This article delves into the importance of monetizing games properly and explores the top monetization models, including various ad types, to help you unlock your gaming venture’s full profit potential.

Key Reasons to Monetize Games

Monetization isn’t just a means for companies to recoup development costs. A well-defined monetization strategy allows you to:

• Gain a sustainable revenue stream. Game development is a resource-intensive process that involves significant investments in time, talent, and technology. Monetizing your game ensures a steady revenue stream, enabling you to earn back your initial investment, fund ongoing development, and reinvest in new projects.
  
• Enhance player engagement and retention. Well-implemented monetization strategies can enhance player engagement by offering optional in-game purchases, such as power-ups, cosmetic items, or time-saving boosts. These additional features not only generate income but also contribute to a more immersive and rewarding gaming experience, fostering player loyalty and retention.
  
• Fuel ongoing support. Monetization provides resources for continuous bug fixes and fresh content updates, which helps nurture a vibrant community. This keeps players hooked and extends the game’s lifespan.
  
• Foster innovation. The funds you’ve returned through monetization can empower you to push further in implementing innovative gaming ideas, potentially leading to other groundbreaking titles in the future.

The Wide Variety Video Game Monetization Models

When it comes to monetization, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. The optimal strategy will always depend on your game’s genre, target audience, and platform. Here are some popular models to consider:

In-Game Advertising Model

Free-to-play games can integrate non-intrusive ads to generate revenue. This means players can choose to watch an ad in exchange for in-game rewards like virtual currency or power-ups. For instance, Choices: Stories You Play entices gamers with a complimentary experience of interactive storytelling. However, to significantly influence the plot or gain romantic advantages, players encounter “premium choices” that necessitate diamonds, the game’s premium currency. Choices provides multiple methods to acquire diamonds, including direct purchase or by watching ads—a feature catering to users who prefer not to spend money. 

Another great example of this model at play is Stepico’s Century Siege. This title also cleverly caters to both free-to-play and paying audiences. It offers a core gameplay experience that’s completely free to enjoy but enables players to make strategic in-app purchases to accelerate their progress or access exclusive content. These purchases include premium currency for special offers and a subscription service granting unique rewards and passive income. Century Siege avoids intrusive advertising. Instead, it utilizes a rewarded ad system, offering players the option to watch ads in exchange for benefits like doubled rewards, additional chests, or even swapping their daily quests. This player-friendly approach keeps the core gameplay enjoyable for everyone while providing optional opportunities for those who want them.

Freemium Game Monetization Strategy

Here, players also download the game for free and enjoy core gameplay but additional content, cosmetic upgrades, or power-ups can be purchased through in-app purchases (IAPs). This model is widespread in the mobile market, but also extends to PC and console games with online components. The famous Candy Crush Saga reels players by offering the core game for free, which lets a vast audience experience the addictive match-3 gameplay. However, for those who crave a little extra help conquering tricky levels, Candy Crush provides optional in-app purchases. Players can spend real money on gold bars, the game’s premium currency, to buy additional lives, boosters, power-ups, and extra moves. 

Another good example is Stepico’s Fishing Rival. Players can enjoy the base fishing experience at no cost, but have the option to accelerate their progress and unlock new content faster through in-app purchases. These purchases use “cash,” the title’s currency, to buy special offers and most in-game content. 

Premium Model 

Players pay a one-time upfront fee to download and access the full game. This model is often used for console and PC titles but can also be successful for high-quality mobile games. God of War 2 is a bright example of premium model implementation, relying solely on upfront purchases to generate revenue. Aside from publishers, this approach benefits players. They get a complete experience with the freedom to replay the game and explore its challenges without being bombarded with extra purchase offerings. This model thrives on delivering a quality product that justifies the initial investment.

Hollow Knight, the hauntingly beautiful Metroidvania by Team Cherry, exemplifies another proper execution of this approach. For a fixed price, players are granted access to the entirety of the sprawling, interconnected world of Hallownest. Hollow Knight is famous for its rich lore that unfolds organically through exploration and cryptic storytelling, elements that wouldn’t impress that much if they were fragmented for monetization. The focus on a dense world filled with challenging boss battles and secrets to uncover incentivizes players to delve deep and replay the game, extracting maximum value from their initial purchase. This approach proves that the premium model can be a perfect choice for publishers if they decide to deliver a self-contained, high-quality experience that keeps players engaged without the need for additional in-app purchases.

Subscription Model

A subscription in the gaming world typically entails paying a recurring fee for access to exclusive content, features, or benefits. This model is great for games with a focus on ongoing play and frequent content updates. Xbox Game Pass has emerged as one of the key players in this area. 

For a monthly fee, it enables gamers to unlock a variety of downloadable titles, eliminating the need to buy each one individually. Acting as a sort of “Netflix for games,” this library boasts hundreds of options, catering to various tastes with a mix of blockbuster AAA releases, indie gems, and even day-one access to Microsoft’s own first-party titles. It is constantly evolving too, with new additions arriving frequently and some content rotating out to keep things fresh.

Xbox Game Pass maximizes this monetization approach by appealing to different player preferences with multiple subscription tiers. Console gamers can access the library on their Xbox devices, while PC players have their own optimized library. The ultimate tier, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, combines both console and PC libraries, throws in cloud gaming functionality for on-the-go access, and sweetens the deal with exclusive discounts and early access trials. 

Finding the Perfect Way to Monetize Your Game Through In-Game Advertising

If you choose to go for the advertisement model, which has been picking up a lot of steam lately, it’s crucial that you select ad formats that enhance the player experience rather than disrupt it. Here are some common ad types to consider:

• Banner ads. These non-intrusive rectangular ads appear at the top or bottom of the game screen, offering minimal disruption.
  
• Interstitial ads. These full-screen ads appear between levels or game sessions. To avoid frustration, keep them short and offer a clear “close ad” option.
  
• Rewarded video ads. Players voluntarily watch a short video ad in exchange for in-game rewards. This incentivized format fosters a positive association with advertising.

What Is the Best Type of Game Monetization Strategy for Particular Platforms?

The key to unlocking your game’s full revenue potential lies in experimentation and data-driven decision-making. If you’re working with a custom game development vendor, they’ll assist you in strategy selection by analyzing player behavior and A/B testing different monetization types to fine-tune your approach and maximize profitability. The approach will heavily depend on the platform and your project requirements. Here are some general recommendations as which which models can be a good fit for different platforms from Stepico’s experts.

Mobile Games

• Freemium. Freemium mobile gaming removes barriers with a free download, offering players a risk-free trial and enticing them with well-designed limitations that encourage upgrades and cater to shorter mobile play sessions.
  
• Advertising model. This free-to-play model also broadens game reach on discoverability-focused platforms, offering players an enjoyable experience with nonintrusive targeted mobile ads. This leads to increased ad impressions and revenue from tailored advertising without requiring direct in-game spending.

Web Games

• Freemium with strategic IAPs. The web freemium model allows for a deeper base game experience with IAPs focused on customization, storylines, and world expansion to cater to web gamers with more playtime compared to mobile audiences.
  
• Subscription. Web games, unlike many mobile games, at times can leverage subscriptions to target dedicated players with exclusive content, early access, and ad-free experiences, creating a premium tier for their favorite web games.
  
• Targeted in-game advertising with less intrusion. Web games offer large screens for non-intrusive ads, rich user data for targeting, and natural ad placements that don’t disrupt gameplay – all leading to more revenue for publishers and a smoother experience for the player.

PC Games

• Premium model. The premium model thrives on PC due to player expectations for complete, well-crafted experiences. With upfront payments, publishers can focus on quality, providing uninterrupted gameplay. Additionally, the diverse PC gaming audience allows for premium pricing catering to different preferences, while additional content sales, such as new levels or cosmetic items, align with the PC modding scene, extending the game’s lifespan.

Console Games

• Subscription. Although by no means the only choice, the subscription model can be extremely beneficial for console games. It gives publishers an additional recurring revenue stream – a predictable income source based on subscriber count. Additionally, subscriptions can expand the player base. By offering access to a library of games for a monthly fee, publishers can attract casual gamers who might not be willing to invest in individual titles. This broader audience reach can lead to increased revenue not just through subscriptions, but also through potential additional content purchases or in-game marketplaces within the subscription service.
  
  It’s also worth noting that, similar to the PC titles, some console games can only be acquired through a one-time purchase. This is especially true for new and trending titles from renowned publishers, who can later still add them to the subscription to generate more revenue. Smaller studios with limited marketing budgets, however, tend to offer their games on subscription services from the get-go.

How to Implement Gaming Monetization Correctly

Crafting a winning monetization approach is more than just picking a model. At Stepico, we rely on these principles when developing a comprehensive strategy:

• Know your audience. Understanding your target player’s demographics and spending habits is crucial. 
  
• Define your value proposition. Clearly articulate what value players receive from spending money in your game. 
  
• Balance is key. Don’t disrupt the core gameplay with excessive monetization. Players should feel like they’re getting a complete and enjoyable experience without being pressured to spend.
  
• Data-driven decisions. Regularly analyze player behavior and revenue streams. Use this data to optimize your monetization strategy and ensure it’s aligned with player preferences.

And here are some common monetization missteps you should avoid.

• Pay-to-Win (P2W). This strategy prioritizes players who spend the most money, creating an unfair advantage and frustrating free-to-play users. This can alienate a large portion of your player base.
  
