Is There Money In Game Apps?

There is definitely money in game apps.

I have read a couple reports on the topic but that is about it.

I suggest that you go to the WSO section, that is where I found
something in the past.

Thanks hpgoodboy. I am wondering about this. I could view each game as an "atm." Even if each game makes say $30 a month. LOL....I could make 100 of them maybe. Hmm....sounds interesting.

Most successful mobile games nowadays make most money off advertising revenue and in-app purchases that enhance the user's experience.

Take a look at the recent hit flappy bird, the guy's doing $50k/day solely off advertising. Now take a look at all the flappy bird replicas (e.g. Flying Cyrus); some are doing close to $10k/day off advertising alone. If you're looking to charge $1 to download a game, think again. You'll need a really solid and hyped up game to make that work.

If you're looking to make some serious cash in the mobile game industry you'll need a solid developer and most importantly connections. You'll need somebody to show you how it's done. Plain and simple. Without this your app will realistically never exceed $100/month.

Lastly, it takes money to create good games. Despite what you may think, some people pour in $50k or much more into these games.

PS - I'm talking from experience. I know people that have very successful apps. Although I don't know many of their secrets, I do know that they follow many principals and in order to become successful you will need connections and people that will show you the strings.

To answer your question from an Entrepreneurial perspective...
Yes if you know how to market your finished product with success. No if you don't.
The fact that you know how to make apps etc doesn't count.
Usually it's the marketing of any product that is the deciding factor as to whether a chosen business model is lucrative, and a marketer is successful. Whether that be game apps, or pink socks.

how did flappy bird get so popular though?

I did play it. Its kinda addicitive I suppose.

But did this guy market it?

To answer the question. Was there money with Angry Birds? . The secret is in the marketing. These might be worth a read:
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...hone-game.html
http://www.warriorforum.com/mobile-m...e-sources.html

Is there any app which pays you to play games?

In 2013, freemium clearly became pretty much the only
model that matters and it’s the model that drove the Most
Success for the top-grossing apps of the year.

"Clash of Clans and Hay Day games have made “Finnish
startup Supercell” one of the biggest mobile games firms
in the world this year, ...grossing $179m (£116.7m) in the
first three months of the year alone."

" Candy Crush Saga, though the company does not publish
numbers...industry experts have estimated its revenues at $1
million to $3 million a day!"

Candy Crush makes about $850,000 every SINGLE day.

So, to answer your question, yes. But it depends on the type of game, the marketing, and it's ability to go viral.

Corey,

I've seen you post and talk about approaching so many different niches: Amazon, Kindle, etc.

Enough already.

Pick one and go for it. You've been posting since 2007. YOU KNOW there is money in apps... but there is no money in apps if you just looking to jump ship after making one app that doesn't work.

Any ways, my point is: Pick one niche and stick with it. And use Google to do your research before asking such questions. Good luck my friend.

Hi All,

I would agree there is money in games! Our publishers are generating up to $10 CPM using our ads to monetize their apps. At AdBuddiz we specialise in premium full-screen ads with high quality graphics.

In addition, we are game lovers. We know user experience is a primary concern, so you can choose exactly where and how often you want to display the ads in your app. We recommend to display ads at key points in your game, such as between levels or just before closure.

If you use AdBuddiz as your primary solution, and have a great game, we'd be interested to take a look at it. From time to time we offer high quality indie games a free featuring on Giftiz, which gathers the best games on Google Play.
Feel free to reach out to me if you're interested, my email is: clara@adbuddiz.com.

The story of Flappybird is positively amazing.

28 Days of Fame: The Strange, True Story of 'Flappy Bird'

covers it quite well.

I think the death threats added to it all....

'Flappy Bird' Death Threats - Business Insider

Defo money in game apps! I think someone did a WSO on this a couple days ago and it got WSO of the day, if I'm not mistaken..

Check the WSO section or W+

I'm probably gonna look into this myself..


Cheers!
Pedro

There is a lot of money in game apps, if you can come up with a good game and you have the money to promote it.

Of course you can. It doesn't have to be complicated, something simple and addictive, but the secret again is in the marketing.

From a programmer, let me give you some advice...

The app markets are horrendous. Are great game can get no attention and never make anything. And terrible games can somehow get discovered and make a lot of money. It's not like marketing online, a lot of it is complete chance and at the will of the system.

Because of that, you have to be prepared for any app you make to, likely, fail terribly.

Because of that, I highly advise AGAINST getting into the mobile game space unless you either are a programmer, or have access to a programmer for very cheap.

See, If I make a game myself, and it fails, all I have lost is time (but still probably learned some things and gained experience). But if a non-progammer PAYS to have a game made, and it fails.... well you just lost a whole bunch of money. With such an unreliable app market, I don't think that is worth it as a non-programmer.

