Strategy Games Have Risen 140% Over Casual Games in 2016: The Indian Game Market – Series 2
Game app developers in India have found different ways to create monetization within India’s mobile gaming market. Current trends in mobile gaming point to monetization through ads. There are four ways to achieve monetization, however, ads hold great promise because Indian users typically don’t pay for games. As a result, users have a high tolerance for ads while gaming. This finding has given wings to ads in alternative forms, as a way of strategical advertising within the gaming platform. This innovative use of advertising has created native and rewarded ads that yield better results and are less intrusive to the gaming experience, as well as premium subscription services and in-app purchases.
In-App-Purchasing & Advertising
Companies have created cash based strategy card games and witnessed a 20-25% rise in monthly spending. This has proven to be a lucrative monetization opportunity because revenues from strategy games have risen 140% over casual games in 2016. Many companies have approached advertising with a strategy that seeks to cater to the user. They have created advertising that is part of the gaming experience in a way that works with the flow of the game without interrupting it. This natural non-intrusive strategy has yielded far greater results in terms of customer retention. It also respects the user’s game flow by naturally embedding the advertising within the game.
Incentive Advertising
An additional strategic and highly successful advertising approach is the use of incentive-based ads. Another common term for these incentive-based ads would be rewarded videos or rewarded ads. This concept offers opportunities within the game to perform better by offering the user an opportunity to watch a video or take advantage of some other advertising offer in order to retain game advantages like advancing to a higher level within the game.
The Gaming Subscription Service
Gaming subscriptions have become a lucrative way to create monetization. Wynk is a premium subscription gaming service that has joined forces with Airtel, the largest mobile operator in India, to provide unlimited access to premium games. This service eliminates the need to pay for individual downloads and is free to Airtel users, while others can pay a low monthly fee for unlimited access. By providing users with unlimited access to many games for a low monthly fee, users are able to avoid the fees that come with downloading single games and instead gain instant access to many games for a low fee. This creates revenue for game developers on a monthly basis by using the subscription platform.
Game developers have employed several strategies to monetize the mobile gaming market in India. The biggest vehicle has been through advertising using naturally streamlined strategies that don’t interrupt the gaming experience. Other methods have included in-app purchases and premium gaming subscriptions. Each strategy has created ample opportunity to raise revenues and continues to grow the mobile gaming industry in India in innovative ways.