• Excessive ads. Bombarding players with constant ad breaks disrupts the gameplay flow and creates resentment.
   
• Unbalanced economy. If the in-game resources or rewards are heavily skewed towards in-app purchases, free-to-play users will feel like they’re constantly grinding with little progress. This discourages players from sticking around.
  
• Lack of transparency. Confusing pricing structures or misleading descriptions of in-app purchases can erode player trust.
  
• Ignoring analytics. Failing to track player behavior and in-app purchase trends can prevent you from identifying and fixing problems within your monetization strategy.

Partnering with a seasoned game development vendor such as Stepico can provide valuable guidance and help avoid these and other monetization pitfalls. 

We don’t just integrate efficient monetization models – we create them with your game’s DNA in mind.

Over the last 9 years, Stepico has successfully implemented a wide range of monetization models, from freemium with IAPs for mobile games to premium experiences with cosmetic microtransactions for consoles. If you want to transform your game idea into an engaging experience that generates serious revenue, contact us now to get 5-star game development services, ensuring your game is visually stunning and engaging, along with expert integration of monetization models.

This decision deeply saddens us, as we have been loyal users of Unity for many years. We have enjoyed Unity’s flexibility, power, and ease of use, and we have created many excellent games like Guild of Guardians, Fishing Rival, and MetaPopit with it. We have also benefited from the large and supportive community of Unity developers, who have shared their knowledge, feedback, and assets with us. 

However, we also understand that Unity Technologies is a business, and they have to make decisions that they believe are best for their future. We respect their choice and hope they will continue to provide high-quality service and support for their customers. We also hope that they reconsider their pricing model and offer more affordable options for game developers.

Runtime Fee Explained

The Unity Runtime Fee will only apply to games that meet specific revenue and install thresholds. For example, those using a Unity Personal or Unity Plus license will only have to pay once they hit $200,000 in 12 months and 200,000 installs. The threshold rises to one million for Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise plans. The fee will also vary depending on the number of installs and the game’s region. We will do our best to minimize the impact of this fee on our budget and your future games.

However, we also want to inform you that this type of payment does not affect small niche titles and large products that use additional Unity services. According to Unity Technologies, games that don’t meet the established threshold of audience or revenue per year will not be subject to the Unity Runtime Fee. This means that if you are a fan of making smaller or experimental games with us, you can still take joy in them at no extra cost.

On the other hand, games that use additional Unity services such as cloud hosting, multiplayer networking, analytics, ads, etc., will also not be deeply affected by the Unity Runtime Fee, as the subscribers of Unity Enterprise, for example, can pay as low as 1 cent per install. This is because the chosen extra services already generate revenue for Unity Technologies through other means. Therefore, if you love developing more complex games, you can do that without breaking the bank.

What’s the Verdict?

Despite this change, we want to assure you that we are still committed to creating spectacular games for you. We still believe in the Unity engine’s capabilities and will continue to use it for our current and upcoming projects. Our team will also keep exploring other game engines and platforms and look for new opportunities and challenges. We are always eager to learn new skills and technologies and are not afraid of change.

We thank you for your continued support and understanding. We know this news may affect your game development experience and expectations, but we hope you will stick with us and enjoy what our partnerships offer. We promise to deliver the best quality and value possible, and we hope to surprise and delight you with our creativity and innovation.

We also want to let you know that we continue to support our partners who seek to develop games in Unity. We value our collaborations and friendships with them and will not let this change affect our relationships. We will share our experiences and insights with them and help them overcome any challenges they may face.

Furthermore, we can also help our partners choose among other game engines and advise on their capabilities, licenses, and costs. There are many alternatives to Unity in the market, such as Unreal Engine, Godot Engine, GameMaker Studio, Cocos2d-x, etc. Each of them has its own strengths and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages. Based on our research and testing, we can provide unbiased and honest opinions on each of them. 

We will fully support you in your decision about making a game using an engine other than Unity, and ensure that your choice lands on the one that will benefit your requirements the most. So, if you are interested in learning more about other game engines, keeping your game development on Unity without draining your wallet, or switching from Unity to another game engine, please feel free to contact us anytime. We are happy to assist you in any way we can.

Stepico is a European company with its headquarters located in Lviv, Ukraine. Additionally, it has offices in New York and Cyprus. The company focuses on providing comprehensive gaming solutions, forming trustworthy partnerships, and assisting clients in delivering top-quality entertainment to gamers.

The company boasts over 200 skilled professionals who have successfully worked on 65+ projects worldwide. They are mobile, PC, and console development experts, utilizing the power of Unity and Unreal engines. Stepico provides full-cycle game development services, including 2D/3D art production and live game operations. They also offer phase-by-phase development options.

Their exceptional mechanics and top-notch graphics, integrated with cutting-edge technology, contributed significantly to the gaming industry. As a result, they achieved a prominent position on GoodFirms’ list of top game development companies in Ukraine.

The GoodFirms team got an opportunity to interview Mr.Andrii Titov, CEO of Stepico, and learn more about the company and its values.

Let’s start the interview.

Stepico’s CEO Succinctly Expressed The Company’s Mission And His Position Within It

According to Mr. Titov, Stepico boasts a team of highly experienced professionals who have been instrumental in helping numerous aspiring game publishers achieve their dreams of publishing their games. The company launched its first product in 2014 and has been consistently improving its skills and scalability in the marketplace ever since.

As the CEO, he ensures that all business decisions align with the company’s vision and mission of providing quality services to its clients and a dynamic work culture for its employees. He is also accountable for ensuring product reliability and driving Stepico’s future growth.

An Effective Business Strategy And Exceptional Customer Service Can Offer Significant Competitive Advantages

Mr. Titov, the company firmly believes in working closely with their in-house teams and developing their talent. This business model enables them to take a proactive approach and understand the unique requirements of their clients, providing reliable consulting services that exceed their expectations.

Regarding competition, the company is dedicated to delivering the project with active guidance to reach the client’s goals and objectives. The team always conducts thorough researches of every client’s business vision behind the project to provide the consulting services correctly and ensure the deliverables are successfully delivered.

The company is committed to providing active guidance to its clients to help them achieve their goals and objectives in this competitive market. The team considers the client’s business vision behind the project to offer the correct consulting services and ensure the deliverables are successfully delivered.

The Stepico provides various levels of communication support to its clients worldwide. The project management team assists clients throughout ongoing projects and even after the release. Dedicated, accountable managers measure NPS and synchronize to address issues and provide the required support.

Stepico Is A Highly Experienced Company In The Gaming Industry That Provides Reliable Services

According to Mr. Titov, the company exclusively serves the gaming industry by providing video games, iGaming, or gamification infrastructure services. Their unyielding commitment enables them to provide exceptional service to clients globally, resulting in repeat customer retention ranging from 35% to 50%.

Stepico has a wide range of expertise in the gaming sector and offers the development of 2D and 3D games for various platforms such as mobile, PC, console. Among the most popular services that clients request are custom or full-cycle game development. This specialization helps clients with the entire process, from ideation to soft launch, hard launch, and even post-release support.

Below are a few reviews from GoodFirms that demonstrate how Stepico works closely with its clients.

The Payment Structure And Budget Requirements Of The Company

Mr. Titov discussed the company’s payment structure. He mentioned that Stepico offers a highly flexible and adaptable payment system, allowing clients to pay conveniently. The most commonly requested payment model is the fixed-cost payment, but the company also provides other payment structures based on specific client needs.

According to him, the company collaborates with businesses of all sizes. For art projects, the initial cost is between 3,000 to 5,000 USD, and for full-cycle projects, it ranges from 15,000 to 20,000 USD. The company also provides Revenue Share (RevShare) models, which allow them to work with clients by sharing profits or losses based on the product’s performance.

During the interview, Mr. Titov was asked about the minimum and maximum prices of their projects. In response, he gave the example of small projects for their US clients ranging from $10,000 to $1.5 million. He explained that the project’s cost depends on several factors, such as the client’s idea, target audience, genre, concept, and other requirements.

A Company Committed To Achieving Excellence In Its Future Endeavors

Mr. Titov shared his vision for the next decade. He explained that the company aims to continue its flexible business approach and build more client trust. The ultimate goal is to become the most reliable game development partner for large IP holders and own the Intellectual Property (IP), an essential element in the videogame industry. The company is consistently working towards expanding its services, such as publishing and LiveOps support, and is determined to pioneer in those fields.

The detailed interview is available on GoodFirms.

About GoodFirms

Washington, D.C. based GoodFirms is an innovative B2B Research and Reviews Company that extensively combes the market to find business services agencies amongst many other technology firms that offer the best services to their customers. GoodFirms’ extensive research process ranks the companies, boosts their online reputation, and helps service seekers pick the right technology partner that meets their business needs.

About the Author

As a Content Writer at GoodFirms, Anna Stark bridges the gap between service seekers and providers. Anna’s dominant role is to figure out company achievements and critical attributes and put them into words. She strongly believes in the charm of words and leverages new approaches that work, including new concepts that enhance the firm’s identity.

Almost 3.09 billion people play video games regularly worldwide. The number is expected to reach 3.32 billion by 2024 and will keep growing. So, what mechanics do popular games use to meet the expectations of such a vast group of people?

World’s well-known and most-liked games usually use pay-to-play or play-to-earn mechanics. When it comes to developing a game, what will your choice be? Stepico experts will gladly share their knowledge about P2P and P2E games in this article to help make up your mind. 