Freemium model rules the market - most lucrative games are free to play with ads, upgrades, tokens, etc. to monetize them. The best approach for a newbie would be to emulate one of the top games with your own twist.

There's gigantic money in game apps. I've been spending a couple of hours a day playing Sims Freeplay.

Sims Freeplay is a masterpiece. But YOU don't need to think big. The best Android thing I've seen lately is an app that allows you to make a lego minifig by swapping heads, bodies and legs. It's stupidly simple, but probably has a million downloads!

Yeah there is money to be made in app games, plus with certain software that is out you really don't need coding experience to build simple games.

Free games that show ads, and in-games purchases seem to make the most money then those that cost to download.

But on the flip side of that... Studios and Indie developers with a large fan base can make good money from paid apps.

Yeah it can be lucrative if you can make the next flappy bird but not take it down lol

Seems like half the people commenting on this thread is an affiliate of the Mobile Game Money.

Make the game free to download and play, then offer things for real money in game that can give people an advatange / new levels / etc

Yes there is money in game developing.. If you want to make simple little game people wont spend their money to buy it.. Try apps advertising media like leadbolt,admob to make ads money from them.

The money is in your mind Corey, and you simply apply to preferred channel All the best!

I do not want to brag, but I actually worked at a video game company. Well, we would spend $200,000 to $400,000 to promote each game. They would generate a lot of orders the 1st month and it would drop off quick in the second month and near none in six. Basically, you need to keep a lot of games in your pipe. Yeah, every month release a new one. Here is an easy strategy for you. Create an on going series. That way you can reuse code and icons.

Remember, the game does great the 1st month and sells like crazy. It is the same in songs or movies. However, it would take me six months to create a killer app. That is with me working until 3am every day even. Still, you do make a lot of money.

This is hard work because each program is not just raw code, but also it needs music, icons... and a million other things as you will soon see.

Getting some one else to do your music sounds like a solution, but it does not match if they leave in the middle of the series. Also, different artists have different styles so your need continuity in your game. What I am trying to say is you cannot out source. Look and feel must remain same.

Best of luck to you.

Here's a good read: http://www.warriorforum.com/off-topi...0-000-day.html

As long as people have smart phones, games will always be popular.

These days "free" games are all the rage. Although we all know they are not free.

No matter if it's a special in game currency used for boosts or VIP memberships it all means one thing... money in your pocket.

The hard part is deciding on what kind of game you are going to do.

Games are popular...like mad popular!

I have 2 games in Android market and they're both free. There are multiple levels in those games and tons of add ons that they can buy. All the purchases inside the games are through coins and they can buy more coins through us via in-apps purchase.

The real money is in in-app purchases if you ask me. My best days did 5 figures in in-app purchases when we ran a promo.

If you can build addictive games, people would throw money at their screens.

Addictive is the keyword here...remember!

Marketing is everything.
I have developed a game and it is in appstore but i don't have money to marketing it so it doesn't make me any money.

There's money in game apps but you have to be willing to put time and effort into getting your game out there to make it.

The most popular model for games at the moment is Freemium. If you're looking to launch a paid game I'd strongly advise against it unless you're able to offer a truly novel, compelling game experience. Very few app store customers will pay up front for a game when they can usually find hundreds of similar games for free in the same search.

A lot of people here are quoting three figure sums but that's not the usual. For the handful of wildly successful game apps like Flappy Bird and Angry birds, there are thousands (hundreds of thousands) making next to nothing and being abandoned.

Getting a successful game app that makes bank requires a lot of marketing input and luck. Be prepared to work hard and spend money before you make money.

Dude are you serious with your question?

There are millions of dollars being made, per day with game apps! It's an enormous niche and only getting bigger.

The app game, Candy Crush, makes $850K per day! Yes daily!

The problem though, is that it takes money to develop and more importantly, marketing! If you have an idea though for a game, and can program, then freakin go for it dude!

At the end of the day the same truth is true for this vertical as well. Your marketing must be strong enough or else it really does not matter.

Sure flappy bird was a hit but there are loads of game apps on the market place...
It's only getting bigger so that means more competition. Gear up! Marketing (Pimpin) ain't easy.

Its lucrative but there's a method to it. I don't release anything through the app market but I make hella good on my games.

Its all about how fun the game is, positioning and marketing. Any of those not being meet and you have a failure on your hands

Graphics matter in games...the worse the graphics the worse the game
Game mechanics matter. Game economy matters. The game itself matters.

Its worth the money but you have to have a good team in place or know how to do it all yourself. Its really that simple.

Simple answer , yes - it can be huge depending on the market skills.