There was a telling moment in the UK games development scene recently. A couple of years ago, the British Government lifted the lid on Games Tax Relief – a system designed to allow developers to claim back some game production costs, providing the game in question was identified as “culturally British”. After the initial rush of enthusiasm and jubilation, developers then – in a typically British manner – started to get suspicious. Was this a cynical ploy to get more bright red post boxes, Beefeaters and British bulldogs in games? How could anyone deem whether a game was culturally British or not? How would you go about claiming? Would the amount of money you’d be able to access be worth all the perceived effort it would take to get it? Was it all just a big trick? Of course, as...

I’ve met a lot of fellow free-to-play-game developers recently and talking about games always eventually turns to monetization. Talking about monetization inevitably turns to the big successes in the market, including Clash of Clans. I love Clash’s monetization design, as it’s very simple to understand from the player’s perspective. It doesn’t enforce payment at any point and it’s extremely clever in some of the subtle details that I think are driving the urge to spend money. Here are a few of the details I can’t remember reading about and which people sometimes don’t think are as obvious as I thought they were: First purchase value proposition Every single player I’ve talked to, purchases an additional builder as the first purchase. Builders are a massively constrained resource in the game and vital for the game pacing once you’ve built the first...

The key to success and drawing revenue for any game is to be fun to play. Shocking huh? I’m sure you had already figured that out on your own. What you might not be entirely aware of is the importance engagement has over game revenue, and a simple way to improve it. A recent study by Kongregate reveals compelling data that shows that having a player vs player mode is a really powerful engagement tactic. Nothing beats human interaction when it comes to keep the players coming back for more. And more gameplay equals more chances of cashing in. Let’s break down the numbers of the study. I think you’ll be blown away! The more the merrier When players like the game and are engaged, they are closer to paying because they find value in doing so. We’re shown that...

Yaniv Nizan's review of the adorable free-to-play survival shooter.

Anders Drachen, Shawna Baskins and Joseph Riley take a quick look at some of the interesting research papers from the hallowed halls of academia and beyond.

Yaniv Nizan talks about the monetisation model of his latest favourite puzzle game.

Eric Seufert on Freemium Economics: Leveraging Analytics and User Segmentation to Drive Revenue, his recently published book that covers topics ignored by many product developers, but which ultimately form the crux of the freemium model.

In the last part of his Mid-Core series, Michail Katkoff talks about why sustained monetization is a result achieved through excellent game design, a balanced game economy, engaging social mechanics and a fresh approach.

It seems that forty-two is not only the answer to "life, universe and everything". It is also the answer to your monetization strategy. Read these 42 tips that Yaniv Nizan has to share on making your game profitable.

In this latest post, Michail Katkoff delves deeper into the realm of freemium and walks you through the process of assessing the profitability of switching an existing game from paid to freemium.

While most players will definitely check your in-game store out of sheer curiosity, it's a true art to keep them there. An art in which Yaniv Nizan is ready to train you.

So you want your game to feature an in-game store? Avoid these five common blunders shared by Yaniv Nizan to make sure you do not scare your potential customers away.