What are Pay-To-Play Games?

Pay-to-play (P2P) games are video games that require the player to buy an online service membership along with a gaming console, PC, game discs, or other hardware. P2Ps appeal more to players who prefer playing high-quality games because they usually offer better visuals and audio than free-to-play games. Also, the user might be motivated to purchase extras like virtual products and in-game money. 

Grand Theft Auto V, The Last of Us, FIFA 17, and God of War Ragnarok are famous pay-to-play games.

What are Play-To-Earn Games?

Play-to-earn (P2E) is the name of the new gaming model built on Blockchain technology. P2E games (or just crypto games) combine NFTs and cryptocurrencies into the gameplay. They offer players the opportunity to earn rewards or crypto while playing.

In play-to-earn games, users are incentivized to spend more time playing and completing objectives to earn more rewards. This can create a more engaging and rewarding experience for players, as they feel rewarded for their time and effort.

Guild of Guardians, Alien Worlds, and Axie Infinity are popular P2E games in 2023. 

How P2P and P2E Games Influence the Game Industry

The arrival of pay-to-play games some time ago has created quite a boom. More and more people have been attracted to games ever since both those who want to earn money from gaming and those willing to pay for a premium experience. 

The recent rise of P2E games has increased accessibility to gaming. For instance, many play-to-earn games offer free play or just a little initial investment. Because of this, they appeal to people who would not have the resources or access to buy traditional consoles and games.

Those are the advantages for players, but what about game developers? P2P and P2E games introduced new opportunities to monetize their games. Game developers can provide digital goods or in-game reward systems that can be transferred to the real world in addition to selling the game itself. By regularly releasing new content and updates, game creators can increase revenue and maintain player interest.

Pay-To-Play and Play-To-Earn Games in Close Comparison

There are some significant differences between pay-to-play and play-to-earn games that should be taken into account. We’ve assembled the six main ones:

Payment Model

Pay-to-play games require players to pay upfront to access the game. Play-to-earn games are usually free-to-play and allow users to earn rewards or cryptocurrency through gameplay.

Player Motivation

In P2P games, players are motivated to progress through the game and complete its objectives, often buying extra help on the go. P2E games stimulate gamers to acquire various assets that can be converted to real-world value.

Monetization

Pay-to-play games typically generate income through the sale of in-game items or DLC, while play-to-earn games can monetize through transaction fees on trades or by selling the game’s cryptocurrency.

Player Base

P2P games attract players willing to pay for a premium gaming experience. Meanwhile, P2E games appeal to the ones who are interested in earning rewards with real-world value.

Gameplay Mechanics

Play-to-earn games often have unique gameplay mechanics designed to support the earning and trading of prizes. In contrast, pay-to-play games may focus more on traditional game mechanics such as combat, puzzle-solving, or exploration.

Community Building

Play-to-earn games often foster a strong community among players, who may share strategies for earning rewards or trade cryptocurrency with each other. Pay-to-play games also have communities but are less focused on the game’s monetization model.

As play-to-earn is relatively new game mechanics compared to pay-to-play, we’d like to explore this topic a bit more.

Why are Play-to-Earn Games Popular?

P2E games offer perks for both players and game developers. Let’s start with gamers. P2E games provide an opportunity to earn real money while playing without worrying about data breaches, as crypto games use secure asset ownership in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with unique IDs. Moreover, play-to-earn gamers create vast communities that share valuable information, e.g., winning strategies.

For game developers, creating play-to-earn games opens up enormous blockchain potential for projects. Also, as the P2E ecosystem expands, developers who build these games continually increase their revenue. What’s also worth mentioning is trend-setting. The play-to-earn games open the gaming industry to fresh trends, expanding the potential for future developments. These games expose us to an entirely new extent of player possibilities beyond merely playing.

The crypto game Alien Worlds alone had 690,380 users in November 2022, and the number has kept increasing ever since. Other P2E games have up to 492,000 active players. The popularity of play-to-earn games is projected to grow in 2023 and in the years ahead.

Why Should You Try P2E Game Development?

The development of play-to-earn games can offer valuable benefits:

1. Increased player engagement. Play-to-earn games incentivize players to spend more time and effort in the game to earn rewards. This increased engagement can lead to higher retention rates and more recurring gameplay sessions.
   
2. Reduced marketing costs. P2E games can generate a lot of buzz and word-of-mouth advertising, reducing the need for expensive marketing campaigns.
   
3. New revenue streams. Play-to-earn games can generate income through the sale of in-game items and through the collection of fees on transactions that involve the game’s cryptocurrency. This can create new revenue streams for the company.
   
4. Community building. P2E games can foster a strong community among players, leading to greater player loyalty and advocacy.
   
5. Competitive advantage. Play-to-earn games are still a relatively new concept. Companies that embrace this model early on may have a competitive advantage over those that stick to more traditional game development models.
   
6. Opportunity for innovation. P2E games require unique game mechanics and systems to support the earning and trading of rewards, which can lead to new and innovative game designs. This can help the company stand out in a crowded market and attract players looking for something new and exciting.

If you associate play-to-earn games with slots and casinos only, you haven’t seen the full potential of blockchain. Crypto games can be much more than that! So, what game types can be P2E?

• Adventure
• Simulation
• RTS & MMORTS
• Action
• RPG
• FPS & TPS

For example, Guild of Guardians is an RPG play-to-earn game we developed when working with Immutable. It is a fantasy action mobile game where players assemble their own group of “Guardians” and compete for legendary, exchangeable treasures. The game has more than 230,000 users on the waiting list, and the number of players is expected to increase after the game’s release.

Concluding Thoughts

Both pay-to-play and play-to-earn games are in demand today. The decision between P2P and P2E directions ultimately rests with you. Take into account the kind of reward system that functions best for your game and how you’d like to profit when choosing the game type and setting out requirements.

Either way, we’re here for you! Stepico is a mobile game development company with 9+ years of experience creating high-quality P2P and P2E games of various genres. Using cutting-edge technologies, our professionals have successfully developed blockchain gaming solutions for the world’s leading game publishers like Immutable and others. 

Our expert development and design teams are dedicated to creating a fun and safe playing environment for your users. Have an idea? Drop us a quick message to start building your game right away!

There are more than 490,267 mobile games on Google Play Store and 288,000+ on Apple App Store. As mobile game companies strive to launch games on app marketplaces ahead of their rivals, the tension rises. Hence, one must make game development quick and efficient to stay afloat in the gaming industry. Sounds simple enough. Well, it’s not so smooth when implementing this idea. So, what can you do?

Here’s the answer. Why not have both when facing the dilemma of time and quality of mobile games? That’s what outsourcing is for! In this article, we’ll explain why Ukraine is considered one of the best locations to outsource your game development in 2023 and showcase the top 6 Ukrainian mobile gaming companies that offer expert game outsourcing services.

Let’s get rolling!

WHY OUTSOURCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOBILE GAMES TO UKRAINE?

Game development is a fast-growing industry in Ukraine, not to mention resilient. Like IT, game development is one of the few sectors that were able to fully resume service delivery after the beginning of Russian aggression and can now fully assist Ukraine’s economy. According to experts, the gaming sector will soon play a significant role in Ukraine’s reconstruction and subsequent GDP growth. Statista states that in 2023, it is expected that revenue in the video games segment in Ukraine will be US$219.80 million. By 2027, the revenue is forecasted to reach US$316.00 million.

Leading companies like Ubisoft, Gameloft, Playtika, Crytek, and Playtech have their offices in Ukraine, harvesting amazing outcomes by putting their trust in the talent of Ukrainian game developers and artists. Ukraine has a vast talent pool, offering you a wide array of game development experts to choose from. Delegating your mobile game development to Ukraine is quite a bargain. Ukrainian developers are in no way inferior to American, European, or Australian ones. Their services are of the same quality as the ones mentioned above while the rates are significantly lower. Take a look at the map to see the median hourly rates in Ukraine and the neighboring outsourcing hubs. The rate of Ukrainian developers is attractively low, amounting to $30-65 only. Technologies and trends for solutions that these experts use to develop games fully cover global trends in game development.

This is just a snippet of all the benefits Ukraine offers for mobile game development outsourcing! Still not convinced? Check out our exclusive article about outsourcing to Ukraine!

TOP MOBILE GAME DEVELOPMENT COMPANIES TO OUTSOURCE YOUR PROJECT 

How to choose a reliable outsourcing partner? There’re a lot of points to cover, from their tech stack to portfolio, from client reviews to reputation. Taking all these factors into account, we’ve prepared a list of the top 6 mobile gaming companies for you to choose from.

1. Stepico

Founded: 2014

Headquarters: Lviv, Ukraine.
Development hub: Limassol, Cyprus.

There’s a good reason why we’ve ranked ourselves first on the list. We at Stepico never back down from a challenge. Our seasoned game developers deliver continuous and rock-solid results no matter how intricate and demanding the requirements are. To back our claim, here are testimonials from satisfied customers on GoodFirms. Our vast and vibrant portfolio illustrates our experience as well!

Mobile Gaming Services

With 9+ years of experience in the gaming industry, we offer a wide variety of mobile game development services.

Custom Game Development

The majority of mobile games are created on the Unity engine. Using Unity, our pro development team provides full-cycle game development, handling projects from planning to publication and support after release. We consider every detail of the client’s criteria, making mobile games fully customized and, therefore, unique. Our solutions are supported by all mobile devices, from iOS to Android. 

