Estimation of Game App Development Costs for all Mobile Game Genres
The cost of developing a game app is just as diverse as the many types of games available. The type of app is a major factor in determining the cost of expenditures. As any competent mobile app development agency will tell you, it is important to have all the information before you begin to explore the world of game app development.
This comprehensive guide will give you a good overview of the current industry. You’ll also learn more about the cost of app development, monetization and other strategies.
Mobile Game Market Trends for 2023
Statista reports that more than 1.8 billion people downloaded mobile games. Statista predicts that mobile games will generate $100 billion in revenue by 2023. This is only based on stats showing mobile games to be the main driver of revenue in the gaming sector.
The 45% increase in hyper-casual gaming in mobile game trends 2020 and the 4 billion downloads of action hyper-casual video games show that there is a significant preference. They are actually far below the rest in terms of overall revenue share, with a particularly low 0.06% in the UK.
Subscription-based monetization has been rising rapidly and is becoming the preferred choice for top-grossing games such as Fornite and PUBG.
Gamers want to socialize and watch as much as they play games. This highlights the importance of social features such as real-time chat.
The Major Types of Game Apps
Card Gaming Apps
These could be either original card games or digitalized versions of traditional tabletop card games. Advertising revenue was $10.8 million and in-app purchases revenues reached $6.2 Million in 2022. In 2019, 15% of Android gamers played card games.
Arcade Gaming Apps
Because of their simplicity and entertaining gameplay, arcade games are very popular. Their 2021 revenue was 1.34%, which is below the top three. Millennials prefer arcade games such as Hearthstone.
Adventure Gaming Apps
These games have a broad scope and a storyline. They often have simple or complex game mechanics. The revenue from adventure games is expected to rise to $19 million by 2022, with downloads of up to 14,000,000 in that same year. Genshin Impact games often feature diverse demographics, with the average age being 35.
Betting Games
This category includes anything that involves online or casino betting. With 18.9%, casino games have the second-highest revenue share in 2021. The majority of players are male, with 81% being the majority. Players average age 37 years.
Puzzle Gaming Apps
This category includes brain-stimulating crossword puzzles and more advanced brain ticklers that combine mechanics from different genres. With a 21.1% share, puzzle games will be the most popular in 2021. Puzzle games are a favorite of Gen Z.
Role-Playing Gaming Apps
Although these games are similar to adventure games, there is a clear focus on character development and leveling up. It is interesting to see that role-playing and adventure games had the highest ad creative in 2021, at 6.6 million. As evidenced by the popular games like Raid: Shadow Legends or classics like Final Fantasy VII, RPG games are Millenial games.
What does the mobile game development process look like?
This is a summary of all the steps involved in developing a mobile game app. Every gaming developer must keep this in mind when working on any project.
1. Documentation on Game Design
GDD, in short, is a document that reflects the graphic design as well as the concept (including the story) or the mechanics. What’s the story and where and when the game will take place? How broad is the gameplay?
Gathering requirements for the platform in which you will be developing should also be part of your GDD (i.e. Android or iOS, single-player, multiplayer or more social platform, target market (including countries), update frequency, language to use, and how often users will update your app.
2. Development of Technical Specifications
This overview will provide an overview of the requirements for technical design and development as well as other relevant procedures.
3. Prototyping
This is done by nearly every game app development company to give a preview of the final product. The prototype will usually only show the basic design and the most important mechanics.
The prototypes can provide valuable insights into areas that could use improvement. Prototypes can help you identify areas that need improvement.
4. Architecture Design
The app’s foundation will allow it to streamline many processes and bring about improvements and updates quickly by establishing a solid foundation. This will impact the speed with which you can present the most valuable content to your users. It also determines your overall scalability.
5. Programming
Here is where most of the development takes place. Javascript is still a popular programming language along with HTML5, HTML5, and C++. Make sure you are using the best game engines, such as UNITY, and UNREAL, platforms, and tools, for the genres that you want to develop.
6. Test
You should not only be looking out for bugs and errors but also look out for QA requirements that you might have missed and, most importantly, get feedback from game testers. QA engineers often break down testing into sections such as load testing, usability and performance testing.
7. Maintenance and Launch
Plan how you will launch your app. It is essential to set a date. It is a good idea to start building your online presence within the days, weeks or months before the launch.
Maintenance involves the introduction of fixes and updates to bugs that you find, monitoring performance and checking licenses.
Read More Article- The 7 Stages of Game Design and Development
The Essential Features of a Games App
Simple Controls
The vast majority of gamers enjoy games that are easy to learn. This applies to the gameplay as well, which should allow the user to control the progression in any way they like.
Graphics
It should be in line with the expectations of your target audience. It should be consistent with the overall theme of your game.
Sound Effects
Sound is just as important as graphics. If your sound effects are irritating, most players will abandon a game within a matter of minutes.
Loading speed
Your content should load quickly, just like any other app. Your gold standard should be less than 4 seconds.
Engaging gameplay
Be mindful of the storytelling if it’s an RPG, adventure, or RPG. Players should be able to master the puzzles or arcade games quickly.
Game App Development Cost
We’ve already discussed the cost of making a game application. The amount can vary greatly. Development costs typically range from $8K to $25 Million. However, it is not uncommon to spend a lot on developing gaming apps.
Pre-development costs, platform, design and game complexity are all important. This table will give you a better idea of the costs.
How to Get started with App Monetization
When monetizing their apps, mobile game developers rely heavily on in-app purchase, advertising, freemium and other forms of revenue. Subscription-based games are a growing trend that shows there’s more to be made from your game.
It is certain that any game can be made money with the right strategies, and the effective use of marketing data. Devstree IT Solution has a dedicated team that provides mobile app marketing services. This service includes a variety of market research, expert recommendations, data-driven strategy, PR services, and game events services. We are focused on helping developers achieve their specific marketing goals.
Conclusion
There are few things more satisfying than working in an area you love. This will make it easier to learn, budget and strategize in order to create mobile game apps. We hope you find the right game app development company to help bring your vision to reality and to offer strategies and other improvements to ensure success. We are a top Mobile App Development Agency.
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