I'm thinking in use Plimus like my payment + affiliates solution but I would like to know which portals are actually using it and if they are happy with this system. I'd also like to know if there are more portals using RegNow than Plimus. And from the point of view of an affiliate of other webs, do you think the costumers will be confused if I use RegNow and Plimus at the same time in my portal selling games like an affiliate of other portals?
I have also other question. I have seen a lot of game portals that in fact are only affiliates of other bigger portals. For example there are a lot of portals which are affiliates of Reflexive. In this portals, the costumer can download the demo of the game and try it. And also of course, to buy the full game. BUT, in the demo, the button with the "buy it" inside the game, take the costumer to the web of Reflexive, not to the one of the affiliate. Then, I dont know if affiliates recieve usually mony or not, because I think that the 99% of the times the costumer will try the demo, and if he wants to buy the game, he will click on the "buy now" button of the demo, not in the one of the web. A solution will be to make "custom demos" for the affiliates with the url to buy the game taking care of the ID of the affiliate. But I dont know if this is usual or not. Lot of doubts!
I use plimus and i'm very pleased with them. I was offered *much* cheaper solutions but i didn't change because their service is really great and i think the fee is fair for the quality of service they provide. ( they have to feed their families too! ) pat.
Building custom versions IS common place. I use Plimus for my own sales and some affiliates, but the bulk of affiliates use RegNow so I also have my game with them. Ie a sale from my site goes through plimus, but most affiliate sales go through regnow.
Of course the affiliate gets paid no matter how the order is processed. In the case of Reflexive, the affiliate’s ID is stamped into the game when the user downloads the demo. This ID is then sent to the payment processing server when the order is placed. The affiliate is always given credit for the sale no matter how the payment was made. The customer could use the in-game order form and never see any web site, or go to the web, or order via phone or even mail in a check or money order. In all cases the affiliate gets credit. The affiliate can also customize the order form to say their name on it. The order form is always served up from the Reflexive server, but it will have the affiliate name on it or no name at all depending on how the affiliate setup his account.
You are right. There are a lot of web site selling games who use the Reflexive Arcade as a service to stock their web store. Here is an example of an order form GreenAppleGame.com who uses the Reflexive Arcade to provide the inventory for their web store. Click HERE for order form You will notice it has the affiliate name/logo across the top of the screen. The only mention of Reflexive is near the bottom where it notifies customers that their purchase will show up on their credit card statement as Reflexive Entertainment. If you go to GreenAppleGames.com you will notice it doesn’t say Reflexive anywhere. If you download a game from GreenAppleGames you will notice that all the games have a splash screen with the GreenAppleGames logo. They also all have an “Other Game†button in the game itself or the wrapper that shows up before and after the game. That other games button leads back to a special page on GreenAppleGames where featured games are shown. Every single game in the Reflexive Arcade is automatically rebranded with the affiliate’s name and logo and links back to the affiliates web site. As far as the customer know, the game came from Green Apple Games. Reflexive just provides a catalog and order fulfillment for Green Apple Games but the customer belong to Green Apple Games. Green Apple Games gets paid for the sale and gets the e-mail address of the customer. Reflexive isn’t even allowed to contact the customer directly. For a more attractive example of an affiliate check out Arcade Underground. Both of these “affiliates†are using the live games catalog feed from Reflexive Arcade. That means that as new games are added to the Reflexive Arcade catalog, the affiliate web site automatically lists them. Other affiliate choose to hand pick specific games and manually lay out their web site. For example fnArcade The point I am trying to make is that being an “affiliate†of Reflexive Aracde don’t just mean they you refer people to Reflexive arcade to get a referral fee. You can run your won web store, retain your own customers, display your own brand, and the customer will have no idea who Reflexive is.
Thanks for all your answers! Then, before an affiliate can sell these games in a portal, has Reflexive to change the demo and full version to put this screens?
No. It’s all automated. The game developers don’t have to do anything and Reflexive doesn’t have to do anything. The affiliate just enters his information into the web based system and uploads his logos. The affiliate can then link to any game and include his affiliate ID in the link. The system automatically generates a copy of any game with the affiliate’s ID stamped into the game and with his logo in the splash screen. You could sign up as an affiliate today and within 10 minutes have over 150 games all with your logo on the splash screen and order forms. And all with links in the game back to your web site. You could even download a bunch of games with your affiliate ID in them, burn them on a CD, and distribute the CD-ROM to potential customers. The games in the CD would have your logo and give you credit for each sale. And you never have to ask a developer to make a special version of his game with your info in it. It is al automated and instantaneous.
The Reflexive guys have a couple of very impressive pieces of tech. Their affiliate system is one of them. I also LOVE their purchase SDK - it fills a framebuffer for you, which you can display inside your game. Awesome, really