Can Browser Based Games Be Profitable? Can They Make Over Hundred Million Profits?

Are you a videogame app developer who find yourself restricted by either or both of the Google/Android and Apple App Stores? Could the reason be the seemingly endless software upgrades you have to do everytime either or both of these stores make an update?

Do you wish you could only make one videogame program that would be available to all devices like Android smartphones, Apple smartphones, non-Android and Apple smartphones, tablets, laptops and PCs?

Do you wish you have more control of your videogame product? Like being able to choose or combine any monetization method you want? Like also being able to show videogame content which Google or Apple won’t allow?

If these are some of the reasons why you don’t particularly enjoy developing videogames for either the Google/Android or Apple App Store, perhaps you should take a look into developing web based videogames instead.

There are more people using smartphones than either their laptops or PCs. This is because the physical size of smartphones make them very convenient to be carried around just about anywhere.

They fit in one’s pocket and they have similar capabilities to what laptops and PCs offer. For example, you can edit documents, surf the internet and play videogames in both smartphones and laptops/PCs.

But there are limitations to smartphones in terms of app software. For example, if you happen to be using an Android based smartphone, you cannot use Apple based smartphone apps unless your Android based smartphone has an equivalent app to it.

But one thing that is similar to both Android and Apple based smartphones is that they can both access and run web based softwares that reside on websites. Websites are also not governed by the rules of either Google/Android or Apple.

This is because apps follow a programming code that is only allowed by either Google or Apple. For example, both Google and Apple frequently require updates to their programming code that an app developer must follow to keep their apps running.

As has been said, web based softwares are not governed by the rules of either Google/Android and Apple. Therefore, a web based videogame or any other web based software can freely be accessed in any smartphone, tablet and laptop/PC.

This means that web based videogames have a much wider reach as compared to app based videogames. To put this point even clearer: You can only access an app based videogame if you have a smartphone.

Your access to app based videogames even becomes narrower when you consider that you need to run an app based videogame on either one of two platforms only: Google/Android based smartphones or Apple based smartphones.

Then again, your access to app based videogame even becomes more narrower when you consider that smartphone based operating systems become updated frequently. There is a big chance that the app you’re using today might not work anymore after a smartphone upgrade.

Compare this with websites that can be accessed by all smartphones, tablets and laptops/PCs. There is also hardly any operating system changes on websites. This is the reason why there are websites that are decades old but are still working.

TWO EXAMPLES OF VERY PROFITABLE WEB BASED VIDEOGAMES:

It is a videogame that mixes play with learning. It is primarily targeted for children. The videogame teaches Math skills as well as English Language skills. As you can see, this appeals to a very wide group of child users.

It also appeals to parents and teachers as a teaching tool. A child can learn under the guidance of a parent or a teacher. The visually attractive and well designed videogame learning tool is specifically designed to hook people into using it.

But what is laudable about the owners of the company/website is that they were able to combine two of the most popular digital content in one website, the first one being Videogame digital content.

As you may well know by now, the videogame industry’s revenue is much greater than the movie and music industry revenue combined together. The second popular digital content is Learning digital content.

According to Allied Market Research (alliedmarketresearch.com), a popular industry reports company: The global online market industry is valued at US$ 197 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach US$ 840 billion by 2030. CAGR is 17.5% from 2021 to 2030!

Contrary to what you might think of web based videogames, this website doesn’t monetize by showing online ads. Rather, they go via the subscription route. This is a more harder to implement monetization strategy than just simply showing online ads.

This is because potential subscribers must first see that your online service/product is worth the recurring subscription fees that they are about to pay. The website has a two weeks trial period to persuade potential subscribers to subscribe.

The company charges a membership/subscription fee of US$ 8.95 per month or US$ 60 per year to unlock the special features and bonuses of the videogame. As it stands out, this subscription model is working for the company.

According to the website RocketReach (rocketreach.co): The company made an annual revenue of US$ 101 million in 2021. But there’s more to the company than just earning from their videogame website’s digital product.

They have also extended to selling physical versions of their more famous digital characters in the form of dolls and other merchandize. They also have an online store where they sell among other things: children’s toys.

The game is also sometimes referred to as RuneScape 3 and is a fantasy massively multiplayer role-playing game (MMORPG). This browser based videogame was developed by Jagex.

According to the website Game Developer (gamedeveloper.com) in an article on July 11, 2018: the videogame generated US$ 800,000,000 over the course of its then 17 year lifetime.

This means that the videogame on average made the company over US$ 47,000,000/year. This means that the videogame made more money than most other app based videogames. This proves that web based videogames and not only app based games can be very profitable.

In case you’re wondering now if you could also develop your own web based game like RuneScape. Take note that the videogame was first programmed using the Java Programming Language.

Later on the code of the videogame was converted to the C++ Programming Language. So, developing such a web based videogame is very possible for you considering that both of these programming languages have plenty of tutorials online.

The company earns money by charging subscription fees to its members. According to RunScape Wiki: a one month subscription would cost you US$ 10.99 for one month, US$ 29.99 for three months and US$ 99.99 for a one year membership.

They also have ”RunePass”. The event runs for a timeline of two weeks where you must complete special missions to win special rewards. There are two routes to win the special rewards of which one of these is by buying ”RuneCoins”.

These are cryptocurrency coins that could be purchased with real world money. Of course, there were many RuneScape members who complained that the company was turning the game into a pay-to-win scenario but it hardly affected the company’s profits.

But it is not only the company who has turned the videogame into a very lucrative moneymaking venture. There are players who sell some of the videogame’s digital assets like digital gold into real world money.

Although the company has been cracking down on the practice, the game is so popular that these questionable transactions still persist: Meet The RuneScape Gold Seller Making $1.1 Million a Year.

There are still other profitable browser based games besides the two I just mentioned which are Prodigy and RuneScape. For example, all you need to do is Google the search keywords: “browser based games” to get a list of other games.

According to The Business Research Company (thebusinessresearchcompany com), an industry reports company: The global browser based videogames market grew from $US 7.48 billion in 2021 to $US 7.88 billion in 2022 at a healthy CAGR of 5.3%.

As you can see, the industry is growing at a healthy pace, what’s more, there are already plenty of tutorials online on how to make browser based videogames. I found several alone in YouTube.

Another thing to consider is that besides being available on all devices and not governed by Google/Android and Apple is that you can add a browser based game on any website. As it stands, you can partner with the hundred of millions of website owners to make money.

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