7 Tips to Make Money from Mobile Game Development

One of the hottest markets is mobile game development. Companies that have successfully created amazing games are many. However, for each mobile game that’s successful, there are numerous other failures. Only a handful of people are aware that Rovio had 51 failed attempts before finding success with Angry Birds.

Mobile games usually fail because of the following reasons:

• The game is not able to generate any revenues.
• The whole budget is exhausted in user acquisition and development thus leaving no room for innovation.
• The game is either too complicated or heavy

However, it does not mean that you can never find success with your gaming idea. Below are 7 unusual mobile game development tips guaranteed to help you make money from your undertaking. If you follow these ideas, you can be sure that your games will pick up quickly in the mobile gaming industry:

1. Identifying the Major Platforms

Once you have an idea for a game, the next important step is to identify a suitable platform. Platform here refers to whether you want the game to be on mobile (Blackberry, Android, iOS, or hybrid), Xbox, PlayStation, TV, etc. Different gaming platforms have their own pros and cons. It is important to find a suitable platform since it will be the basis of the entire development of the game. The critical parameters to take into consideration when choosing a suitable gaming platform include:

• The graphics and processing requirements of the game
• The game’s target market i.e. the group that the game is likely to appeal to

If you decide to do start your mobile app developers on this, you will still have to choose among the major platforms i.e. Android, iOS, etc. The obvious dilemma is whether to choose Android or iOS or both. If you believe that you have a viable idea, there’s no harm is going for both platforms. Most game development tools support deployment on both iOS and Android in one go seamlessly. Launching the game on different platforms also translates to a wider audience and increased visibility for it.

2. Creating Superb UX/UI

UX/UI are what actually makes a game engaging. Ensure that the design of the game is both engaging and compelling. If the game involves too many complex controls, it will be suitable to refer to game theory basics. Rather than overwhelming users with too many options, create a set of tutorials then introduce the user to all the controls gradually.

One important precaution that you should take in mobile game design is ensuring that the graphics of the game never pixelate once it is launched on a large screen such a tablet or a high-resolution phone. It is advisable to design the game’s graphics taking into consideration the best possible resolution and maximum screen size because it is easier to shrink than to expand without the loss of image quality.

3. Stories are Great

If you have a story for the game then that’s perfect. If you don’t then you need to consider making one. Stories are important for helping you capture the attention of the user and give meaning to the game. Everyone loves stories in a game because it gives boring objects some meaning and character. Having a great storyline compels the user to return to the game even when he or she has lost much interest in it. The higher the level of curiosity you are able to instigate the better the satisfaction and engagement you should expect.

4. Bring in Social

Social media is one of the most powerful tools for driving engagement. People love the rewards, sharing gifts, gaming levels, etc. on social media. It is also an excellent way to gain traction and publicity by word of mouth for the game. If you target influencers and the social community it will be easy to create buzz for the game and drive social engagement. It is very important to always include elements of social media in your mobile game development plan whenever possible.

5. Play with Sound

Music is incredibly important when it comes to hooking your players. A huge library of open source sounds is available for you to use in different game scenarios. While you can use the available audio effects, a better idea would be to create your own. If you have custom music, you will be able to engage the gamers and create a branding. Creative audio effects help capture the attention of players and help create an overall gaming environment that’s interesting.

6. Rigorous Testing

Users hate crashes and bugs irrespective of the platform. The last thing you obviously want is for users to uninstall the game because they are not able to perform certain tasks. Ensure that you rigorously test the game on a wide variety of platforms. You can test it yourself, distribute it to friends and family, and even hire testing freelancers. You can try playing the game in multiple ways to identify possible glitches or bugs.

7. Proper Marketing

You should not assume that the game will kick off simply because of its design and social media integration. Prepare for an amazing launch right from the start. Target game communities and influencers to gather initial traction. Make sure to use gaming localization services to ensure the game is marketed correctly in different countries.

To continue driving user engagement, you should keep adding characters. A clever idea to ensure branding, downloads, and discovery is to start a development and walkthrough blog. You can also increase the number of downloads by using in-app adds because gamers are likely to downloads games similar to those that they already play.