Here are some thoughts about a model to promote your games we call “In-App Backing”.
1. Crowdfunding has changed the way many developers understand their relationship to their games. By building a base of backers who contribute small amounts of money, the model lowers production costs and allows developers to offer rewards in order to create loyalty. However, now that big companies are uploading projects to the best known platforms (Kickstarter, Indiegogo), getting visibility and reaching the funding goal is getting harder and harder.
2. Popular as it may be, F2P is no good for independent developers. Small and medium studios tend to avoid models which harass the players and constantly urge them to spend their money. The upfront cost model (when the initial download is assigned a price other than “Free”) represents much better the relationship an independent developer seeks to build between a game and its players.
In-App Model
3. So why not think of a backing model from inside the app? By charging an upfront cost, all players receive the complete game once and for all. But also, from the app itself, they can become backers by sharing the game and fueling word of mouth in order to reach the developers funding goal—an update of that same game with new modes (loyalty building), and the development of the studio’s new game.4. At Beavl we will implement the “In-App Backing” model for our first title: Junction Action Arcade (jaa). We’ve called this plan “10K”. Our first goal is to reach ten thousand downloads, and finance our next project (which will take three months’ work). We’ll have an in-app section where the user we’ll be able to see how many downloads the game had had, rate the game and share it on Facebook and Twitter. The progress bar will be updated on a daily basis.
Junction Action Arcade!
5. Our goal with the In-App Backing model is to make the development of Beavl’s first title as transparent as possible, and to achieve a candid relation with our players. We don’t ask for much, and we are certainly not looking to harass our players. The idea is that if you like the game, you can share it and receive something in return for your support.*Beavl is an Argentinian independent game studio putting some teeth into videogames. You can download Junction Action Arcade (iOS) here.
