How to Monetize Your Mobile Game: 5 Strategies

So you have developed a mobile app: a simple yet fascinating puzzle game, several complexity levels, funky colors, thousands of puzzles to solve. You add your game to the App Store and Google Play, people started downloading and actually playing it, you are happy — an indie game reached such success. But there is one thing missing. A profit.

That’s something you might have missed out on when designing and launching the game. Let’s learn how to monetize a mobile game app, so it brings you not only popularity but money.

Introduce in-app ads

In-app advertising is the simplest yet the most common and effective way to monetize a gaming app. Usually, these are pop-up windows that a user can close in a few seconds after they appear. If you are quite selective about what kind of ads go into your app, your users might actually get interested in the products and follow the links. You can find ad collaboration offers on dedicated marketplaces online.

Apart from simply showing a photo or video with an ad, you might “pay” your users to view advertising. For example, they can get more lives, coins, or attempts for opening promotional materials.

When we were making Wordle mobile app clone, it caught our attention that there are no ads in the original game. While it definitely made users love Wordle more, remember that the creator of this game made it for fun and is not expecting to make any money with it.

Add the in-app store

Sometimes, your users might need some additional ammunition and are willing to pay for it. Consider this: 70% of all revenue in the App Store comes from mobile games. And mostly, these are in-app purchases.

It is quite common to pay for extra tools or weapons, more lives, or exchange real money for virtual coins. Users might also want to have a chance to buy new outfits. Before introducing in-app purchasing, you need to carefully analyze what your users will be willing to pay for and what they want so much that are up to spending money on that. Is it more time in the game or faster progress? Or maybe a chance to stand out among other users?

Sell the app

If fame isn’t really something you are after, selling your game can be a great option. There are businesses out there looking for buying an interesting game and adapt it to their needs. How do you find the buyers? Through app-selling marketplaces, like Sell My App. On such platforms, you usually share the source code of the app.

Make a paid app

If all the in-app purchases mumbo jumbo sounds too complicated for you, you can go the easy way and just make a paid app. For a low price, you can expect users to download your app. Of course, there is one but.

Your app should be really interesting to make the users want to pay for it, even if it is a few dollars. There are hundreds of free games available in the App Store and Google Play, so why should they pay for yours? That’s why your game should make a name for itself or at least be better than the competitors.

Utilize the subscription-based model

Last but not least, as an alternative to an in-app store, you can also utilize the subscription model. It means that your users will not pay for each item separately but rather are charged with a regular fee. It can be weekly, monthly, or annual payments.

But, wait, one more question: what should you sell? The choice is wide: you can offer so-called “battle passes”, which grant your users a set of extra features and rewards. You can also add a “premium” version of your app by giving your users the possibility to remove ads for a certain period or providing some exclusive perks.

Summing up

There are many ways to make sure that your mobile game will be out there making money for you and not just entertaining the users. Of course, it’s crucial to remember that for anyone to pay for the game or buy in-app extras, it should be really worth it, so you have to offer your users an unforgettable gaming experience.