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Video games continue to be big: according to reports by Statista and Newzoo the overall revenue of PC & console games generated US$80.2 billion in 2024 and is expected to go even further than that. Big releases like new Nintendo console, Switch 2, along with the long-awaited new installment of one of the biggest and most successful video game franchises – Grand Theft Auto VI – will inevitably shake the industry again in 2025.
As you can see, video games are an incredibly profitable endeavor, which can bring your company money to make more games. And they don’t have to be the mobile ones. In this article, we would like to talk about types of monetization for your game and speak on how to monetize your game. Let’s dive right in!
Pros: Classic way, happy audience, each sale brings a stable income.
Cons: Limitations in income, relying on marketing, some players can’t afford a full-priced/discounted game.
One of the most common approaches to how to monetize a game is selling it once, as the product. The customer gets the physical or a digital copy of the game, pays for it once and that’s about it. It’s a settled classic that a lot of gamers are used to: it’s fair, it provides a stable, expected income, and it creates a trusting relationship with a customer.
It also relies heavily on marketing/word of mouth and can be a bit tricky nowadays: there are so many games that yours may get lost on the oversaturated market. Your legacy can help, as well as word of mouth, a demo version, viral promotion via content creators and a particularly unusual art style.
Our game art outsourcing studio also understands the prospects of the video game industry and what game monetization does. We create visual style, characters, illustrations and even user interfaces for dream projects that will highlight your project among many others available on the market.
RocketBrush Studio has been working since 2016, providing art services for leading industry names like Supercell, Paradox Interactive, Applovin and many others. Contact us to discuss a potential collaboration!
Pros: Earns extra money, makes players happy, allows to extend on an existing product.
Cons: Requires an already existing game, demand from players, additional development and release.
DLC or expansion packs (a classic way to call it: CD Projekt RED still produces high-quality expansion packs, rich with new content, and proudly calls them this way) allow you to add more content to the released game: it can be a refined, previously cut content or something you revisited after releasing the game to finish the story, add new missions and characters and other things that haven’t been in the original game.
It’s a great way not only to introduce the additional content to the already existing game (easier to promote, especially if the original game was a successful hit), but also to earn additional revenue from fans who played your game, enjoyed it and now are hungry for more. If you’re thinking “How to monetize a game we already released without additional in-game purchases” – DLC may be the way.
Pros: Allows you to fund the upcoming game and implement your audience’s suggestions as well as create the community before the release.
Cons: Both heavily rely on marketing; early access requires an early build of the game and determination to finish it.
How to monetize the games you’re currently making? Good question! This type is different from others: it allows you not only to earn money but also to fund the game you’re eager to make. Considering how difficult it is to fund games, pitch them to publishers and overall produce them, crowdfunding and early access is a great way to make something special and even niche – your audience will back your game’s production.
Crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, GoFundMe, IndieGoGo and others allow you to interact with backers, keep them in the loop on updates and even treat high pledgers with souvenirs and other rewards. They also take a fee: of 5% from Kickstarter and 2.9% from GoFundMe.
Early access allows developers to release and sell the early version of the game. A lot of players are passionate about playing something earlier than other, also providing testing, suggestions and other things that can make the full-scale development easier for your team. However, some players don’t like it since some developers tend to abandon projects without delivering the final product, remaining in early access status for a very long time.
Free-to-play games tend to rely on different tactics to gain profit while keeping the whole game actually free to download and play. Let’s look at some of the methods to monetize the free game.
Pros: Provides additional income, works very well in regularly updated online games
Cons: Players will not like it in single-player games
In-game purchases haven’t been very common among PC and console games and mostly belong to the question of how to monetize a game app for mobile. But still, some games implement it and allow players to get XP boosts, additional weapons, unlocked costumes, different options to open chests containing random treats (also known as gacha boxes) and so on.
It’s been very popular among online games – loot boxes from Overwatch, Team Fortress 2 cosmetics and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive keys for crates. Though some big publishers like EA, Ubisoft and Capcom use it in single-player games as well – these tend to be controversial and players do not like them.