Game Art Production

Stepico’s game artists never cease to amaze with their art. They’ll deliver designs that capture your heart using modern technology and neverending creativity. Stepico can create the following art for your mobile game:

• 2D art: 2D characters, 2D environment, concept art, slots game art;
• 3D art: 3D characters, 3D environment, 3D game modeling;
• Animation: real-time VFX, rigging, lighting.

Blockchain Games & NFT

Blockchain technology is widely used in the modern mobile gaming industry. It can act as a distributed database to confirm and secure digital data. Add real-world value to your mobile game with Stepico!

Mobile Game Genres

We actively work with various gaming genres for mobile, strengthening our versatility for ongoing and future projects. From casual to card strategy games, from MOBA to RPG, and more than meets the eye!

We have successfully finished around 400 game art and development projects, keeping our finger on the pulse of the latest trends in the gaming industry. Stepico’s broad expertise and passion for creating games are just what you need to make your mobile game epic. Contact us to bring your idea to life!

2. N-ix Game & VR Studio

Founded: 2012

Headquarters: Lviv, Ukraine

N-ix Game & VR Studio, a part of a software development company N-ix, is a game development studio of 240+ game developers and artists, specializing in creating mobile games with the help of Unity and Unreal engines, as well as VR solutions. They also offer 2D/3D art production, full-cycle development, and motion capture & animation brush-up services.

3. Kevuru Games

Founded: 2011

Headquarters: Kyiv, Ukraine

Kevuru Games has provided quality game art and development services for 10+ years. Using Unity, Unreal, and CryEngine technologies, their team of 400+ specialists develop mobile games for Android, iOS, and cross-platform. Kevuru artists create 2D and AAA game art as well as 2D/3D animation.

4. iLogos Game Studios

Founded: 2006

Headquarters: Kyiv, Ukraine

iLogos is a game development company with 458 successfully finished gaming projects. The company has a sizeable team of mobile game developers, providing gaming solutions for iOS and Android platforms. iLogos actively co-develops games with indie companies, AAA studios, and others to achieve the best results.

5. Pingle Studio

Founded: 2007

Headquarters: Dnipro, Ukraine

Pingle Studio is an international game development partner. They assist publishers and game developers worldwide in bringing their games to life, generating more income, and avoiding crises. Pingle Studio provides services like game testing, co-development, art & animation, porting, and full-cycle game production.

6. Argentics

Founded: 2018

Headquarters: Kyiv, Ukraine

Having 80+ specialists on board, Argentics offers end-to-end game development and art outsourcing services. They deliver top-notch mobile games with Unity and Unreal technologies. Their game development and art teams work with numerous mobile gaming genres and different art styles to create unique solutions.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, many excellent mobile gaming companies in Ukraine offer a wonderful outsourcing experience, ensuring that your game title receives all the care and attention throughout the production process. The benefit of outsourcing your mobile game development to such companies is that they all usually have experience in a wide variety of gaming industry fields, so you can rest assured that your solution will be in the hands of pure professionals.

At Stepico, we are proud of our extensive expertise in developing five-star mobile games and designing high-quality, eye-catching art. Our clients are industry leaders like Gameloft, Immutable, DreamWorks, Universal Studios, and others.

Game development outsourcing is going to remain trendy for years to come. This way, you can make and launch your mobile games to app marketplaces way ahead of competitors and stand out! 

Our expert mobile game developers and artists’ teams are ready to take on your project! Let’s create a mobile game that’ll top Google Play and App Store charts!

Unity game engine is the primary choice of 61% of developers, according to a recent survey. It recently acquired Weta Digital (for its VFX instruments, particularly for artists) and Ziva RT (for tools that allow realistic character design). But is Unity good? 

Before using this game engine, it is important to study all aspects of Unity: its advantages and disadvantages, so as not to discourage yourself in the middle of game development. In this article, we will go over Unity in detail and determine why it is widely used for mobile games and what developers go through in such projects.

WHY IS THE UNITY ENGINE STILL A GOOD OPTION?

Let’s dig into the essence of why Unity is still worth learning in 2023, and why Unity game developers are still in high demand:

• This game engine is actively developing and getting more and more features with each release.
• Huge range of supported platforms from the web and mobile devices to high-end PC and consoles.
• Unity has one of the biggest communities.
• Integration with the .NET world.
• Unity offers a lot of ready-to-use solutions and assets.
• It’s easy to learn.
• With Unity’s flexible engine and service ecosystem, you have complete control over creating, running and improving your video game.

PROS OF UNITY ENGINE

C# AND .NET COMPATIBILITY

Unity engine uses С# as a primary scripting language. This game engine has a great community, a low entrance level, and a smooth learning curve. But at the same time, it is pretty strict and has many powerful features to write stable and effective code. All this makes Unity technologies perfect for beginners and mature programmers. There are a lot of IDE for C# with great Unity support, for instance, Visual Studio, Visual Studio for Mac, and Rider.

Unity uses a customized version of Mono runtime to run all your scripts. The latest version of Unity gives programmers access to .NET Standard 2.1 features and APIs. This means that many libraries written for regular .NET applications might be used with Unity as a standard .dll plugin. Support for more modern .NET versions is planned, which will make the Unity game engine more integrated into the .NET ecosystem.

UNITY VISUAL SCRIPTING

The Unity team makes a lot of effort to make it usable for game developers with low programming skills or without such skills at all. One such feature is visual scripting. This feature allows creation of logic and scripts without writing code. Scripts are created by combining nodes. One of the downsides of this aspect is a worse performance compared to C#. However, it is constantly improving, and a new visual scripting execution engine that will make visual script performance almost identical to C# scripts is already in motion.

UNITY GRAPHICS

Currently, the Unity engine has two variants of graphic pipeline: Built-in and Scriptable Render Pipeline (SPR). Built-in render pipeline is Unity’s old way of rendering. There is nothing special about it except that it exists for a long time.

On the other hand, SRP is a more modern technology. Its main benefits are modularity, customization, and better performance. Render loop customization is done through the C# script. Currently, there are two default options for SRP implementation: Universal render pipeline (URP) and High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP).

URP is focused on high performance and portability to any device. This is the best option for video games that target a low range of devices or require lower power consumption. 

HDRP, on the other side, targets high-performance devices. This Unity engine pipeline gives the best detalization and has the support of performance-expensive graphical effects.

Both URP and HDRP support a wide range of rendering post-processing tools.

But Scriptable Render Pipeline is not limited to URP and HDRP. Custom pipelines could be created if required or any of the existing ones could be modified for specific needs.

An additional benefit of SRP is Shader Graph and Visual Effect Graph. Shader Graph is a tool that allows the creation of shaders without writing code just by combining nodes in a visual environment with an instant preview. Visual Effect Graph is a tool for creating high-quality high-performance visual effects in a similar visual environment.

UNITY PACKAGE MANAGER AND ASSETS STORE

Unity game engine has many tools to make assets and code reusability easy. Two main solutions for reusability are:

• Asset Store
• Package manager

Asset Store is a platform where developers can share their assets or libraries. They could do it for free or set a price. Some games can be done from zero to MVP by using the Asset Store assets only. All resources from the Asset Store can be copied into the project and modified for the game developer’s personal needs.

The package manager is a different tool to share and reuse code. The main idea of package management is to plug a package from an outer source into your project without pasting it directly into the project. There are a few sources:

• Unity default upm repository. This repository contains some plugins created by the Unity engine but is not included in the project by default;
• Self-hosted upm repository. Сompanies create their own repository for custom tools that could be shared. Also, there is an open-source free repository openupm where a lot of developers share their libraries;
• Any git repository such as GitHub or GitLab. A lot of game developers share their libraries in this way as it is most simple and does not require a lot of ceremonies;
• Specially packed archive. 

All these tools are great options to not reinvent the wheel and speed up your development by using already existing solutions.

Cons of Unity Engine

Here are some of the most popular difficulties of using Unity:

TEMPLATES

One of the most common problems that Unity developers may encounter is templates. Unity engine does not offer templates for the most important in-game features.

LICENSE

Unity is a free engine that helps your game earn millions of dollars. But to leverage its full functionality, you have to purchase Unity Plus, a premium version of the engine that costs $15/month. Additional tools should also be paid for.

MEMORY

Unity games require more RAM and often have problems with a garbage collector. 16 GB of RAM is a satisfactory amount for Unity. 

Despite these drawbacks, the pros of the Unity game engine still make it the top choice of game developers.

WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH THE UNITY GAME ENGINE?

• Traditional games for almost any platform;
• Augmented reality/virtual reality. Unity has many tools for creating such applications;
• Movie making. Unity could be used to create effects for movies or to create animated movies. The unity team made short video guides to show this game engine’s capabilities;
• Game projects with rich 3D visualization.

UNITY BENEFITS COMPARED TO THE UNREAL ENGINE

Both engines are great but target different goals. We collected the main perks of Unity compared to Unreal engine:

1. Easy to learn and use;
2. Faster iteration time;
3. Better cross-platform integration is available with Unity.;
4. Unity engine has great support for 2D games, while Unreal is more 3D-centric;
5. Unity has a more active community;
6. Huge amount of assets ready to use;
7. A lot of tools to reuse assets and code between projects;
8. Modularity and packages support.

