Engagement & Monetization | Mobile Games (Udacity)

At first it may seem strange to consider monetization before a game is even completed, and many developers leave this as an afterthought. But monetization should be built into the fabric of a game from the beginning, because a clearly defined and understood monetization strategy can have tremendous impact on design decisions made during the development process. This kind of forward-thinking approach is especially important in today’s highly competitive game market, and keeping monetization strategy front-of-mind throughout can be the difference between product success and failure.

Currently, most game apps are free to play, and many users are looking for something simple and entertaining without the risk of making a purchase. We'll look at the most successful premium and freemium games, and discuss the most effective strategies for monetization. Our goal in this course is to teach students how to design games that produce sustainable revenue over the long-term.

Many wonderful games make appearances in the app stores, and while often well-built, aesthetically appealing, and rewarding to play, they generally come and go before you know it. Genuine and sustainable monetization is necessary for your game to be successful over the long-term.

The skills you learn in this course will enable you to pursue and implement the most effective monetization strategies for your game, build a game that keeps your players interested and engaged, and present your game in ways that allow it to stand out in the app store.

You will also learn how to program and use mobile ads in your game.

What you will learn

Engagement

- Learn the best design strategies to build an addictive game.

- Designing game difficulty, and including competition and social networks to get players more involved.

- Inspiring engagement is critical for a game to produce revenue in the long-term.

Monetization Models

- Monetization strategies for both paid games and free-to-download “freemium” games.

- A comparison of both premium and freemium models.

- How to effectively implement ads and in-app purchases.

Best Publishing Practices

- Get useful player feedback, and how to test out versions of your game with A/B testing.

- Design strategies for choosing what will appear in the app store—like icons and screenshots.

- Get your game to stand out against the competition.

Prerequisites and requirements

Some experience with Java, Android Studio, and activities is very helpful for coding in your own ads, otherwise minimal technical experience is required.