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Study: Increasing Amounts Of Flash Devs Make Games Full-Time
by Chris Remo [PC, Console/PC]
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December 9, 2009
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Nearly a third of Flash game developers who took part in a recent Mochi Media survey make Flash games full time, and 18 percent of survey respondents reported making more than $1,000 per month on their games.
Mochi Media, a San Francisco-based firm that works to help Flash developers monetize their games, compiled results from 1,104 Flash game developers and publishers, 56 percent of whom reside in North America or the U.K.
The firm found evidence of considerable growth in the segment, both in terms of revenue as well as the developer base: about 30 percent of developers only began making Flash games in the last year, and an additional 32 percent in the last two years.
Only 6 percent of developers said they make more than $5,000 per month. A lucky 1 percent reported making over $25,000 per month.
In order to achieve a financial return, according to the study, Flash developers make games quickly and they employ a broad slate of monetization efforts. Nearly three quarters of Flash games are developed in under three months, and a third of those take less than one month. Most developers use multiple forms of income, with the most popular being sponsorship (29 percent), followed by in-game ads (22 percent). Only 1 percent report making money on microtransactions.
Flash games have been shown to serve as an effective springboard to other platforms. In addition to the well-known cases of games like Flow and Alien Hominid gaining footholds on consoles after first appearing in Flash form, 18 percent of developers said they plan to expand to downloadable PC games in the next year, and 14 percent expressed console plans.
It's iPhone, however, that may be the most significant successor -- nearly a third of developers said they have plans to tackle Apple's mobile platform in the next year.
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Commitment. Seriously, that's the answer.
For example, what kinds of art styles do well? What about animation quality? Music and SFX? Do simple, single click mouse controls reach a larger audience, or do only complex keyboard / mouse hybrids? How many games have exposition? How many games have a unique story, period? How important is a unique design versus a more polished knock-off?
All of these questions (and more!) can be theoretically debated forever. A chance to actually look at hard data, taking into account the context of the times, is rare, and much needed.
Thanks Mochi, for your terrible, terrible CPM.
That sounds like a Challenge ^____^
There also isn't any Flash game I'm aware of with a price tag on the level of a triple-A game. If you're going to make the kind of triple-A experience you're alluding to, why do it in Flash? The point of Flash games is smaller, faster development for smaller, faster games.
www.fantasticcontraption.com
It's not really the medium that prevents quality content from being made in Flash, it's mostly budget that's a problem. It's plain to see by the survey that most people can only afford to take the hobbyist route to development since any revenue generated by ads or sponsorships is peanuts.
Well, there is a wide market to tap on the Internet. This market segment doesn't necessarily own a PS3, 360, high-end gaming PC or iPhone. They just have their ISP and web browser. Right now, this market is targeted by casual games, which tend to focus on short, but repetitive game-play experiences. They are quite fun and addictive games, but I think we can do much better with the platform. Look at how the simple concept of matching 3 or more icons transitioned from Bejeweled to Puzzle Quest to Gyromancer. The basic matching mechanism was incorporated into a narrative.
There is no reason for the gameplay mechanisms found in many Flash games to not further develop the narrative and unique elements that AAA titles also utilize. I'm not saying make a 3D FPS in Flash instead of some richer platform. But ignoring the design principles that make a AAA title AAA when they could be applied to significantly improve the quality of Flash games is shortsighted. Flash can provide a very nice bridge between simple, casual games and the complex, core games found on dedicated platforms. It is much easier to transition someone from casual to core gamer when they can see the level of quality obtainable with more complex games.
@Luis
The game didn't want to load for me in Firefox or IE.
@Bryson
The Machinarium demo was fun. Definitely an interesting puzzle game. I also agree that budget is an issue. There is certainly a perception that Flash games are supposed to be quick and cheap to develop and core games can be more expensive. I think there is a way to get quality games out the door faster using Flash, while also tapping the quality found in AAA titles. Honestly, graphical quality is nice, but it's game play that I care about. Crysis makes beautiful game engines, but the trees and grass get in the way of actually playing the game. But the cinematic, narrative, and emphasis on a quality experience can be transitioned from one game medium to another.