Study: Increasing Amounts Of Flash Devs Make Games Full-Time

Nearly a third of Flash game developers who took part in a recent Mochi Media survey make Flash games full time, and 18 percent of survey respondents reported making more than $1,000 per month on their games. Mochi Media, a San Francisco-based firm that works to help Flash developers monetize their games, compiled results from 1,104 Flash game developers and publishers, 56 percent of whom reside in North America or the U.K. The firm found evidence of considerable growth in the segment, both in terms of revenue as well as the developer base: about 30 percent of developers only began making Flash games in the last year, and an additional 32 percent in the last two years. Only 6 percent of developers said they make more than $5,000 per month. A lucky 1 percent reported making over $25,000 per month. In order to achieve a financial return, according to the study, Flash developers make games quickly and they employ a broad slate of monetization efforts. Nearly three quarters of Flash games are developed in under three months, and a third of those take less than one month. Most developers use multiple forms of income, with the most popular being sponsorship (29 percent), followed by in-game ads (22 percent). Only 1 percent report making money on microtransactions. Flash games have been shown to serve as an effective springboard to other platforms. In addition to the well-known cases of games like Flow and Alien Hominid gaining footholds on consoles after first appearing in Flash form, 18 percent of developers said they plan to expand to downloadable PC games in the next year, and 14 percent expressed console plans. It's iPhone, however, that may be the most significant successor -- nearly a third of developers said they have plans to tackle Apple's mobile platform in the next year.