The mobile gaming industry is expanding like the universe. In this expansion, we have witnessed many genres and game niches come and go, including the hyper-casual game. But the only catch is that these games are here to stay. With its addictive gameplay, simple mechanics, and minimalistic design, these games have dominated the market just like retro games once did. Now you must be wondering whether you should invest in these games or not, since there are so many already circulating in the market. This blog aims to satisfy your curiosity and help you understand investing in hyper-casual game development.
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Let’s dive into the factors that suggest investing in the development of hyper-casual hits such as Paper.io or Helix Jump can be a viable business opportunity.
The first and foremost reason for investing in a hyper-casual game is its enormous reach in the world. It doesn’t matter what game genre you prefer, these games can always fit into the list of your favorite games. Also, the accessibility feature of such games makes it reach a broader audience.
Hyper-casual games do not hold any cultural significance, therefore, they do not appeal to a specific audience. On the contrary, hyper-casual games are relevant in every culture, race, and country.
Since hyper-casual games are basic in terms of playability and have simple mechanics, anyone can start playing the game despite their gaming skills. The game has a gentle learning curve that anyone can learn and start playing in a jiffy.
Hyper-casual games do not have a target audience, meaning it does not target a selective group of people. Because of its simplicity and minimal design, anyone can play it at any time. Whether it’s a 5-year-old or a 55-year-old, people of all ages can have fun while playing hyper-casual games.
The high engagement and retention rates of hyper-casual games are due to their addictive gameplay, even though the gameplay is simple. The play sessions in the game are short and sweet and repetitive loops do not bore the players. Instead, they crave breaking their own score and flexing in front of their friends. The feeling of playing just one more time that you experience makes hyper-casual games so popular and increases engagement.
The game being a simple one does not imply that it becomes boring. As you keep playing it and invest time on it, you realize that the levels gradually become hard making the game more and more challenging as you progress.
The quick gameplay loops provide a sense of gratification to players. Hyper-casual games know how to satisfy their audience and cheer them in short periods.
Hyper-casual games hold a lot of potential for revenue generation. With the right monetization strategies, you can open up a plethora of revenue opportunities. These games follow a freemium model, so you must be wondering what can we do to achieve a successful revenue stream. Well, here’s what you can do to establish a hassle-free revenue stream.
The fundamental method of monetizing hyper-casual games is through in-game ads. These methods include the usage of banner ads, interstitial ads, rewarded videos, and playable ads. These ads rarely interfere with the gameplay.
Hyper-casual games often include in-app purchases of characters, skins and themes of the environment. If you are stuck at a certain level or need coins to unlock it, you can purchase the coins, these microtransactions help hyper-casual games generate revenue from them. You can also include the option for removing ads by paying a certain amount.
These revenue models can help developers achieve a successful revenue stream with significant profits. However, if you wish to learn the intricacies of monetization in hyper-casual games and how it can help your business in detail, you can check out – Hyper Casual Games: The Ultimate Guide From Publishing to Monetization.
Since hyper-casual games define simplicity, the development cycle of these games is significantly lower than complex mobile, console, or PC games. The features incorporated in hyper-casual games are less and simple, the game mechanics are also straightforward with one-touch controls, swipe, and tap. These factors highly contribute to the faster development cycle of the game.
Because of the easy coding and simple game mechanics, the game’s prototype gets developed in no time. Developers hold the liberty to test the game through prototype even before beginning the development process.
Due to the fast-paced development process, the cost of deploying hyper-casual games gets reduced compared to other traditional games. These games can also be a viable option for indie developers as it does not require many resources and can be developed in a short period of time.
Bringing new content in hyper-causal games is easy as mobile gaming trends are dynamic and integrating new features is comparatively easy. Developers can inculcate events, levels, and themes seamlessly without having to go through a lengthy development process. This ease-of-updation helps developers retain the players and keep them coming back for newer surprises.
These updates include content updates like the addition of new levels, and challenges, or the insertion of new in-game assets like characters and skins, apart from adding seasonal events. The difficulty levels can also be tweaked accordingly by the developers.
