Clearly, sponsors are only going to be interested in paying for games that they consider to have great potential for popularity among game players. After all, the sponsor is paying for as many people as possible to see his branding in the game!
It is important, therefore, to ensure that any game we intend to put up for sponsorship is of the highest quality that we can achieve. When your game is complete, ensure that, at minimum, you check the following points prior to pursuing sponsorship:
- Ensure that the game has been tested thoroughly and that all known bugs have been eliminated
- Check that you have adhered to any licensing requirements for third-party assets used in your game (for example, artwork, music, sound effects)
- Keep a record of any license agreements relevant to your in-game assets
- Have a written agreement with anyone else who has contributed to the development of the game (for example, artists, musicians, designers)
- Do not release the game publicly—this will devalue your game and is highly likely to eliminate any possibility of a sponsorship deal
- Adhere to any legal requirements relevant in your region
Finally, do your own research—the information in this book is offered as a guide, but the game developer must take responsibility for his or her own actions! Time passes very quickly on the Internet, and industry standards change frequently, so be sure to research and participate in appropriate discussion forums to determine the latest industry standards. And, where appropriate, take professional advice prior to entering into any legal contracts.
In-game advertising and obtaining sponsorship are popular methods of monetizing both desktop and mobile games, but Stencyl does offer additional methods of earning revenue from mobile games.
A popular model for generating revenue from mobile games is to initially provide the game free of charge, but then to encourage players to purchase items throughout the game. In-app purchases (IAPs), on mobile devices provide a facility whereby game players can purchase virtual items to aid their progress throughout a game. For example, in a motor-racing game, the player may be able to purchase a larger engine for his car or maybe they could purchase special tires to gain a speed advantage on a particular type of race track.
Stencyl makes the implementation of IAPs within our mobile games quite straightforward—the instruction blocks for working with IAPs are shown in the following screenshot:
In addition to implementing IAPs within the game itself, the developer must enter into a contract with the relevant app store (that is Google Play or Apple App Store on iTunes), and it is also necessary to configure the items to be purchased in the relevant app store developer portal.
Note
The configuration and implementation of IAPs is beyond the scope of this book. However, step-by-step instructions for implementing, testing, and trouble shooting IAPs are available on the Stencyl help pages at www.stencyl.com/help.
Many game players are happy to pay a one-off fee for good-quality games, and making our mobile games available for purchase in the Google Play and Apple App Store on iTunes is a topic that we'll be discussing in Chapter 10, Targeting Mobile Platforms.