Creating a viral mobile game is hard enough by itself. Making serious money from one can be even more difficult. After all, aren’t most mobile games free to download? Well, yes. In fact, 92% of mobile users in the United States have downloaded at least one free-to-play mobile game, as of December 2016. However, the vast majority of those apps have at least one method for making money from their players.
In-App Purchases vs. Ads: What’s Best?
Let’s examine a few of the most popular ways that developers make money from their mobile games. The two most common Game Monetizations are in-app purchases and ads. In-app purchases allow users to spend money on specific items or bonuses that they can use to enhance their playing experience, while ads generally provide a payout based on how many users view or click them.
In-app purchases might at first seem like the stronger choice for developers, because they are integrated seamlessly into the experience the user already wants to have. However, only 2.2% of all free-to-play mobile users actually spend any money on this kind of content. What’s more, only 10% of those players (a miniscule 0.22% overall) account for more than half of the revenue that in-app purchases produce. All of which is to say: if you can’t attract at least a few players with deep pockets, you might have a hard time making money from the in-app purchases model.
Ads may be more promising, because they often require no explicit action on the player’s part. In many cases, users do not need to make purchases, or even click on the ads—revenue is generated when enough people simply view them. Ads integrated using the Unity Software Development Kit (or Unity SDK) are especially useful, because Unity focuses on boosting player engagement through high quality video. The challenge for developers often lies in integrating the SDK itself.
Two Ways to Implement an SDK (The Hard Way and the Easy Way)
SDKs come in the form of code that must be written into the app before they can take effect. To do this, a developer would follow the basic process below:
- Go to the build settings of your mobile app
- Select your platform (iOS or Android) and click “enable ads” in the services window.
- Select the corresponding organisation in windows/services and click “create”.
- Write the SDK code and click “play” to test it out.
The hardest part of the above process is entering the code itself. This step alone can take hours upon hours, and a single mistake can cause major delays on top of that. There’s an easier way for developers who want to save time: just use a third-party SDK integration tool like Enhance to insert the code automatically. These tools can simplify the integration process considerably, and allow you to add other SDKs as well with just the touch of a button.
Monetizing your mobile game requires a detailed plan and the right tools to bring it to fruition, so make sure you consider your options carefully. In-app purchases may be the natural way to go for apps with a large player base, but integrating Unity SDK ads can provide higher average revenue per user and allow you to monetize even the most casual of players. If you have an easy way to implement the SDK code, there is no reason not to take advantage of the opportunities that Unity can provide. Follow the steps above, or make use of a convenient third-party program that can take care of the hard work on your behalf.
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