I don’t know if Maid Marian‘s Sherwood Dungeon RPG is indeed the most successful Shockwave free to play MMO, but it’s done pretty well for Gene Endrody and his wife – the only two employees of the developer, Maid Marian. More interesting though is that the lone source of revenue for all of Maid Marian’s games is Google Adwords PPC (pay per click) ads. Recently, I had the chance to sit down with Gene and discuss Maid Marian,...
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Whether you’re making a casual massively multiplayer online (MMO) game like Maple Story or a virtual world like Habbo Hotel, here are 10 ways to remove game-killing barriers to entry and create the largest possible addressable market. 1. Free to Play The Free to Play business model is here to stay – and growing every day. In an entertainment world filled with endless choices, asking someone to pony up $50 before they can play a game is rapidly...
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In the interest of playing devil’s advocate, I thought I’d throw out ten reasons why free-to-play (F2P) games and free online games in general might be slower to succeed in the Western world than they have been in Asia. While I don’t necessarily believe all of the following potential business problems, issues and concerns will inhibit free online games’ growth going forward in 2010 and 2011, each of them represents a significant challenge...
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The following 10 revenue models allow some or all of their associated games or virtual worlds to be played for free. The ordering is quite unscientific and I’m sure I’ve missed something obvious or messed up a detail. I leave it to the Internet to correct me. 1. Virtual Item Sales A familiar revenue model first established in Korea and now the dominant model in Asia. Nexon – makers of KartRider, MapleStory, Audition and more – are ...
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Scott Steinberg is the CEO of video game consulting firm TechSavvy Global, and founder of GameExec magazine and Game Industry TV. Hailed as a top technology and video game expert by dozens of publications from USA Today to Forbes and NPR, he’s covered the field for 400+ outlets from Playboy to Rolling Stone. A frequent on-air analyst for networks like ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, he’s also the author of Video Game Marketing and PR.