RocketBrush also creates 3D models and character designs for potential in-game purchases. We ensure that the models we make match your game’s style and tone, animate them and provide a premium look to make them desirable to players. Check our portfolio for examples.
Pros: New content for players and community input helps to build a loyal community base
Cons: A lot of players, especially on PC, do not consider it a valuable investment and associate mods with free content (available on the Nexus Mods platform)
User-generated content (UGC) allows developers to distribute other players’ contributions (weapons designed by them, game mods, skins and so on). Originally, it used to be free, but some developers decided to monetize it to actually sell premium content made by other players and approved by game-making studios, and provide them with the revenue cut.
Some examples include Valve and their Team Fortress 2, DOTA 2 and CS: GO’s community-made items and Bethesda’s Creation Club. If you’re thinking about how to monetize your game that is about the creative approach of other players, user-generated content may be the strategy you’re looking for.
Pros: Regular income from regular players, a sense of progression and purpose created for players, increased retention
Cons: Requires regular updates with new stuff so that players won’t lose interest; some people also may find it “grindy” (requiring a lot of game time to get actual rewards)
Battle and Season Pass provides players with regular limited-time tasks and rewards. It usually represents a progression bar full of little tasks they need to complete to gain a new skin, a new weapon model or additional XP. Frequently, a free progress bar is also there along with the paid progress bar, to highlight the superiority of a paid option.
Both passes like this are basically a subscription, but there’s also a different type of subscription available for non-mobile games – let’s talk about how to monetize a game with it.
Pros: Recurring revenue and predictable income, players’ retention and long-term relationship with passionate audience
Cons: Not as appealing as one-time purchase for some players; regular demand for more new, high-quality content.
This model is common for MMO games (World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy XIV), which grant access to the game’s content after you pay the fee, which can be monthly or yearly.
Another subscription option that has become popular slowly but surely is the service subscription plans, like PlayStation Plus, Xbox Game Pass, EA Play. They provide players with access to a great amount of different types of games, of all genres and styles. It helps not only to monetize games but also to create a certain loyalty to a brand and the ecosystem, especially if you grant access to games available exclusively by this publisher (EA Play) or on this platform (Playstation Plus, Nintendo Online).
Pros: Gets as much revenue as possible, allows to categorize players into casual and hardcore audiences and creates different options for them.
Cons: May scare potential players due to its complexity, additional prices, etc.
This type of monetization is not only a different option that blends both types we described above, but it’s also a trendy one: according to AdInMo, it’s getting bigger and more popular in recent years – 72% of game developing studios adopted it in 2024.
How to monetize your game with a hybrid strategy? As you can guess from its name, hybrid monetization combines the different strategies described above. For non-mobile games, it usually works like this: a one-time purchase is mixed with in-game purchases and subscriptions.
Here’s the perfect example: The Call of Duty series is sold every year for the full price, providing single- and multiplayer versions of the game. The multiplayer section is beloved by series fans and comes with regular updates connected with the paid battle pass: the more gamers play, the more new stuff they unlock. In addition, in-app purchases are available. It’s mostly cosmetics, so a hybrid monetization like this doesn’t feel too confusing and unfair.
Let’s take a look at some platforms that can be used for non-mobile game monetization.
These platforms are the easiest way to sell product, since they basically represent a common shopping routine: customers walk in, like what they see based on screenshots/trailers/user reviews and purchase it. One-time purchases, DLCs, in-app purchases and even subscriptions can be sold there.
There are some digital distribution stores that are popular among customers and considered an industry standard:
Monetization of a non-mobile game is a bit different from mobile games, but as you can see, there are many different ways to do it. To highlight the most popular and profitable ones, they are:
And the best answer to the question “how to monetize a game” is, of course, to respect your audience and be transparent. If you provide them with high-quality content, regular updates and avoid predatory tactics and forced purchases, the players will be happy.
And keeping your audience happy is the key – that’s the most important strategy for monetization!
