Questions about HTML5 game market form out-of-the-loop guy

[Kevin Trepanier]

Hi everyone,

I have some questions about today's HTML5 game market. I have experience developing and selling Flash games through FGL.com years back then, so I was wondering how it went today. Is game sponsoring a thing in HTML5 games? How does it work? Is it similar to the Flash market from years ago? (exclusive, non-exclusive licenses)

Do HTML5 games go viral? Like new popular Flash games on Newgrounds and Kongregate used to spread like wild fire around the web. Does this work with HTML5 games?

Thanks a lot!

[b10b]

Hi @Kevin Trepanier,

From a FGL-Flash-era comparison the big changes are HTML5's shift towards revenue-split, syndication, multi-platform, multi-player.  A good Publishing Partner (who can bring high volume traffic and share revenues fairly) is good to have but might take time (and a small catalog of games) to find?

Sponsors.  The "Auction" exclusive-upfront-fee licenses are rare (or rather the level of risk for a small team to build a game of sufficient scope to gain exclusive interest is hard to justify upfront).  The "Gameshop" style non-exclusive upfront-fee licenses do exist, however the number of active sponsors in the market are few so overall revenue is limited (in comparison to slower but longer revenue-split).  There are links on this forum to such sponsor portals, although it's a changing list with high churn so your own research will be necessary.

Virality.  As always, it's possible but improbable!  But more contagious these days is the speed and quantity of rip-offs and clones.  Any big-idea must be protected with (or leverage) a server-side strategy.

Of course everybody's mileage will vary, most will quietly stall whereas a few successes are very real and highly deserved (and often humble!).  I hope that's a fair and helpful overview.

  

[Kevin Trepanier]

That's a perfectly helpful overview! Thanks a lot. I'm seeing a few names from the FGL era here, including yours if I'm not mistaken, and Ozdy. That's nice to see.

What do you mean by syndication?

[b10b]

13 hours ago, Kevin Trepanier said:

What do you mean by syndication?

You might remember in the old days non-exclusives were sometimes called "site-locks" and it was considered a big-bad when other sites embedded or IFramed the game (effectively leaching)?  Whereas these days (within a revenue-split model) it's often advantageous to allow other sites to link, embed, and further distribute content - assuming it is properly managed with authentic parties.  A good publishing partner will actively negotiate distribution and licensing deals with such channels - in a way not dissimilar to how TV "syndication" works.  And, so long as all parties are recipients of the upside, this is usually a good thing that results in growing royalties.  But I don't want to end up sounding like a sales pitch for anyone and everyone offering revenue-split - not all are worthwhile - explore, ask tough questions of potential partners!