in exchange for a fee. The amount you’ll earn will depend on your game, and the sponsor you find but these deals can be quite lucrative. Why not take one of the Viral Flash Games, redesign or reskin it, add some of your own features and submit it for sponsorship!
In game advertising is another option. There are several advertising networks to choose from, and the largest by far is Mochimedia closely followed by HeyZap. By registering as a developer you are able to embed their advertising code into your games which not only generates revenue, but can also get you exposure by listing the game on their publisher network. We already have a number of customers who have taken our games, modified them to make them unique, and then submitted them to the MochiMedia network.
You can also monetise your games by simply hosting them yourself, and displaying adverts on the same page. Banner adverts, Adsense blocks or affiliate promotions are all viable ways of monetising the traffic that a good Flash game will generate. In fact this is how I got involved in Flash games in the first place. I created a few simple games back in 2002 which I hosted on a little site I called Kwikgames. The games were so popular I crashed the server, and got into a couple of computer magazines, and the rest as they say is history!
Recently several companies have introduced micro-payments and in-game currency. This allows players to buy upgrades and items, and is a new and fast growing way to monetise games. While this method is still in its infancy, I predict we’ll be seeing more and more of this in the near future. You’ll need a really solid game with good reasons for people to be shelling out real world cash for your virtual products, but lots of developers are getting into this right now and it’s definitely a growing market!
Finally, for a well developed game there is the option of a commercial release. A number of Flash games have already been ported to PC and consoles, and with the backing of an invester or publisher this can be a way for a small time Flash developer to break into the mainstream games industry. Of course PC and console games are not the only commercial options though, the ever popular mobile phone market can be just as lucrative and with the release of Adobe Flash CS5 porting games to the iPhone will be easier than ever, making this a very viable option. If you’re looking at this as a long term goal then the time to start learning and building your skills is NOW! Pull apart our games and learn from the source code, or head over and read some of the Flash games tutorials at FlashGamesClassroom.com to start your journey towards being an accomplished games developer!
So as you can see, developing Flash games can be a great way of making a profit, either as a complete enterprise, or as part of an existing design or development business. If you’re new to game development then start by following game tutorials, or modifying existing game code and in time you could be writing the next blockbuster!