This is a quick run-down on the status of the financial options that are available to independent developers who don’t have massive marketing budgets or corporate support. Please post a comment below and let us know how your experience has been with these options (or others I’ve missed).
Flattr
The latest option is a general-purpose micro-donation system called Flattr. It takes the “like”/”retweet” interactive device and applies it micro-funding. Watch this video (1.8 minutes; opens a lightbox) to see how it works; or here’s a summary:
- Once invited/registered, you fill your monthly “means” account with some money. The devs like to call this account cake.
- Whenever you click on a Flattr button, a slice of your cake is given to the thing associated with that button.
- At the end of every month, your cake is sliced evenly and distributed among all the things you flattr’d that month.
- Likewise, you will receive money from people who flattr’d YOUR content.
You always have to have some cake to give in order to get some cake yourself. That’s the gist, and so far it’s working well. Of the 15k or so users, many got €100 for a month and thousands more got more Euros than they spent (other currencies forthcoming–Flattr is still in invite-only beta). Pretty good considering this service just launched last month (March 2010) and it’s still in private/invite-only beta.
The relevance this service has to Flash games is obvious. Someday soon you will be able to put a Flattr button anywhere in your games and people will be able to easily support you–with all revenue going to you, the developer. It usually isn’t much per click, but it’s still a LOT more than anything ads could give you.
At the moment, you submit your game/post/whatever to the Flattr feed, or create a post for your game in your blog (like I did), and people will be able to flattr you that way. Still pretty easy, but the real deal is when you can directly embed a button in your game (coming soon, whenever they release their REST API and someone writes a Flash implementation of it).
Microtransactions
Microtransactions (aka MTX or micropayments) are not as bad as ads because you get more money per click, but not as good as Flattr because you still have to share your revenue with the MTX service(s) you’re using. MTX are also the most difficult option. Not in terms of coding skill but rather design skill. You have to ensure correct usage/placement of MTX items within your game. Besides that, there’s choosing which service works best for you. You MUST read Lost Garden’s Flash Love Letter that explains both of these factors in great detail.
Here’s the current most prominent micropayment services in no particular order:
| Service name | Dev cut | Legally usable with other services? | Dual currency? | Game extras? | Usable on any website? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nonoba | 70% | ||||
| MochiMedia | 60% | ||||
| HeyZap | 70% | ||||
| GamerSafe | 70% | ||||
| SocialGold | 90% | ||||
| come2play | 50% | ||||
| 70% |
come2play took 3 months to respond. For that and they’re disappointing services, they get my infamous “Shit Eater” Award.
“Game extras” means the service provides an API for things like leaderboards, achievements, and other little things that increase player retention and increases general interest and replayability, as well as the all-important analytics tools. Ease of implementation for each service varies, but they’re all pretty careful to make it quite simple. I don’t have any personal experience with any of these but if YOU do then please leave a comment telling us how it went for you.
Note that nonoba is evolving their tools into PlayerIO, a full-blown multiplayer framework built specifically for Flash games, based on a subscription fee (there’s a free version). I’m not sure how their Payments system will handle the move and they haven’t gotten back to me yet. I’d like to mention that the crews at HeyZap, MochiMedia, and GamerSafe were by far the most responsive of the bunch. HeyZap kept my game The Last Evasion in indefinite “awaiting approval”, so they can go fuck themselves.
It looks like a combination of services would be best, but that leaves you with HeyZap, GamerSafe, nonoba… and SocialGold, although SocialGold requires you to have complete control over the page your game is embedded in (ie you can’t post it on any portals) so that really isn’t much of an option (and you should read this thread that explains its serious security flaw).
In choosing the service(s), be sure to take a look at their developer forums and see how often they get answers too. Send them an email with some questions to find out how helpful they are. You can ask other devs about it, but my forum questions went unanswered. You’ll have a bit more luck if you are more sociable than me 
Sponsorships
Sponsorships are an excellent choice, if you have a game good enough to attract sponsors. Just beware of bad/dickish sponsors. Be sure to read SteamBirds dev’s experience vetting sponsors on FGL and check out FGL’s informative 2009 report.
Remember that, besides FGL, there’s thousands of other sites that don’t check FGL that will be willing to sponsor your game with varying terms. Just shoot them an email and ask. You can charge more for one that requires you to completely re-brand your game, or for an exclusive (or time-sensitive exclusive) license to your game, or it could be as simple as putting in a logo somewhere and a link or two. Ask around, work out a good deal and see what happens.
Shareware
With the advent of Adobe Integrated Runtime (aka AIR) and tools like Sharify, we can actually package our games as downloadable apps that can be played on just about ANY platform (thanks to Flash Player 10.1, this includes Androids and holy shit TVs). While Sharify and similar services can lock your game, you can do that part yourself and just use an MTX service to handle the money part.
Ads
If your game is small and shitty (like my first one, and like the vast majority of Flash games), ads are a good option since MTX requires more time and skill implement. I’ve heard a few developers who have made a good amount of bank with ads, but they are few and far in-between. However, they do offer us a quick and easy way to earn (tiny amounts of) cash.
But there remains some pretty nasty problems with ads:
- Clicks or impressions (whatever the ad provider does) provide a microscopic amount of revenue in the first place.
- You get little more than half of the revenue generated by the ads. (Most do a 60/40 split.)
- Each big-name portal has their own rules on which ads you can use.
Regarding that last one, as an example: you can’t show Mochi Ads on Kongregate; Newgrounds has their own ad system; Armor Games, the same. We have to make a different version of our games for each portal. This, my friends, is bullshit.
Conclusion
To get the most revenue from your games, you will need to decide what your business model is before you even write one line of code. Banking on the general goodwill of your audience? Use Flattr, add a PayPal donations button, and maybe an ad for a preloader. Have a multiplayer game? MTX is the way to go. Have an amazing single player experience? You’re probably better off with the shareware model. But in all cases, you should at least ask around for sponsorships, because the terms can be so flexible with good payoff. Also, don’t forget Twitter/Facebook/etc. share links!
So, all in all, I’m really happy to see people taking Flash games seriously and throwing some genuinely useful financial tools at developers. And as always, things will keep changing and we’ll see better ways to bake our cake and eat it too. Good luck and have fun!
