[Discussion] Do you think simple Casual games make more profit than Hardcore?

I was just thinking, you know we game developers develop games for fun, for people to enjoy, well some of us want people to appreciate our effort and pay money for it (not counting fan games).

I have an idea on my mind, making a casual game that people will enjoy on the go (Android and Ios), on the other hand I have planned a full fledge hardcore 2.5d Shooter game which will be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Now I am just thinking which one will make more profit, the casual one or the hardcore?


In my view, the casual game will make more profit, since people who are not gamers have not time to focus and play hardcore games, whilist they can play casual games anytime when they are bored. And since many games nowadays have Iaps in them, my or any game developed for these platforms will have that too, such as Cut the Rope or Angry birds have.

What do you think?

The amount of money those freemium games make is insane. Personally, nothing in this would could possible drive me to spend $50 dollars for a measly in-app-purchase, for a mobile-phone game. That much money can get you a state of the art game on any next-gen console.

But yeah, people are going crazier with their purchase of IAPs, and it currently seems to be the best strategy to make a game free, add some annoying rule, and charge people money to bypass that rule. Time is currently the best obstacle developers like to put in their game. "Pay us $2 or wait 10 minutes" - I don't like it.

So yeah, I think casual games would be your best bet. Look at the ratio of how much effort you have to put in, vs how much money you can make. Hardcore games require hardcore work to get done, while casual games require a good idea. I'd go with casual stuff if I were aiming for the smartphone market.

if u work on android games you will be catering to a wider market, I would say that if ur game has a simple concept like temple run or flappy bird you would have more popularity, having a complex game can only allow you to serve to a specific area of the market

Simple games are capable of having that addictive feel. Flappy bird is a great example, how viral it went was really a combination of how addictive and simple it is with how a little notoriety helps. I think it was generating about $50k a day it was suggested?

Pretty sure he did not plan for that to happen, but there is takeaway from that game for sure.

Worldslayer608 said:

Simple games are capable of having that addictive feel. Flappy bird is a great example, how viral it went was really a combination of how addictive and simple it is with how a little notoriety helps. I think it was generating about $50k a day it was suggested?

Pretty sure he did not plan for that to happen, but there is takeaway from that game for sure.

Click to expand...

Ooh Really?

I never knew casual games could make so much!


50k/per day = 150K Per month!

(Works on concepts right now)

The m said:

Ooh Really?

I never knew casual games could make so much!


50k/per day = 150K Per month!

(Works on concepts right now)

Click to expand...

50k per day= 1.5 Million a month.

Yeah casual games can make a lot of money, but I mean also, so can competitive. However, you have more chance of getting a casual game famous because they don't need all these big graphics and stuff. But if you're like Infinity Ward or whatever, you continue to make big games because that's what people want from you.

Both can make lot's of money, see Wii Sports and World of Warcraft.

Some casual games can make a HUGE money with a very low investment like Angry Birds and the most recent Flappy Bird (a ridiculous example), but if you count the failed attempts, this is (practically) one in one million. This is more about popularity than anything, since Flappy Bird is released for iOS at 2013, but only became popular at this month. Yes, I know that Android version is released in less than a month.