How to self sponsor
Despite having never self sponsored a game before, I feel this is something I should have taken advantage of the past and other developers should take advantage of in the future. Let me break it down.
The general consensus among sponsors is that 1,000,000 plays is worth $1,000. Most sponsors will try to guess how many plays the game can bring in and then make an offer accordingly. Fortunately for you, if you self sponsor, you can actually earn more than $1,000 per million plays.
CPMStar
Alright, first things first. Go to CPMStar and sign up for both a sponsor account a developer account; This will allow you to earn 75% of the profits your game makes from ads as opposed to the normal 50%. This may not seem like much, but it can be difference between $20,000 and $30,000 if your game turns out to be a success.
Play Button Now on to how to actually implement advertisements for maximum revenue. The most common placement of advertisements in games is in the pre-loader. This placement generally gives the highest eCPM, and is the most accepted among players so let’s focus on it. The first thing you need to do is make sure that after your game has loaded it does not immediately jump to the menu screen. In order to do this you need to have a play button that appears after the game has fully loaded (or not, more on this later). Several sites block in-game advertisements by overlaying their own advertisements on your game while it is loading. Adding a play button forces users to at least see your ad and give them a chance to click on it after the game has loaded. Placing your play button in an awkward spot or making it hard to see will also increase the chance of players to click on the advertisement; this, however, is more shady than I like to go.
Make a game that’s 10 megabytes… Alright, you don’t actually need to make a large game, but you need to make it look like it is. Make the game take 10-30 seconds to load regardless of whether your game is 10 Megabytes or 10 Kilobytes. Forcing a load gives the player a chance to observe the ad and click on it. Fast computer can load games that are under 2 megabytes before the CPMStar ad even displays, this is of course, would be otherwise lost revenue for you. Players will have no way of knowing the game isn’t actually loading so it won’t make any difference to them as long as you don’t go overboard.
Game Over Put an ad on the Game Over or Game Complete screen. After a player has finished your game, they often want to go play something else. Placing an option in the middle of their screen can often help their decision making. I would advise against inter level ads due to their low eCPM and annoyance to users.
With these strategies you should be able to earn at the very least a $1.00 eCPM.
No More Waiting
A normal sponsorship generally takes the follow course:
Place the game on FGL
Wait 2-3 weeks until you receive a bid you’re pleased with and accept it
Spend 1 week+ Implementing sponsors links and logos exactly how they want along with other requests
Release the game exclusively on the sponsors site for 1 week
Release the game around the web
Time As you can see this process can take over a month, as a result this distracts most developers from starting on a new project (We’re all guilty of obsessively checking new bids, emails, etc…) With self sponsoring you don’t have to deal with any of that. Once you’ve finished developing a game you can implement branding and exclusive content how you want and release the game in the very same day.
Your Rules Another great benefit to self sponsoring is that you don’t have to abide by a sponsors rule. No being forbidden from selling non-exclusive licenses, no being forbidden from implementing ads in your game, and no being forbidden from releasing the game immediately. Non-exclusives and ads are a great source of revenue. Sponsors that don’t allow them take away from your potential profit.
Advertising Your Own Site
A lot of this stuff will overlap with my previous article “Making the most from your game (Sponsors Edition)”
Sponsors Let’s look at why sponsors sponsor games for a moment. They’re expecting to make more money than they’re paying you by implementing links and logo’s that go to their website. If you create your own website you can have all of this traffic, and more, to yourself. I’ll warn you up front that your first few games will probably not make as much money off of this as a large portal could due to the fact they already have an established user base. Assuming you stick with it, your own user base should grow and you’ll be making as much as the big dogs in no time. Look at Ninja Kiwi and Nitrome.
What’s Needed There’s a few things that you will need in order to make this a viable option. You will have to develop (or hire someone else to develop) a web portal that’s somewhat up to date with the current competition: Comments, Ratings, Walkthroughs, etc…. If you have more money to throw around you can make advanced systems such as Badges and User Submitted Content. You will also need to create a splash screen and a logo.
Maximizing CTR The standard sponsorship consists of A Splash Screen, A Play More Games Link, and Logos Scattered Through The Game. While these things are all great, they probably won’t get you a CTR much higher than 5%. In order to get into the 10% – 50% range you will need to implement some of the following items: Highscores, Badge Incentives, Exclusive Content, Walkthrough Links, or a Level Editor. Highscores are a great way to get players to your site after they’ve finished playing your game, but they need to be incorporated into your site somehow. Instead of a Play More Games Link (or even in addition to) you can have a Play This Game With Badges Link which should be much more appealing to many of today’s flash game players.
Exclusive Content Exclusive content is a great way to increase your CTR. This traffic is even more valuable than a click on say the splash screen. Not only does it encourage the user to visit your site so they can obtain bonus content, it also encourages them to continue returning to your site every time they want to play the game which can easily turn them into a regular. This also goes along with having a level editor on your site to encourage user interaction with your game and get them more involved (On your site nonetheless).
Walkthroughs Lastly, Walkthrough Links are another great way to increase the amount of traffic to your site. With the proper game and proper implementation it is possible to get a CTR of over 50% from this alone (Jmtb02, I’m looking at you). Converting Walkthrough clicks into regulars is harder than most of the other types of clicks, a good way to increase your chances is to commonly mention the exclusive content your website has in the game while you’re telling the user how to beat it.
Ps.
When I release my next large game, assuming I don’t get an amazing offer, I’ll self sponsor and blog the results.
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