The Secret to Developing a Profitable Mobile Game

Mobile games are taking mobile media by storm. The Global Mobile gaming market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 12% with revenue USD 44.64 billion by 2020-2024. Moreover, it is also expected that mobile gaming will generate the largest proportion of total gaming revenue globally by 2021, as per the report from Statista.

This data acts as evidence of mobile players’ requirements and interests. It is indeed a significant opportunity for developers and startups to meet the market.

Sound good?

So, being a developer or startup, how can you ensure that you follow the right guidelines to set your projects up for success?

In this post, we’ve compiled a list of seven important secrets to building profitable and successful gaming apps.

1. Come up with the unique idea:

Coming up with a unique idea for the first time can be daunting. Indeed, it is one of the most crucial steps before creating a successful gaming app. Unfortunately, there is no direct process for generating new ideas. All you need to do is to create something engaging and appealing to a mass audience.

It is also recommended to explore your resources before getting your hands on mobile game app development. With the help of such techniques, you will conduct an extensive analysis of your industry.

2. Market research is the first thing to do:

Despite how great your app idea is, it is always important to clarify your niche. Around 903,489 active gaming apps were in the App Store in 2019, according to the report from Statista. As we can say, there are dozens of apps launched daily. It is vital to do extensive market research before hitting the app idea in the marketplace.

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Now, we can say everything will boil down to market research. It is all-important to ask the following questions by yourself before creating a game application:

All you need to make sure is that the mobile game should be something that users want. Creating a profitable gaming app is not a cakewalk, but it can be done.

3. Consider the game as a story

Do you know that the trend of story-driven mobile apps is continuously increasing? It is believed that a well-narrative in mobile games can give an extra kick because it makes gaming apps more engaging and boosting profits. All we can say is that storytelling is all about engaging players organically. Plus, they need a purpose to finish the game. So, it is pivotal to answer the following questions while creating the story for your gaming app:

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The success of a mobile game depends on the enjoyable experience of players. Thus, storytelling is a must-have factor to consider during mobile game app development.

4. User experience is the key

Games just don’t have to be usable, but it also should be playable. For example, being a developer, you need to consider the fact that the game should be not too easy; otherwise, you are going to end up boring the player.

The playability is generally a broad term, and the ‘usability’ is part of it. To put it another way, it is all about the wholesome experience. The main goal of usability in gaming apps is to create a challenging and fun experience, including mechanics, music, animation, and storyline. Before developing a profitable gaming app, let’s take a quick look at the following points:

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5. Eye-catchy design

Do you know design takes half of the credit for revenue generated from a mobile app? Better the design, the more revenue will be. Astonishing design of gaming apps depends on diverse factors such as icons, fonts, colors, illustrations, and navigation. For creating an eye-catching design of your gaming app, all you need to do is: keep it simple, document your ideas, create a prototype, and get users’ feedback.

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6. Decide the Monetization Strategy

Monetization has long been an important factor when it comes to developing profitable gaming apps. You must be thinking why monetization is crucial? It’s worth checking the stats about the popularity of gaming apps. According to the report from Statista, “Gaming apps are one of the most popular Apple App Store categories in November 2019”. With this data, one thing is cleared the gaming app is the most popular app category among gamers.

By using diverse monetization strategies, it is possible to unlock new ways to monetize a larger part of your user base. Here we’re going to introduce three methods of monetization to generate revenue:

(i) Freemium/In-app purchases: This type of monetization method is not new. The freemium model is most widely used in mobile game monetization. As per the report, over 5% of app users currently spend on in-app purchases.

For instance, Fortnite was the top game in the United States in terms of iOS revenue in 2018. The total iOS revenue of Fortnite was $450 million. But, $40 million of this was generated in December alone. This is pretty interesting is that Fortnite’s revenue model is based on in-app purchases of costumes and celebratory dance. In the below, you can see Fortnite iOS revenue in 2018 in the U.S.

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Furthermore, you can customize in-app purchases by adding display names, promotional images, and descriptions in the Apple app store. What’s more? You can also promote up to 20 product pages that users can browse and buy even before downloading the application.

(ii) Subscriptions: This method has become more popular among developers for a variety of reasons. It is a model in which users can download the app for free, and they can get access to some features of the application for a specific time. The reason behind its popularity is developers easily get a constant stream of revenue. Moreover, once a user pays to use the app services, he/she will invest in the app.

(iii) Premium versions: This monetization strategy either offers a free trial or demo and asks users to pay for further use. You can also ask for a payment, but it may affect the number of purchases.

7. Choose skilled developers from your area

Choosing skilled developers is a big investment. That’s why it is an ultimate step towards creating a profitable mobile game app. All you have to do is to get in touch with the right local mobile app development company. Suppose, if you live in California or Los Angeles, opt for the right mobile app development company in Los Angeles.

Conclusion

Developing an engaging and profitable gaming app, you must ensure to follow the above-written secret guidelines before making your app live. As per the report, “The downloads and revenues of the gaming community are rising rapidly.” Thus, it is highly recommended not to miss this golden opportunity to get success in the global gaming market.

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