IS THE UNITY GAME ENGINE AHEAD OF UNREAL IN POPULARITY?

Indie games created by Unity with great storylines and gameplay have been a trend in recent years. They captured the interest of gamers around the world. Unreal engine is more used in developing AAA games.

Plus, more and more people have been leaning towards less popular development studios such as Shadow Tactics and Cuphead. This is due to their unique gameplay, stories, and storylines.

IS UNITY BETTER THAN GODOT?

Godot is relatively new and has very fledgling functionality compared to the Unity engine. The best thing about Unity over Godot is the amazing 3D graphics development and rendering output it offers. Most game developers will choose Unity here because of its amenities. 

WHICH GAME ENGINE IS BETTER TO USE?

The possibilities of Unity and Unreal are manifold. To choose the game engine for your project correctly, it is worth paying attention to your purpose as a game developer. Are you interested in a 3D platformer, FPS, and RPG? What about puzzles? Or do you want to develop another popular game like Temple Run?

Absolutely everything depends on your set goals. The difference between the vision and the scale of the game, such as “Clash of Clans” or “Assassin’s Creed,” also comes down to choosing game engines. Actually, before making your choice, you can get a deeper understanding of Unity in our article about the advantages of Unity mobile game services.

If you want to create your own game on Unity – we are ready to help you with that. Our handpicked specialists with in-depth Unity game programming knowledge are considered the best in their field. Contact us to discuss your project and ideas!

Contact us to discuss your project and ideas.

According to the statistics published by UNIT.City, more than 80 companies in the Ukrainian GameDev industry employ more than 20 thousand people. Locally, the bulk (40%) of the developer companies are located in Kiev, (16%) in Odessa, Dnipro (12%), Kharkiv (11%), and Lviv (6%).

New mobile games created in Ukraine are not inferior in number to traditional computer games. Today, the most popular platforms for game development among Ukrainian developers are Android (82%) and iOS (79%).

For the first time, profits from mobile games exceeded 50% of the entire market in 2018. But as of 2021, its share is already more than 60%.

Currently changes in the IT and game development market

Since the invasion of Ukraine began, several gaming companies have been forced to re-evaluate their position in russia. With each passing day, russia faces increasing international isolation, and as a result, these firms are increasingly feeling the pressure to distance themselves from the Kremlin.

The russian gaming market was expected to reach $3.6 billion in 2025; however, with current trends, that figure will likely be significantly smaller. Amidst the war, the Ukrainian government pleaded for gaming companies to pull out and cease any business in Russia. In response, Russia has threatened to legalize the piracy of software and other economic retaliation against companies.

In spite of these pressures, many gaming companies, developers, streamers, and gamers have come to the aid of Ukraine, something that we think deserves recognition. 

Today, in such a difficult time for our country, we can observe how the global IT market is divided into three camps:

• Trying to leave the “toxic” market as quickly as possible while reducing company’s loss (tipping projects to foreign companies)
• They declare that they are apolitical and do not plan to leave the russian market.
• Companies are defending their pro-russian position.

In general, we can say that the IT sphere behaves like any other typical business around the world. However, there is a very good example – JetBrains. The company openly supported the Ukrainians and condemned the aggression from the Russian side. We would like to have more such companies in the world.

There is an unofficial list of companies that are unique and boycotted, those companies that supported Ukraine, here.  

The situation is interesting now on the market of developers. Many of them reconsidered their position and priorities and in cooperation with the company realized whether they should work together or not.

Speaking of sanctions, they hit hard the employees who do not have the same resources as their companies. They cannot circumvent sanctions through cunning legal tricks. The range of available staff has also changed greatly due to the high level of migration of workers in the middle of the country. Now a lot of people go to remote work or look for additional resources at their place of residence for an hour. Partnering with an experienced data migration services company (https://intellias.com/data-migration-services/) can streamline the process of transitioning critical business data and applications to new systems or platforms, minimizing disruptions and ensuring seamless continuity.

How the game industry rallied around the war in Ukraine

Companies around the world support Ukraine every day in every way they can.

• For example, Square Enix supported Ukraine in the confrontation with the occupation army of russia and donated $500,000 to the UN fund for the refugees of our country.
• The creators of Cyberpunk 2077 and the trilogy of games about Geralt of Rivia will donate millions of Polish zlotys (more than 214 thousand euros) to “Polish Humanitarian Action” (Polska Akcja Humanitarna, PAH), which deals with the supply of humanitarian aid and has already organized fundraising.
• Amanita Design (Czech Republic) donated profits from sales of Machinarium, CHUCHEL and Creaks on all platforms to the charity organization Chlovek v tísni.
• State of Play (UK) donated all proceeds from the sale of all their games from February 28 to March 6 to the Ukrainian Red Cross.

In addition, most companies have imposed restrictions on users from russia and blocked their accounts.

Developers from neighboring countries have been supporting Ukraine in different ways since the early days of the war: some fund humanitarian aid, while others donate to the AFU support fund.

Working is about supporting the country’s economy and people

We all understand that the world will never be the same. This applies not only to the mentality of people and their perception of factors, but also to online job markets. The IT sphere has been steeply developing over the past few years all over the world and in Ukraine as well. It was first created in Ukraine, where it was equated to the physical online-passport.

Our state is constantly promoting the development of new professionals and companies on its territory through a simplified system of taxation, the creation of a large number of places thanks to the Ministry of Digital Economy, and the like.

But now, during the war, the market has changed abruptly. Many companies have begun to turn down Russian developers and look for alternative places to send their orders. If we talk about the situation in Ukraine, it depends entirely on how long this war will last and how it will end. 

With all the levels of support for Ukraine, business does not like risks and unpredictability. But our prognoses are comforting: when the war ends with our victory, we can expect a slight subsidence in the IT market and its gradual recovery within the next few months.

As for Stepico, we are responsible for the projects of some worldwide game studios, and we will not allow for any delays or deadline missed in our work. We continue to work and provide stable employment, a safe place of work, and regular salary payments, to our specialists. At the moment, our company takes an active part in different charity initiatives.

How we deal with projects during the hard times

We ensured the employment of 90% of the company’s employees, maintained cooperation with all efficient partners, and enlisted each of them for financial support of the humanitarian needs of Ukraine. Not only have we not lost any clients or failed any employees, but we continue to grow in both of these areas. 

Our main priority now is to keep the bar high and not to halt the projects. And as practice shows, we do it successfully. Not a single project has been stopped since the beginning of the war. We work remotely, but this does not prevent us from closing orders brilliantly and meeting absolutely all deadlines. 

We work with our regular clients and are ready for new and interesting projects. Our professionals are working at full capacity and do not plan to decrease the turnover, but even the opposite-to increase it. With a large team of specialists, we guarantee each of our clients timely and high-quality work.

Parallel work is going on at the same rhythm on dozens of game projects, among which blockchain mobile RPG Guild of Guardians, mobile farm game The Nile Valley, and mobile simulator Fishing Rival. These projects don’t stand still either. Our experts keep working on these games, and soon they will be seen by the whole world. 

Moreover, our development team on the Guild of Guardians project gave updates to our partner Immutable even before the deadline and faster than other worldwide companies. The Immutable team was so surprised that they took the initiative and gave the Stepico development team a financial bonus.

In spite of the war, Stepico is working constantly and growing. It is not uncommon for specialists who are looking for a new job to join our team now. Our team now includes people from all over the Ukraine, for some of them we have helped relocate to safer places.

These are the people who want to work even in these tough times. These are the people who don’t let Ukraine’s and the world’s IT sphere slump and support it in every possible way.

Why outsource game development to Ukraine?

Is it worthwhile to rely on Ukrainian IT specialists? Without a doubt, yes. Ukraine is a large IT outsourcing market with a great price and quality ratio. Our specialists are among the most qualified representatives of this sphere in the world market and in high demand in some rare technologies.

Stepico specialists are valued all over the world as some of the most responsible and qualified professionals in their field. Our customers can be sure of the results of the team because we provide client-oriented approach. 

If you consider outsourcing game development to Ukraine, feel free to contact Stepico Games to discover your options. We are always open to new and interesting projects and is ready to show you what the Ukrainian IT sphere is like and how it can work even in hard war times.

The Future of Ukraine

We, as well as the whole Ukraine, are holding up quite well, getting stronger every day in all sectors. We work hard, we cope with the new realities, we do not sit on the neck of the state and develop, we pay taxes, we support the economy of the country and we do everything right, as far as it is possible in the current situation.

In addition, we made a charitable donation of more than $20,000 to the AFU and helped volunteers with collecting and buying cars for the front. We constantly financially and morally support our employees who decide to defend the country as part of AFU or Territorial Defense. We help in any way we can: humanitarian aid, financial aid, and our own efforts.

Stay with us. Support and belief in us. Stepico encourages you to help the people of Ukraine. It’s essential we TALK about this war and highlight all putin’s regime crimes. You can donate money to the Stand with Ukraine Foundation or to a certified humanitarian organization.

So why mobile games? That goes without saying, mobile games are quite popular these days. And small wonder, because modern games for smartphones have many advantages.

The main advantages of these games are accessibility, convenience and mobility. You can download your favorite game from Marketplace and play it when you are in a cab, waiting for your order in the cafe, at home when there is nothing to do. Generally, no matter where you are. And for this you don’t  have to buy a computer or a game console – a smartphone is enough.

