One of the tools that we’ve been toying with understanding a little better, at Obscured Edge, is the use of Video Advertisements as a way of monetizing Video Games on mobile platforms. So I thought take a second and mention some of the trends and issues that we’ve been noticing in games today.
Some Observations on Modern Mobile Games
One of the issues facing many modern mobile games is monetization. Since many mobile markets don’t have much love for paid games, many developers have been looking to ads instead to put bread on their proverbial tables. However, many developers use banner advertisements and what are called interstitial ads (basically a banner ad that temporarily takes up the whole screen) to monetize. The issue with this is that the primary money making action for Game Developers occurs when a user taps on one of these ads. This is an issue because the user is then removed from the game experience. It would be an easier ad and game experience for the user, if the advertiser could make their statement or inform the user of whatever message they were hoping to say, and then the user was then returned to their game.
Video Advertisements
Obscured Edge has been looking into Video Advertisements to possibly solve this issue; very similarly to the way television uses ads intermittently to support its shows, but without interfering with the user watching the whole show.
Ad Placement
The remaining question to be answered is where to place these videos. Unlike television, there are less obvious times to inject Video Ads, since time-based breaks could be very jarring for the user. Instead, some have said Video Ads could be well placed a the start of each “level segment” or “area” of a game. This is one way to go, and certainly is less jarring to the user than showing an Ad every 10 minutes. However, since users aren’t quite used to Video Ads breaking up the experience of their video games, we instead have been toying with the idea of rewarding users that have the choice of watching an ad every so often. For instance, a user could watch an Ad at the start of a level to begin with a powerup of some kind. Taptiles is a great example of this. They have a timed level in their game, and users may (once per level) watch a Video Ad to get a little extra time. This is great, as it gives users the option to watch an Ad, instead of forcing their hand. Users that want to experience their game ad free, may do so unimpeded.
The Downside
Yes, there will be users who will feel that it is unfair that some are able to play with an advantage because they took the time to view a Video Ad. This is unavoidable, but we can use design to try and remove this issue as well if we are clever. Maybe viewing a Video Ad could provide help when a user is backed into a corner, but offers no general advantage to beating a level. Or possibly a Video Ad could be used to unlock an aesthetic or customization that doesn’t even affect gameplay in a direct way.
There are a lot of options, and we are very excited to see what people come up with. It’s easy to see this sort of design as a bad thing, but in reality it gives the greatest gift of all when done right: free games.