The popularity of the card game business has sparked an interest among investors. Budding entrepreneurs are trying to test their luck in the field and build a fruitful business.
Online card games have become an integral part of many gaming enthusiasts around the world. The game is integrated with the perfect combination of creative and technical skills which enhances the user experience.
To establish a foothold in the card game industry, you need to consider a variety of factors. Apart from picking a reliable card game development company, there are several other aspects that need to be considered
In this blog, we have listed the 8 crucial steps involved in starting an online card game business.
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Steps to Start an Online Card Game Business
To avoid any miscalculation, there are a few steps you need to take into consideration while starting a card game business from scratch and gaining a competitive advantage in the market.
1. Perform an In-Depth Market Research
There are several market leaders in the industry, hence the market is quite competitive. Therefore, you have to conduct in-depth market research to recognize their way of developing an online card game and what strategies they are following to improve their brand awareness.
Conducting market research is the process of collecting data related to other businesses and targeted audiences. Having complete information about your competitors and potential customers will lead your business to success.
2. Pick a Name to Represent Your Card Game
This is one of the most crucial steps in starting your mobile card game business. You need to give a unique name to your card game which also remains easy to remember. The right name will give you a sound position in the market.
3. Choose a Card Game Development Company
Launching a card game for the gambling business greatly depends on the card game software. For this reason, you might need to choose a skilled team of developers.
However, this is going to be a laborious task as there are thousands of card game development companies available in the market that promise to deliver high-quality game software to businesses. When consulting a software provider, you can put up questions such as how long they are in the business, what recent project they made similar to yours and what is their client satisfaction rate. By evaluating this information, you will be able to choose a software provider that will make you accomplish all your business goals professionally.
A reliable card game development company won’t hesitate to provide you with the following services.
Highly efficient gaming management system
State-of-the-art game development technology and tools
The reliable payment gateway system that offers support to multiple currencies
Attractive and easy-to-navigate user interface
Round-the-clock customer support
A strong portfolio
4. Build a Website for Your Business
A website that is equipped with an attractive design and easy-to-navigate front end will give an unforgettable experience to the players. This is one of the prime factors that bring the quality of your card game website and helps the players to trust your website.
To cut down the cost, you might tend to copy the design of any successful card game website, but this won’t help you in any way. You need to design the website with world-class quality that provides the clients with the experience they always wanted.
Along with the attractive design, your website also needs to be SEO-friendly to drive huge traffic. Optimize the website for mobile users to ensure faster loading speeds. Players might use different browsers to surf your website, thus your website has to be compatible with all the available browsers.
5. Acquire a Gambling License
Before hitting the market with your well-built card game website and mobile app, you need to acquire the necessary license that is required to operate your mobile card game business in your jurisdiction. Follow all the guidelines suggested by the government regarding card game development operations to make your business legal with a gaming license.
It is essential to pay attention that different jurisdictions have different types of processes to acquire the license. Therefore, you need to choose your jurisdiction wisely, where online card games are legal. Communicate with the right audience to get your license without facing any difficulties.
6. Find a Reliable Payment System Provider
You need to carefully choose your payment system provider to make your application free from all kinds of fraudulent activities. Any wrong choices with your payment system provider can destroy the reputation of your business.
You need to partner with a reliable payment gateway provider who has established a reputation in the market for offering secure payment, efficient fraud detection, a multi-currency support system, and so on.
To ensure that all the transactions will be handled with efficiency, you can discuss with the payment provider to understand what they will do to provide the transaction security. If you seem satisfied with the payment system provider, then you can take further steps and build a detailed contract with both parties.
7. Brand Your Online Business
Opting for effective card marketing strategies will fuel your business idea and make it successful in the market. Develop a marketing team that has a strong background in promoting businesses in the market and helps you enhance your brand awareness.
8. Hit the Market
After accomplishing all the above steps, you are ready to hit the market. Before doing so keep in mind a few things such as liability protection, tax benefits, and legal and trademark formalities. All of these things are essential in ensuring the success and legalization of card games.
Well, the total budget to start a card game business greatly revolves around a lot of factors such as:
Game development platform(Hybrid or Native)
Number of features
Region of the Card Game Development Company
Game server hosting & maintenance
Starting an online card game business is a costly process. Meanwhile, card game development itself takes around 1-2 months or more depending on the features and complexity of your card game software.
As far as we talk about the card game development cost, it would be somewhere around $10,000 to $30,000. This is just an estimated amount, the actual cost of developing an online card game could vary depending on the aforementioned factors.
The primary objective of any business is to generate profit. Likewise, an online card game business model also has plenty of methods to generate revenue. Here are the most profitable options to generate revenue from your card game for the gambling business.
1. In-app Advertisements
When talking about a card game for the gambling business, in-app advertisements are among the best monetization strategies in 2023. This method has proven to be very effective for developers in the past. Users can enjoy the free game while the developers generate revenue from mobile ads. However, it is important to maintain a balance between the number and quality of ads. In-app advertisements come in various types. These are the 5 most prominent ones-
Rewarded Ads
Playable Ads
Interstitial Ads
Banner Ads
Offerwall
You can choose the best types depending on your requirements and monetization goals. Keep in mind that it is also very important to choose the right ad network to maximize revenue generated from advertisements.
2. In-app Purchases
Mobile card games typically have in-app purchases in the form of game coins and other game collectibles. If you are planning to launch a free application and still make money from it, in-app purchases are the best monetization strategy for you. With this method, users can enjoy the game for free and have the option to pay for additional content like gems, game coins, etc.
It is important to develop a strategy and price your in-app content properly. Generally, it is better to offer both cheap and expensive purchases. Also, you can offer time-limited packs which offer users extra value for their money.
3. Paid Apps
While paid apps aren’t as good as in-app purchases, it is still a pretty effective business model for card games. Paid games can be profitable if you’re an already established publisher with a large user base. There are many online games that made it big despite using the paid game model.
Also, some gamers loathe in-app purchases and prefer to pay the fee upfront and not deal with microtransactions throughout the game. Choose the best monetization strategy according to your requirements and audience preferences.
4. Subscription Model
One of the most effective card game business models of the previous year was subscription programs. In this model, gamers have to make monthly or quarterly payments to gain access to additional game content and features. Some subscriptions are auto-renewed, while some have to be purchased again.
For the duration of the subscription, the player has access to better rewards and incentives that come with the subscription. This model is often used as an additional monetization strategy with in-app purchases and advertisements.
Starting a mobile card game business is a lucrative and profitable venture. However, it is important to focus on your card game software as it is the heart and soul of your business. Make sure to partner with a reliable card game development company to build cutting-edge and robust software for card games. Lastly, make sure to acquire a gambling license and employ the best monetization strategies according to your target audience and requirements to maximize your revenue.
If you are looking for a reliable card game software provider, BR Softech offers a wide range of card game development services for your online business.
Ans. With the right business strategies, a card game business can be a profitable and rewarding venture for those who are investing in it.
Q. What are the benefits of playing online card games?
Ans. Playing online card games provides a lot of health benefits. For example, it alleviates stress by lowering your cortisol levels. This can be extremely beneficial after a long hard day at work.
Q. What are the best card games to include in your card game software?
Ans. There are plenty of card games that are loved by users. However, casino card games like Poker and Blackjack are among the most played and successful card games online.
I am Nitin Garg, founder of BR Softech PVT LTD - an award-winning mobile game development company known for its excellence in the gaming domain. We have a team of 180+ exceptional professionals & we have a satisfied clientele of 2.7k+ globally. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, I aim to elevate BR Softech to a billion-dollar company.