But the mobile gaming market is growing and constantly changing, our game development projects are proof of it. And what was cool yesterday may be uninteresting today. So it is extremely important to follow the market and its trends to stay ahead of the curve.

What is the most profitable geo-market for game development?

Every year about 1 million apps are published in the storerooms. During the last year the level of games consumption has changed greatly. Thus, in terms of revenues from mobile games in 2021, three countries have become the top leaders in the world:

• China. The income amounted to 56 billion dollars;
• The United States with revenues of 43 billion;
• Japan, which has collected 20 billion dollars.

If you count the number of downloads, China has 98 billion, India has 26 billion and the United States has 12 billion downloads which they were the top three in the mobile gaming market in 2021.

As a result, Google Play revenue is growing faster than iOS App Store revenue, 6% to 13.2%. 

Aren’t the numbers surprising? And that is far from the limit. Every day these figures increase several times.

Mobile Game development most popular genre in app stores? 

By type, we can divide the mobile games into several categories. Namely:

Entertainment games

These include puzzles, casino, arcades, RPG, strategies, sports, simulators, shooters, etc.,

These games have recently become very popular not only among children and teenagers, but also among adults who will never refuse to move into the world of virtual reality, where their own laws apply and you can take a break from your worries for a while.

Entertainment game has many advantages: it brings people of all ages together, lets spend time more intensely. Just by playing entertainment games you can easily escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It is noted that people in routine waste a lot of nerves and get negative emotions, while playing entertainment games on a mobile phone they will reduce stress. 

Educational games

For example, educational games, intelligence and logical, action and adventure, for all ages. 

The advantage of mobile games lies in their development side. Surely, no one will argue with the fact that not only children, but also adults should develop themselves all the time, while there is not always enough  time for this. 

Many studies have proven that educational games can improve imagination, math skills, reaction time, memory, intelligence, etc. Another advantage of this game genre is that it has the same effect as reading books or playing sports. This is a great alternative to the usual methods of development. 

5 Most popular mobile game genres by revenue 

Statista conducted an in-depth analysis and identified the TOP mobile game genres that attract users and drive company revenues.  In 2021, the most downloaded iOS mobile game genres in the United States are:

1. Puzzle (21.18%)
2. Casino (18.9%)
3. Strategy (17.17%)
4. RPG (14.23%)
5. Simulation (10.4%)

Mobile gaming trends. What exactly do the users like?

According to statistics we showed above, of course, entertainment games are in the lead. After all, they download just the same to be entertained and for a time to forget about the daily grind. Sometimes you can not notice how one game does not let you tear yourself away from the phone screen for a few hours.

Games, the latest in the global entertainment industry, are becoming more popular and more interactive. Developers embrace new technologies. Mobile phones have long evolved from being a means of communication to being multi-functional multimedia devices capable of satisfying so many of their owners’ needs, whether it’s music, video, Internet access or games. Mobile entertainment dominates the gaming industry. 

With so much content on Google and the App Store, it can be hard to find the right game. This is the main problem when there are hundreds of clones with almost identical icons and names. The easiest way to understand this is to highlight the key players in the mobile market. 

The number of downloads is of course important, but game developers are more focused on what makes money. In any case, the mobile gaming market will constantly change. The arrival of large companies can create the right level of competition to improve the quality of the industry. There is no room for doubt, mobile game development can change beyond recognition in just a few years. 

How to choose a mobile game development studio?

When selecting a company that offers game development services, first of all, be careful whether there are similar projects in their portfolio. A studio that has never done it is not the best option, especially when they say there is nothing difficult even with no experience.

There’s a big chance they won’t be able to identify your target audience, get them interested in interesting mechanics, or find a winning hook to stand out from the millions of similar games.

Here we would like to provide a simple but effective list of good qualities to choose a suitable game development company or partner from various game development outsourcing companies:

• They Understand the requirements for your game
• Take a look at the portfolio
• Get familiar with design trends:
• Query market time for application delivery
• Find out about customer reviews
• Developer’s technical ability
• Learn more about client approach

Outsourcing game development is risky. However, that shouldn’t stop you. After all, life itself is risky. However, you must be careful to maximize costs and profit from your ideas.

Rely on a skillful Game Development Company

Stepico team doesn’t stand still. Every day we develop games and provide game development services for almost any category with a large technology stack for the key platforms: android, ios, webGL, desktop, consoles. Our talented specialists always go beyond the limits and use only innovative approaches to create impressive projects.

Bring your most exciting ideas to life with Stepico. Feel free to get in touch with us and discuss your project!

Transferring some work to another corporation allows you to assign resources, save money and time, and get a better product. In this article, you will find prepared detailed instructions with answers to frequently asked questions about game outsourcing. After reading our article, you will be able to outsource your game development with your eyes shut!

Types of game outsourcing 

You can also delegate game development by outsourcing it to vendor companies, passing on some tasks to an external team, or hiring freelance game developers. Let’s look at all these options in detail.

Full-cycle game development outsourcing

This outsourcing type can be used even if you create your first game. You will get more profit in such a way than by finding, hiring, and supporting the game development team yourself. You will constantly have access to the best technical and intellectual resources. For example, the Stepico team includes 200+ seasoned specialists of various profiles: game developers, designers, artists, etc. And we have 9+ years of experience in game development and are ready to take your project onboard.

Take a look at our successful development projects to get a glimpse of our expertise! You can also check out our stunning artwork on Behance and Artstation! Get in touch with us to start making an epic game together!

Delegation of individual parts of the game development process

Using the services of an external team is suitable for game development companies. Dividing some tasks between other companies will help to strengthen your project with new technologies, add impressive graphics, or speed up the development process. This approach will allow you to distribute resources effectively and get great results in a shorter period.

Hiring Freelance Game Developers

The difference between game outsourcing companies with all the necessary specialists and freelance game developers is that the latter usually work with different employers simultaneously. Hiring freelancers doesn’t guarantee quality which is an integral criterion in game development. Accordingly, there are risks of poor-quality delivery, which entails additional financial costs and time spent on the project.

If you want to assemble a team of freelancers, you will have to find and coordinate them yourself. Plus, keeping them all updated and synchronizing their work within your project may be tricky. However, this option helps you to fill in the missing resources for your game development if you need more specialists for a specific profile.

Advantages of game development outsourcing

When outsourcing game development, you get access to the talent pool with rich and diverse experience and efficient management. You get to work with a team of extraordinary enthusiasts and professionals ready to implement your ideas right away. What other benefits of outsourcing are there?

Lower costs

There are several factors that reduce the costs of game development via outsourcing.

• Vendor’s location. The price range for game outsourcing services differs depending on the region. Companies often choose developing countries to outsource their projects. For example, you can get cheaper software development services in Eastern Europe compared to the USA, UK, or Western Europe without compromising product quality. For example, an annual salary of a game developer from the U.S. is $91,000, while a Ukrainian game developer makes approximately $24,000 per year.
  
• No maintenance costs. Employee hiring and upkeep take up a large chunk of your budget. With game development outsourcing, you pay only for the working hours of specialists of the required profile.
  
• Saves on investment. You don’t have to spend on infrastructure, as your vendor already has all the tools and technologies necessary to create your game.

Well-established processes

In professional game development companies, all processes and stages of software development have already been worked out to the smallest detail. You do not have to build them from scratch by yourself. 

Fast development

With clear-cut processes comes rapid development. Outsourcing game development will allow you to speed up the making of your gaming solutions. A well-coordinated outsourcing team will work on all stages of development faster than an in-house one. How so? The vendor provides you with a ready-to-go team that has a laser focus on your project, responding to your requests immediately.

SECURITY

The average cost of a data breach for organizations globally is $4.35 million (in the US, the number reached $9.44 million!), according to the 2022 Cost of Data Breach Study by the Ponemon Institute. At Stepico, we take the project’s security seriously. We also keep our work fully transparent so the client can see each stage of the game development process in detail.

SCALE UP AND DOWN ON DEMAND

We advise you to look for teams of game developers rather than individual specialists if you need assistance with game development but do not require this expertise in-house. You can get help during peak season or per project, scaling up and down whenever required. 

Vendor teams have pre-built workflows, methods, and work habits. Plus, they have shared creative experiences, and that diversity will serve well for your project. They can also offer you professional advice in highly specialized fields.

Advantages of Ukrainian game development outsourcing

Picking up the country for outsourcing also plays a significant role in game development. When choosing a vendor, you should consider your budget limits, time zone, connection quality, and other usability aspects. The cultural part is also essential: for games with a specific setting, it is better to involve the appropriate specialists.

But mainly, game development is an international process. So, if the game does not have specific cultural characteristics, it is best to focus on a company’s portfolio. Showcased works will let you see the vendor’s capabilities and game styles and genres they work in.

Ukraine has a vast talent pool of tech specialists to choose from. Ukrainian game developers have made games known worldwide, like S.T.A.L.K.E.R, Cossacks, Metro, Frontline, Sherlock Holmes game series, and many more. Among their works are large AAA projects and more niche but no less popular ones.

The gaming sector in Ukraine is getting bigger and developing annually. An estimated market volume of US$316.00m by 2027 results from revenue growing at a projected annual rate of 12.39% (CAGR 2022-2027). So, game development outsourcing to this region sounds like a profitable idea. In Ukrainian outsourcing companies, especially in Stepico, the production of games of any level is well-established. A convenient geographical location, stable business structure, favorable costs, and a massive number of professionals make Ukraine one of the best destinations for outsourcing game development.

