I did not expect to earn the income I did this month, it’s been quite a pleasant surprise. I have not published any commercial content this month so all of my earnings have been from previous work.
Preparing For A Bad Month
Knowing that most of my time during June would be dedicated to working on my currently undisclosed iOS/Android app, I created a HTML5 mobile game called “Hex Wars” at the end of May with the hopes that it would generate enough income to get me through the month.
Hex Wars started as a 24 hour project, with the goal being to finish developing it completely within that time. In the end, it actually took about 30 hours to complete.
I started licensing the game, and felt confident enough to charge higher licensing fees than I normally do. The publishers I approached tended to agree that the game was worth the extra cost, and Hex Wars actually did quite well for itself. It has fueled a lot of this month’s income.
A New Product
This month also took an unexpected turn when I recognized a new product worth commercializing.
Two of my recent HTML5 mobile games were initially rejected by a certain publisher because they did not display consistently across many devices. They did not center on the page on some devices, they did not handle orientation changes perfectly on some devices, and they did not scale up on tablet devices. GameMaker Studio, the development program I use for my work, does not natively provide support for these requirements in combination with other mobile limitations, so I had to outsource a specialized engine to handle them.
When the “mobility engine” was done, I paid for it and acquired the full rights to it. It occurred to me that other developers could benefit greatly from the engine, as it dramatically improves the value of GameMaker HTML5 mobile games.
I decided to keep the engine availability very limited rather than distributing it for free. It wasn’t exactly cheap, after all. There are only a few people making money with GameMaker HTML5 currently, and due to the value that the mobility engine adds I decided to license it for $60 per person. If I can earn the outsourcing fee back I’ll be satisfied, but it may even go on to earn a profit. Even if it doesn’t sell a single license, it has already improved my HTML5 earnings substantially.
The mobility engine is not currently available but I have approached a few people that I considered to be trustworthy and offered them early access. I’ve also made use of the engine a requirement for those who wish to form a partnership with me, where I sell their games for them in exchange for a share of the profits. I have been working to set up several partnerships lately, but I’ll probably talk about that next month.
This mobility engine does not make up any of this month’s revenue.
Show Me Stats!
OK! Here are my earnings for June:
$2137 (+$1137) – HTML5 mobile sponsorships
$10 – Donations
$120 – Misc.
The total for June was $2267, making it my best month so far. I certainly did not expect that.
What’s Next?
During July, I’ll be continuing work on my iOS/Android app. It’s coming along a lot slower than I expected, but hopefully it won’t take more than a month to finish now.
I also have to make an expensive purchase: a Mac computer. The one I’m buying will set me back around $1300, so I’m going to create two HTML5 mobile games this month to cover those costs. I’ll be trying something different with them, though.
Finally, I’m excited to start work on my eBook about HTML5 game development! Depending on how I balance my workload, it should take 1-2 months to write. I’ve already locked in some valuable marketing opportunities, and I can’t wait to see how it performs commercially. I feel like there’s a lot of pressure to deliver high quality content with this product – it will be my debut into the world of published writing after all!
Matthew
I know everyone says it, but these posts are really interesting to read.
I cant wait for this book!
Hello Matthew,
Seeing as your revenue for June has left me amazed, I would like to talk to you.
.
Though what I want to talk to you about is perhaps what your eBook will be about (who’s your publishers, what’s your approach, et cetera), this is definitely a monthly profit I could use.
You also mention partnerships, and you may now be thinking “aha!” but no, I am not looking for a partnership. I am interested in your approach, and if it turns out profitable for me as well, I will of course thank you with a generous donation depending on said profit
I would also like to know more about this mobility engine of yours!
If you would be so kind (and very kind it would be) to contact me per e-mail or GMC (depending on which you prefer), I would love for you to share some of your back-end knowledge with me!
Did I realize there was such an easy profit in HTML5 games? Not at all. Not at all…
You’re a true genius of the internet, Matthew. You sure are.
Regards,
Alexander
Hi Alexander – a lot of your questions will be answered in good time, so I don’t go into too much detail on any of them just yet.
My approach with the eBook is to publish it myself, and retain as much control over my product as possible. My main reason for writing it is to create an income stream that I can fully control, so I don’t have to worry that something like my AdSense experience will occur again.
Finally, would I call HTML5 games an easy profit? Not quite. Many, many months of work have gone into me getting to this stage. The eBook provides that experience so you won’t have to go through the same hell
Seems like unpatient me will just have to wait for the eBook then haha, well played!
Looking forward to seeing it
I’ve bookmarked your blog – interesting read!
HOLY S@&T!
I remember the last time I came here that you were unhappy but glad that you got kicked from google ads! O.O
but now it is going WAY to good for you!
GM is for you!
no wonder it likes you.
Interesting read, can’t wait for the book, good luck with that.
Thank you!
I love these monthly reports. They really help me gain a big more understanding of making games for money.
I am curious if you will ever talk about actually finding publishers and how to talk to them… Because I am oblivious when it comes to this.
now that is SOMETHING I’ll like to read/hear about.
I will indeed – in my eBook. I have a few methods to share which proved successful to me.
I’m new to this and I’m still wonder , where can I sell iOS / Android games made with GM ? Can you mail me with some reference sites ?
If you’re talking typical iOS/Android apps, then you sell those on the App Store and Google Play respectively. If you’re referring to where I license my HTML5 games, well that’s a secret I don’t tend to share – after all, it took my months to build my contacts list.
Not even for a small payment?
Small? No
If it turns out to be profitable for me as well, I’ll give you a larger amount – and I won’t re-distribute the info?
Hello Matthew,
do all your HTML5 games fit mobile screen size and are targeted for mobile devices? Or do you see possibilities for monetizing “standard resolution” games with resolutions like 640×480 or 800×600? Similar to Flash games?
I have several games on my website where I thought about porting them over to GM:S just to get more used to GM (they are written in PlayBasic, BlitzMax or Java). Simplest approach would of course be to keep all the graphics, level layouts and so on in their old original size and resolution. Porting them to some other resolution would simply require more efforts. What do you think?
Another one: should you ever plan to sell your HTML5 ebook in several languages I could offer a translation to German if you’re interested.
And to join all the others: thanks for your blog posts, they are very good reads! Hats off for earning your living with coding and marketing/selling(!) games with being just 19! I was around 22 (and still at university studying CS) when I started coding (business stuff) for a living
Cheers,
Thomas
Hi Thomas,
All of my games are indeed targeted to mobile, and as such are sized to mobile resolutions. Monetizing “standard resolution” games is possible but not via these same methods – sponsors are only looking at mobile to my understanding.
I’m not sure if the eBook will be localized…most likely it won’t, but thanks for the offer!
Thanks for your comments
It truly amazes me how many different outlets there are for earning money online. You did exceptionally well this month, and I’m sure you’ll increase your earnings next month and beyond if you keep your nose to the grindstone and take a series of simple steps every single day. That’s really all it takes.
Good luck, and congrats on this month’s income!!
Thanks for commenting, Nell. I’ve been reading a lot of new blogs this month, yours included! The collective struggle we’re all going through to establish online incomes is really quite unique, and I find it motivational to read about other people’s experiences so I try to provide my own.
Seeing monthly earnings of $30,000+ makes me feel so lazy, though!
very nice read and congratulations. I check last time with the google ads was not good? Now it is very good and let’s hope it just gets better in the future. and looking forward to reading your book because i am preodering!