Adding new updates in the game at short intervals helps developers connect with the players and provide them with something new. This technique helps in improved user retention. Improvising and adding different monetization models like in-app purchases can heavily affect the experience of users.
The hyper-casual games promise viral potential. This aspect of the game makes it interesting for the developers, as they can cash in on these projects without spending a lot of resources. The games are simple, addictive, and extremely accessible, which makes them easy to go viral. You play it and share it with your friend, who can instantly access it because it is lightweight and does not expect any system requirements.
Hyper-casual games build a community that shows competency, players achieve scores and milestones in the game and flex it socially. This ignites competition among friends and family which ultimately benefits the game in going viral. The game does not even need a full-fledged marketing budget as it gets famous organically.
Hyper-casual games once they pick up the pace, you can see their downloads in millions. Take the example of Helix Jump by Voodoo, the game broke the internet with its craze and became a sensation in no time, just by word of mouth.
As a businessman, you do not have much to lose when you are investing in the development of a hyper-casual game. Since the game can be developed and deployed in no time and with a fraction of the cost that is required in a traditional game, you are in a win-win situation. These games can provide you with the quickest return on your investment as compared with other investments, especially in the gaming industry.
AAA game development requires a budget similar to that of a Hollywood blockbuster, and still, there’s a risk of the game not getting the attention. You can take the example of Cyberpunk 2077, the game was so hyped and players had huge expectations from the game. However, the game had to suffer massive criticism and could not perform the way it was expected.
Talking about hyper-casual games, the industry is very lucrative and all you need is a good idea. Once you have a good idea, the development process and cost are not a big deal. The only way you can go is up after developing a hyper-casual game.
Hyper-casual games do not only benefit big gaming studios and entrepreneurs. These games are ideal for startups and indie developers who are finding their way in the vast game development industry. These games also allow small developers to showcase their potential and establish themselves in the game development domain.
Hyper-casual games do not come with risks like traditional games. The development process and cost being simple and low, these games provide high rewards with low risks. They have the ability to generate millions and the investment required in these games is peanuts.
The modern games are intricate and focus a lot on their world-building and graphics. Basically, those games are way more complex compared to hyper-casual games. However, these games might not be complex, but that doesn’t mean they are not innovative. These games stand out because of their unique gameplay mechanics and concepts.
Mobile gaming is the newest trend in the gaming industry, and hyper-casual games are at the forefront of that trend. If you are developing a hyper-casual game, it is definite that you are tapping into a highly lucrative market.
With the advent of app store optimization, hyper-casual games can outperform other apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. These games can easily become visible on the gamers’ phones eventually allowing them to be discovered by a wider audience.
The development of such games is supported by multiple frameworks and game engines like Unity, and Cocos2d. You can also get the help of marketing tools like Google Ads and Facebook Ads to analyze the market.
There is one catch to hyper-casual gaming business, the market is highly competitive. You won’t be the only one who will be releasing a hyper-casual game when you will be deploying one. Tons of games are deployed and flopped, and they do not even make it to the global audience before they vanish. But this can also work to the benefit of developers as they can find multiple resources and study why hyper-casual games fail.
If you want to start a business in the mobile gaming industry, nothing can beat investing in a hyper-casual game as it can provide high rewards with low risks. These games hold the potential to penetrate the global gaming market resulting in a high user engagement. These games also boast low development costs with humongous monetization opportunities.
Hyper-casual games have not only emerged as a trend, but they also contribute a lot to the gaming industry. It has a bright future, with its simple gameplay and addictiveness, the hyper-casual-game trend is here to stay.
BR Softech can help you capitalize on your game idea, given your idea stands out. We can also help you refine your idea and convert it into something incredible.
Hyper-casual games are mobile games, or simple games that can be played on a web browser, that have one-touch controls. The fundamental role of these games is to provide gratification in less time through short levels.
The development of hyper-casual games comes with a lot of benefits. They require minimal investments and in return provide several revenue streams through multiple monetization strategies.
Hyper-casual can easily generate revenue through monetization models included in the game like interstitial ads, banner ads, and purchasing in-game assets.