One of Stepico’s significant accomplishments to date is that during the Russian aggression, we have kept more than 90% of the company operational, maintained collaboration with all of our partners, and engaged them to fund Ukraine’s humanitarian needs. We have equipped our office with a power generator, ensuring a constant electricity supply for our game developers and artists. Our seasoned specialists are ready to take your project and make a mind-blowing game! 

What is the price of outsourcing game development

Development rates aren’t the same for every client and depend on the difficulty of the project, the required equipment, the number of employees in the vendor’s team, etc. But don’t worry, Stepico experts can name the approximate cost of game development if you provide a detailed description of your project requirements. The more detailed it is, the more accurate our estimate will be. Get in touch to receive your estimate promptly! By the way, most software development companies use special intelligent solutions. This in turn has a very positive impact on the automation of business processes and master data management.

STEPS TO SUCCESSFULLY OUTSOURCE GAME PROJECT 

Step 1: Lay out your requirements

Unless your future vendor practices mindreading, there is no way they can guess what you want your project to be. There is a simple solution to that – communication! Listing your detailed requirements to the game outsourcing team will help you achieve your desired results easier. Even if you haven’t finalized everything, having a clear idea still works as long as you can explain it nicely.

Here’re some points to cover to help you stir your thoughts in the right direction:

• Game purpose;
• Graphic quality;
• Game style;
• Target audience;
• Monetization strategy;
• Features of the game;
• Game platform;
• Complexity (2D, 3D games or AAA games, VR, etc.);
• Your budget.

Step 2: Find a game outsourcing company

Now it comes to picking a vendor for your project. You can either google some freelancers & game outsourcing companies or save your time by going through rating platforms like GoodFirms. Client reviews on these platforms will help you check the vendor’s credibility. You can contact their previous clients to get more information as well. 

If you’d like to look at the vendor’s successful cases, go to platforms like Behance and ArtStation, where you can find various vivid gaming projects. Exploring cases will help you determine whether the company has enough experience in creating your desired game style, graphics, mechanics, and so on.

Step 3: Reach out & discuss your project

Once you’ve found the game outsourcing vendor you like, it’s time to talk. When reaching out, don’t hesitate to ask questions concerning the project plan, pricing strategy, etc. Take all your requirements from step one, structure them, and forward them to the company.

After all, sorting out all the details at the very beginning is the key to a fruitful collaboration. 

Step 4: Sign a contract

Sign a contract with a chosen game outsourcing company. All terms of the agreement should be specified in the contract, including: 

• Game concept;
• Timeframes;
• Work specifics;
• Payment terms;
• Involved specialists;
• Data protection details.

The contract should also cover tricky scenarios, for example, when outcomes fall short of expectations or when one party fails to provide expected results.

JUMPING-OFF POINT FOR YOUR GAMING PROJECT

Outsourcing is a method to create a project without worrying about risks and costs compared to finding and hiring a team on your own. By choosing outsourcing game development, you will have a squad of genuine, experienced professionals at your disposal. You can start working on your project in the shortest possible time. 

We at Stepico have 9+ years of experience creating games that capture players’ hearts. We make our gaming solutions with heart and soul, having provided outstanding game development services to the world’s leading game distribution companies like Gameloft, Immutable, Marvel, and others. Contact us, and let’s make your game a worthy rival to the top 10 most-played games in the world!

In this article, we will explain what game designers do and why you can’t make good video games without them.

Game design: The basics

What is game design? If we talk about this term in general, it means creating a game with a certain vision. The task is to create a detailed game world with rules, basic mechanics, and processes. 

But what about game designers? Let’s continue comparing the gaming industry with movies. What is a director doing? They bring the idea to life with the help of the team. The same movie plot can look completely different in the hands of various directors. It’s all about vision and presentation. The director chooses how to show the story and controls the acting and shooting. Director has their own approach with each specialist.

A game designer does the same. They are responsible for delivering the idea to gamers. The game designer improves the gaming experience and makes the game attractive. They communicate with developers, explain their vision to artists, select suitable mechanics, etc. But most importantly, they follow the game’s big idea and know exactly how it should look to catch players’ attention.

Such a specialist should understand all areas and stages of game development, at least at a basic level. They should also be able to convey their vision and point of view to a specialist of any profile. A good game designer also knows trends, understands the audience’s needs, and loves games. After all, if you don’t play, how can you create a good experience for gamers?

Basic skills:

• Knowledge of design principles;
• Ability to analyze and operate analytics data;
• Understanding game balance and the ability to create and manage it;
• The ability to see the whole picture;
• Strong communication skills.

A game designer is responsible for harmonizing the technical and creative sides of game development.Terms like game designer and game artist may trick some people into thinking it’s the same person. Alas, it’s wrong. Let’s break it up for you. In simple words, the game artist is responsible for the game’s looks and feel, while the game designer’s primary force is driving the project and creative management operations in creating a video game.

What is a game design document?

If a game designer is like a director, then a game design document (GDD) is a set of a script, storyboards, a list of locations, etc. It is a complete guide with all the information for creating a game.

There is no single standard: GDD is different for various game design companies. The document may contain concept art, suitable mechanics, goals, objectives, a general plot, character descriptions, and other data. It is also possible to include the selected game engine and technical details for a future video game. Every project begins with the GDD. But in reality, this document is constantly changing during development. And the task of a game designer is to monitor the integrity of the overall idea.

Directions of Game design

Game design is a complex process affecting all levels of development: game developers, artists, screenwriters, designers of various profiles, and other specialists. There are several types of game design.

System Design

It is a framework for the future game. System design describes the rules and calculations on which the game world will rely. You can’t miss this stage: it’s present in every game. And, of course, it is best to entrust it to professionals.

Content design

If the system is a frame, then the content is the filling. It can include characters, objects, locations, missions, riddles, and tasks. The more entertaining the content, the more players will be involved in the video game.

Level design

It is one of the most challenging areas. Locations should be original, complex, and also intuitive. A competently designed level leads the player through the game and tells where to go next. Also, level design should immerse the gamer in the atmosphere of the game world.

UI/UX design

Your game can be amazing, but if the player is uncomfortable interacting with it, you should not expect a high score. Instead of making players get used to confusing controls and complex user interfaces, a well-balanced UX/UI design provides them with a pleasant user experience while playing your game. This increases player engagement and keeps them playing for longer.

NARRATIVE DESIGN

It is hard to imagine a good video game without a thorough plot and text. This section includes the script, game tips, information, and other in-game texts. However, narrative design isn’t just about the plot and text. It’s also about the overall user experience while completing quests or ending up in various game scenes. Story development is usually handled by a narrative designer and writers. The game designer can control the overall direction.

Sound design

This part covers all the audio effects in the game, from weapon sounds to an atmospheric soundtrack. Of course, you can create a gaming project without sound. But why ignore such a powerful tool? The purpose of sound effects is to bring the game characters, places, and narratives we play with to life. Sound in games is a task for a separate team, but it’s always great when a game designer cooperates with them.

Game design process in Stepico

OK, now that we’ve covered the basics let’s talk about how the process looks in practice. First, we are working on the core of the future game. It is a clear statement of the idea, a basic algorithm, and a set of mechanics. Why are we starting with this? When you have an idea, there are several ways to implement it. But once you choose the type of video game and mechanics, all further work will be based on this choice.

Basic prototypes

An important part of creating a game is prototyping. Developers can implement core mechanics without unnecessary UI. The most successful options go to the next stage of game development. Prototypes help evaluate ideas and select those that best suit the game.

The art style and setting

We usually test several styles before starting development. For example, if we are making an ancient strategy, we can try several options for the setting: Greece, Rome, Egypt, etc. And then, together with you, we choose the one that best suits the game.

Game development

Further development takes place in several directions at once. The writers work on the story, the artists draw the characters and objects, the designers create the levels, and the developers work on the code. The game designer controls the whole process keeping the big idea in mind. This approach allows us to reduce the time for game development and conduct intermediate testing.

Testing process

The further steps are a series of testing and editing. We constantly test and improve the game until we get the best result. We can add new mechanics, plot twists, and details, but everything relies on the original idea described in GDD.

Benefits of our game development services

Over many years of work, we have developed a clear algorithm for implementing ideas in bright and exciting gaming projects. Depending on your needs, we offer solutions based on our extensive experience.

Analytics and Research

Trends and gamer expectations are a significant part of game development. And this is not only about the gaming industry but also about popular trends in cinema, music, fashion, technology, and other spheres. For each project, we conduct an all-encompassing market analysis considering the target audience.

Flexible pricing models

With Stepico, you can choose the cooperation option that suits your budget. We offer full-cycle development, help with individual stages of game design and development, or offer a dedicated team for your purposes.

Expert team

In Stepico, we have more than 200 savvy specialists in game development, design, graphic user interface, scripting, etc. No matter how large your project is, we can find a team of experts that fits all your requirements.

Blockchain technology

Want to create a cutting-edge game? With Stepico, it is possible! We have successful experience in integrating blockchain technologies and creating games with NFT objects.

Quality Assurance

Each video game goes through strict quality control and multiple stages of testing. We check and refine the project until it is fully debugged. We also provide support in the future, maintaining the game at the proper level. 

