FlashGameSponsorship & FlashGameLicense - Major Updates!

[AdamSchroeder]

Hey guys!

Feel free to move this to the announcements thread. I've posted the past FlashGameSponsorship (http://www.flashgamesponsorship.com/)(FGS) and FlashGameLicense (http://www.flashgamelicense.com/)(FGL) notices here and it usually sparked a fair bit of discussion.

In previous posts I have said 'up to 5K in a sponsorship'. We are currently seeing 'performance based' deals that easily hit 10K, 15K, 20K and beyond if the game is successful. Additionally we structure these in a way which leaves a TREMENDOUS amount of future revenue potential in the developer hands. A primary license leaves the developer free to make money from in-game ads directly and sell future non-exclusives to other site.

FGL has undergone a major update. You can see whats new on site if you sign up as a sponsor or developer. FGL is basically a marketplace to connect game developers and people who want to license your games. There are nearly 200 buyers signed up so you can easily get your games in front of A LOT of people. The old method was emailing them one by one. ;)

FlashGameSponsorship.com has several new articles:

Sponsorship Evolution (http://www.flashgamesponsorship.com/sponsorship-overview/sponsorship-overview/sponsorship-overview.html)

Sponsorship Terms (http://www.flashgamesponsorship.com/sponsorship-overview/sponsorship-overview/sponsorship/license-terms.html)

FGL & Developer Testimonials (http://www.flashgamesponsorship.com/regular-content/regular-content/agent-services.html) (basically just selling FGL)

[Sahmon]

Only flash games?
How about ActiveX web version with digital certificate such game as Astro Avenger 2 (http://www.sahmon.com/astroavenger-2.html)?
:)

[AdamSchroeder]

Hey Sahmon,

We are only focusing on flash games. Primarily this is due to the near total penetration of the flash player which allows almost everyone on the web to start playing a game with a single click. There is no download, install, 'activeX' allow permissions, or any 'work'.

You can build a great flash game, publish it on your own and have 5 Million people play it within a month and 25 Million within a year. The ONLY thing you need is a great game, not great publisher connections.

I'm not sure a situation like this has ever existed in another gaming medium.

If other browser plug-ins become popular we will definitely look into supporting them.

There is A LOT you can do with Flash 9 and Actionscript 3 if you learn the right optimization techniques. Take a look at
Boxheads - Zombie Wars (http://www.crazymonkeygames.com/Boxhead-The-Zombie-Wars.html)

[chanon]

Hi Adam,

Great work on the sites! I hope to use your service in the future (depending on whether I can get a Flash game done or not of course).

Your post about Flash 9 prompted me to ask this question. Is Flash 9 / ActionScript 3 now acceptable for the main flash portals? I remember reading a big portal say that they don't take Flash 9 games. Has that changed?

I've been doing a little Flash development and feel Flash9/AS3 is a whole lot better.

Also, could you recommend any tutorials for learning the best optimization techniques for Flash 9 to us?

Thanks!

[KNau]

Speaking of other plug-ins, most game portals also take Shockwave games and with the recent release of Director 11 I'm hoping there will be more development happening on that front. Would you or have you licensed any Shockwave titles?

Also, I'm not understanding what's so different about the "primary license" arrangement. Here's how I'm reading it:

One site (ie. Crazy Monkey Games) pays the biggest chunk of revenue to brand and spread the game virally. They have the option to upload the swf with their branding to other portals and sites (Newgrounds, etc.).
You can then sell single licenses to other portals (which use their branding) but the game must be sitelocked to that one website. No spreading or uploading to other sites.

Is there something I'm missing because you've been doing these types of deals for a while now, haven't you? What caused the jump in sponsorship range, which I take has happened only recently?

* correction - upon reading your site more thoroughly I realize that you're talking about "collectively" offerings totaling $10 - $20 thousand dollars. That makes more sense.

[hama]

Hi AdamSchroeder! Nice work. I already registered at your site. I have a question though. Can I make a Flash game, sell it to the sponsor on your site and then make PC Deluxe version with more upgrades and levels and sell it on BFG etc? Sorry if the question seems awkward cuz I have no previous exp in Flash market whatsoever :)

[AdamSchroeder]

Thanks guys!

Chanon, There are a ton of great tutorials and resources but I don't have the best ones handy. It's on our 'TODO list' to create collections of resources like that.

KNau, Previously most sponsorship deals would prevent the developer from removing the sponsors branding from the game. Very very few places would pay money for a license that includes branding and links of a competing web portal or would take visitors away from their site.

With a primary license the developer is able to remove the primary sponsors branding (and make any other changes they want) as long as the game is locked to a single domain.

Additionally you can now use in-game ads which can earn a significant amount of money over time.

The increase in money is coming from:

Value of the market increasing
Increased competition among buyers
Collective Licenses (several different companies buying 'pieces' of the game)
In-Game Ads
Performance based payments where the developers cut is tied to how much money (measured by traffic generation) the sponsor makes.


Hama, Thanks. ;)
Yes, you can definitely do that. There are several sponsors that would be interested in an arrangement like that. Basically the game would say something like 'Click here to learn more about a full PC downloadable enhanced version of this game' or 'Click here to play other great web games'. [Obviously the actual language would be different].

In this case I would actually recommend that the first link go directly to your own website so you can sell the game and keep 100% of the revenue. After the game has run it's course and the traffic dies down then you could shop it around to the game portals which will want a large % of the sales price.

I do see possibilities of partnering directly with a casual downloadable portal (like BigfishGames) if you could work out a deal where they properly valued the 10,000s (or 100,000s) of new users that you sending to their site from this marketing approach.

[hama]

Thanks for your answer, Adam. I am going to start porting my games to Flash :cool:

[chanon]

Thanks Adam, I imagine adding Flash development resources would be beneficial to your site/business :)

But what about my Flash 9/AS3 question? Do the big portals accept Flash 9 now? Some were saying that it is too new.

[AdamSchroeder]

Chanon,

Sorry, I missed that question. Flash 9 has reached very high penetration levels and is commonly accepted at game portals.

Although Adobe is not 100% unbiased you might check:


Flash Player Version Penetration (http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer/version_penetration.html)
and
Flash vs Other Players Penetration (http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer/)