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Casual game business #178170
01/16/08 19:37
01/16/08 19:37
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 290
Latvia
Leonardo Offline OP
Member
Leonardo  Offline OP
Member

Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 290
Latvia
Well, some time in the next months I'm planning on launching my website and offering my casual games for the public. Up until now, I have 3. One is a "Match-5" game (check out StarMatch at Showcase I), the other is a simple magnetic air-hockey game, and the third one and the best, I might add, is a board game that has an oriental style and is a mix of strategy and board games. I'm also planning to add 2 or 3 more games to the list.
I'm about to offer the first two games for free, surviving just from advertising, but the Oriental game will cost $5-$15, haven't done the math yet. And one of the games I will make in the next months will also be for sale, but the other games will be free.
Now, I want your opinion - would a website like this be profitable, and if yes, how profitable? Where could I find statistics about such sites, what kind of traffic can I achieve, how to maximize that traffic, should I offer more games, how much profit can be achieved by advertising? I also need some tips on what could scare a potential casual gamer, what I should NOT do!
I know this is a lot, but please be general in your answers. And if you think this will not be profitable, offer some advice - what should I do, how to reach advertisers and where can I advertise my own website.
And to not sound like a total beginner, I must say I have experience in business, but I made this post to be totally sure of myself, because I have lots of things depending on the outcome of it!

Thank you,
Leonardo

Last edited by Leonardo; 01/16/08 19:37.

"Things of the mind left untested by the senses are useless."
Re: Casual game business [Re: Leonardo] #178171
01/16/08 22:10
01/16/08 22:10
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 4,134
Netherlands
Joozey Offline
Expert
Joozey  Offline
Expert

Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 4,134
Netherlands
About your website design (you might know already):
Make sure you show the user that he can buy games on your website, show this on the homepage, with obvious links to the shop, demo versions and gallery/screenshots. Very important to have a screenshots section.

Make your homepage interesting to see and read, and don't exaggerate . People judge your site on it's homepage in less than 5 seconds. If they like it, they'll read on, if they don't, they're gone again. I'd make a colourful yet serious looking site. Post one or few small pictures on the homepage next to your game advertisement that shows a good impression of the game. Give a nice describtion and you should do quite well already I think .


I hope you'll get some replies about the business part, I'm curious too about it .
Good luck!

Last edited by Joozey; 01/16/08 22:13.

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Re: Casual game business [Re: Joozey] #178172
01/17/08 00:28
01/17/08 00:28
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 290
Latvia
Leonardo Offline OP
Member
Leonardo  Offline OP
Member

Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 290
Latvia
True words! I can't say how many times I have browsed a web-page that threw me off in a matter of seconds. It doesn't matter if what they offer is any good, if the website has at least one grammar mistake, lacks style or is simply "noobish", I walk away!
Well, I have thought about this, and I have decided that in the beginning, I should need a constant flow of users, even if the profits should tumble a bit. So I guess, I'm going to focus on it and offer all the games for free, and add a deluxe version of the oriental board game for a fee.
Since this is a first in Latvia, I should get a decent flow of players in the local market, especially if the games are free! ^^ But I'm concerned about international players. So, a question arises - where can I advertise a webpage like this? Preferably for free, or a very low cost!

Thank you,
Leonardo


"Things of the mind left untested by the senses are useless."
Re: Casual game business [Re: Leonardo] #178173
01/17/08 01:33
01/17/08 01:33
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 4,264
Wellington
Nems Offline

.
Nems  Offline

.

Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 4,264
Wellington
Advertising the site is the biggest and most important I think and I reckon this could happen if you approached Game review sites, national news agencies and perhaps even download sites like CNet etc who used to be favorable to business sites related to their industries.

National TV is another option, especially if nothing exists in Latvia at the moment as well as Radio stations.

A trick here in NZ is to use 'taggers' to tag pavements and walls with addresses of the site in areas of the cities that wouldnt be too concerned about pavement tagging, especially if it looked nice and underground magazine publications in conjunction with suburban news media.

Profitability is relient on user hits so get the traffic and youve got the profits , i.e Adds (yeuuuk!)

But maybe look at publicity stunts as a first drive, stunts which are controversial but in theme to what you want to be noticed like creating huge drop banners out of old sheets and painting the address and a message (eco concerns, blatent begging (click me to make Latvia known to the world?) or setting a attempting a world records related to any one of your publications and so on.