Choose the right game design company

Creating a game is a complex multi-stage process where you should know how games are created. And the game design runs like a red thread throughout the entire development. Careful attention to detail, a well-thought-out plot, and fascinating mechanics: all this turns the video game from an ordinary one into the one you want to play again and again. And to achieve this effect, you need a strong team of specialists.

Create an impressive project with Stepico services. Contact us now and take the first step toward the game of your dreams!

Professional Resources:

• Most interesting gaming platforms
• 7 Must-read Books for Game Designers
• Game marketing: How to promote a mobile game
• Examples of Modern Mobile Game Design
• Gaming Trends

Types of mobile games 

Before you get an answer about price, you need to create a game design document. It is a brief information about the future game, where the platform, gameplay features, levels, setting, art style, and plot are indicated. Details will vary depending on the development studio. But the general idea is the same: the game design document helps to understand how complex your game will be.

The more complex the game, the higher its price will be. We can divide all of them into four categories:

• Mini-games
• Mid-Level games
• High-level games
• AAA games

These categories help to navigate the complexity and cost. Once you have chosen the type of game, you can calculate an approximate price and form expectations.

Multiplayer games are usually expensive projects. Players need to interact with each other, and the game must simultaneously react to this. Here the server plays an important role, as well as rendering speed in PVP. All this requires complex functions and comprehensive support, so the development of such games is more expensive.

Small games usually have a simple design and laconic levels. But this does not mean that such a game will not gain popularity! If you want to tell a story or convey an idea, this format may suit you. There are many great projects in this sphere, especially among  indie games. However, if you want to integrate a payment system or add more progressive graphics to the game, you will have to increase the budget. And it will be a mid-level game. The more features, the higher the level and development cost.

And AAA projects are unique and use modern technologies. These are usually cutting-edge games that demonstrate progress and help the studio build a reputation.

Game development costs

As you already understood, there is no definite answer to the question. The cost of development is constantly changing. And what costs $100,000 today could cost twice as much tomorrow. And there is no upper bar in the price. When developing, you can focus on time. For example, a small project will take about 2000 working hours, and a large project 8000-10000 hours. By multiplying this number by the cost of working time, you can get reference points. If you want more information about the price of your project, please contact us!

Game development is a long and complex process. It includes many people: programmers, designers, project managers, testers, etc. Sometimes you need to improve ideas or add new functions. So it’s hard to calculate a particular price without all the details. 

At Stepico, we take a flexible approach. You can choose a convenient format and pay for the project, working hours, or personal team.

If you are planning a high-level project, we recommend starting with a prototype to assess the potential and minimize risks.

Factors that influence mobile game development cost

The cost of developing mobile games of any size depends on the complexity, time, and the number of specialists involved in the project. But within these general categories, some factors affect the increase or decrease in the price of a project.

Visual

2D games will be cheaper than 3D games with animations and visuals. The more complex and detailed the game world is, the more expensive it will cost. But don’t get upset. A beautiful picture is not everything. The success of the game also depends on addictive gameplay, a captivating storyline, and well-thought-out ideas. So if your budget is tight, there are always attractive options to be found

Multiplayer mode

If you want to create a game in which players interact with each other, you will have to increase the development budget. Multiplayer games are much more complex and require additional functions. A game with single-player mode will be cheaper in most cases.

Studio level

Novice developers may offer low prices, but they cannot guarantee the result. Pro studios will cost more, but you can expect the best quality of the project. Pay attention to games in the company’s portfolio. If the studio has already developed a similar project, it will cope with yours. Stepico develops games of all sizes: from small but attractive projects to amazing AAA games.

Testing and research

These two stages affect development costs. Research goes before development. Experts analyze the market, identify needs and draw up criteria for the current game. You can skip this stage if you are confident in your idea and sure that players will like it.

But you can’t skip quality assurance. Without time for it, we cannot guarantee the quality of the product. Errors and bugs can kill even the most promising project. You can bribe game reviewers and invest huge amounts of money in marketing. But when real players get the game, they will be disappointed. But bugs in the game do not mean that the developers did their job badly. There are technical problems even in the largest projects: remember, for example, Cyberpunk 2077.

Marketing for mobile games 

It’s not enough to create a good game. You also have to demonstrate all its advantages to the players. And this is where a good marketing strategy takes the stage. This part is no less important than development. And the budget for promoting the game is often even more than the cost of its creation.

Advertising will let the audience know about your game, and you will get a return on investment. So don’t skimp on promotion: always include marketing in the budget.

Game budget

So, how much does it cost to make a mobile game? There’s no certain answer. When planning your budget, make a game plan. What will be the format, graphics and genre? Will it be a multiplayer or single player game? How do you plan to monetize the project? With a specific brief, you can contact studios and define the budget.

You can also save time and contact Stepico with your idea. We will offer several options and a convenient work format. You just have to choose the scheme that suits you. Learn more about our services right now!

• Worldwide mobile games report

What You Can Do For Free

Yes, competent promotion is not only about money. If you want to reach maximum effect with your ads, you need to take a few steps before getting started. And the first of them is a competent presentation of your project.

ASO In The App Store And Google Play

Before inviting users to the download page, make sure that you have correctly filled it. It will help you to present the game and also generate free user traffic. Do not forget that many players are looking for new entertainment using keywords. And if there are enough of them in the description, then the chances that a new user will find your game increases.

The correctly filled card contains:

• keywords in title and description;
• localized text;
• captivating screenshots and video trailers.

Remember that the game is greeted precisely by the screenshots. Even if your gameplay is super addicting, players won’t know about it if they don’t download the game. So choose the most spectacular and colorful frames that catch your eye. And be sure to add a video.

Do not use enhanced content. The picture must fully convey what the player will see in the game. Otherwise, you will face an unpleasant situation from the “expectation/reality” series – and you will receive a sea of negative reviews. Of course, your game must be great. So make sure that you choose the right game dev company.

By the way, about the reviews! Make sure that you motivate users to rate the game and share their experiences. The higher the rating of the game in the store and the more positive comments, the more confidence it can inspire in new players. The main thing is that the reviews must be honest.

Update the description regularly to highlight the latest updates and features in the game. Also, be sure to check the texts and screenshots for relevance.

Landing Page

An effective landing page is another way to increase interest in your game. Unlike a product card, here, you will have a full-fledged space to attract attention. You can make a free version with a minimum of content or create a full-fledged website with bright animation and modern features. It all depends on your budget and time.

If you want your landing page to be as effective as possible, make sure it includes:

• Links to the App Store and Google Play.
• Exciting game trailer and gameplay.
• Call to action + download bonuses.
• Reviews from specialized publications, if you have them.
• Links to your communities in social networks.

You can use this page to collect player contact information and make them subscribe to the newsletter. Or involve people in communities so that they are the first to know about updates. Such landing pages are especially relevant for projects that are still in development. If the game is not released on some platform, then you can collect players in the waiting list through a google form. Or give access to audience thought a closed test tool, for example Test Flight for AppStore. With their help, you can generate interest in the game even before the release. And don’t forget SEO optimization. Utilizing an seo checker like Serpstat can significantly enhance your game’s visibility online, ensuring that your promotional efforts reach the right audience through optimized web content and keywords, driving organic traffic to your game’s landing page or social media profiles.

Communities On Social Networks

It is a powerful tool for organic traffic. Create a Facebook group, Youtube channel, Twitter, Tik-Tok, or Instagram profile and use your creativity. You can attract players for free with viral content, memes, jokes, or colorful screenshots. If you create quality content that is fun and engaging, people will share it for free!

You can also use contests and activities to increase your social media reach. You can use in-game items and currency as prizes, which will be another magnet for attracting new players. Once you’ve won 500 gold coins, you probably want to download the game and see what you can spend it on, right?

Plus, there are many tools on social media to boost organic reach. Arrange a challenge, write posts on discussion topics – and then your publications will attract users without paid promotion.

Let’s Talk About Paid Methods

All the methods listed in the previous section are must-haves for promotion. They not only save the budget but also serve as a base for paid activities. If you have a high-quality landing page, a well-designed app card in the store, and a community on social networks, then you will have a place to direct your traffic. So, before launching Sponsored Ads, prepare a platform for your audience.

Target Ads

This is the easiest and most obvious way for mobile applications. A smartphone is always at hand. So users can go directly to the application page and download the app after seeing an ad on social networks. The shorter the customer journey, the more effective the advertising. The main advantage of targeted advertising is that you can select an audience by interest, use retargeting and study the portraits of your potential players.

Video Advertising Inside Games

Usually, mobile gamers play more than one game. So advertising some games within others is a very effective strategy. You can place an advertisement in a free version of the same game or use another game with similar mechanics and meanings. Alternatively, you can use your other projects for cross-promo.

Bloggers And Streamers

Twitch and other streaming services are becoming more and more popular. Today people can hear about the new game from the broadcasts of their favorite blogger or watch the walkthrough on YouTube. Find bloggers talking about games in your genre and request a review or ad.

Thematic Resources

And, finally, another way to promote is to order an article or post on a thematic resource dedicated to games. Online gaming publications and social media groups with an active audience will help you increase your reach and draw attention to your project.

Don’t Want To Promote Video Games Yourself? Trust The Professionals!

The Stepico company can not only offer custom full cycle game development, but also care about the promotion, publishing and Live operations of the game. We will prepare the entire base for advertising your project, help you make impressive art and trailers, create a selling landing page, and give all the recommendations for an effective promotion of your game on any platform. Do you want to create a game or promote it? Then check our services now.