Re: Casual game business [Re: Nems] #178174
01/17/08 08:04
01/17/08 08:04
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,012
germany, dresden
ulf Offline
Serious User
ulf  Offline
Serious User

Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,012
germany, dresden
Quote:

A trick here in NZ is to use 'taggers' to tag pavements and walls with addresses of the site in areas of the cities that wouldnt be too concerned about pavement tagging, especially if it looked nice and underground magazine publications in conjunction with suburban news media.




i would not want to recommend this to you. a) you might get into trouble b) seriously the target audience for casual games is not into streetart!

what you shoud do is get a perfect website up(look how others do it), then SEO optimize it, use google adwords to promote it until you get enough traffic from search engines wich can take up to 1 year after optimization.

be shure to polish your games enough.

Re: Casual game business [Re: Nems] #178175
01/17/08 08:16
01/17/08 08:16
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 290
Latvia
Leonardo Offline OP
Member
Leonardo  Offline OP
Member

Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 290
Latvia
Well, those are some interesting ideas, I must say that. Can't say though that "tagging" or world record breaking is the path I could walk. But advertising on GameReview sites would be my choice, because it is cheap, effective (in case of a good review ^^) and it attracts exactly the target audience I need. TV, for instance, is a lot more expensive, and the commercials are wasted on people that do not care about gaming at all.
Now, I got to find out, what kind of sites do secretaries visit! I know they all love to play casual games in the office!


"Things of the mind left untested by the senses are useless."
Re: Casual game business [Re: Leonardo] #178176
01/17/08 09:16
01/17/08 09:16
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 4,264
Wellington
Nems Offline

.
Nems  Offline

.

Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 4,264
Wellington
What I ment about Tv is NEWS, an article or 2 where you claiim to be the first in your country offerring casual games, same goes for Radio and print media, get it in the news and youve got word of mouth advertising for free
...then again, why not a Bungie jump as well

Re: Casual game business [Re: Nems] #178177
01/17/08 09:39
01/17/08 09:39
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 290
Latvia
Leonardo Offline OP
Member
Leonardo  Offline OP
Member

Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 290
Latvia
Oh, NEWS... Than that is a very good idea. Even 3D modeling is a new thing in Latvia, so there recently was an article about two kids making models for a Latvian war movie. It just seems we have been left back while the whole world progressed.
So, getting in the news wouldn't be so hard, and it definitely would increase the popularity of the web-site. Especially if I did the interview while bungie-jumping! ^^


"Things of the mind left untested by the senses are useless."
Re: Casual game business [Re: Leonardo] #178178
01/23/08 22:13
01/23/08 22:13
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 5,377
USofA
fastlane69 Offline
Senior Expert
fastlane69  Offline
Senior Expert

Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 5,377
USofA
I would hit all the local and internet news and magazines and work the "first studio/website/game in Latvia" angle... that usually plays well.

HOWEVER, to find hard data on traffic and your profitability will take time and money. AFAIK, it is VERY hard to find those stats on the web and even then, they are irrelevent unless they are exactly like what you are doing. Hence I would either pay for the market research and find the numbers or simply do your best and keep track of your OWN numbers and base your decisions on that.

I think it is great that you can count on a whole country to come to your site for your site is teh first of it's kind in Latvia. But this could also not be true. After all, while this is the first game site from latvia on the net, it is not the first game site and thus your latvian customers may be comparing you to these more advanced methods. I think the biggest hook you have right now is being a latvian first: this will play well in the news, both local and global, but may not turn to profits for on the net, there is no Latvia or US or Germany... merely good sites and bad sites.

Re: Casual game business [Re: fastlane69] #178179
01/23/08 22:22
01/23/08 22:22
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 290
Latvia
Leonardo Offline OP
Member
Leonardo  Offline OP
Member

Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 290
Latvia
I agree, that Latvian customers will not make my profit grow considerably by increasing game sales ^^ But this is why, I'll be offering most of the games for free and putting up ads on the site and in the games. I believe that is a nice way to increase popularity amongst the users who don't have enough money or simply don't want to pay, but on the same time, capitalize on the fact. And, of course, as mentioned, the website needs a constant flow of viewers and gamers, so free games always hit the spot.
And, seeing as I'm the only one making the games, and I'm doing quite well for now, I don't have to split the profits!

Well, all I can say is - I'll do my best and hope for the best!


"Things of the mind left untested by the senses are useless."
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