So our small team is within weeks of finishing up a casual web game and we are researching ways to monetize. I started the search through shockwave and had one heck of time slogging through the “legaleze” of the contract. It stated that shockwave doesn’t own the rights to the property, but did hold the right to modify the game in anyway without notice and a dizzying array of other rights.I guess I’m just wondering if this is standard for these kinds of contracts. I know that shockwave is obviously a popular site so lots of developers have signed on and use it but how safe is this?
Also, any other sites that might be a good place to put the game? I have found many helpful places thanks to these forums and would be grateful for any ideas out there. Thanks!
It depends a bit.
Such contracts normally require you to comply to given things (like their startup logo and potential portal / security aspects that must be implemented).
Don’t think it normally includes parts THEY are entitled to do (also thats depending on the used technology hard for them to achieve without breaking copyrights by reverse engineering)
On the other hand, nothing is standard realistically seen as there arent 100+ portals to compare their contracts and extract “standards”
I’ve wondered too about this, but signed and they never modified anything in my game. They even don’t ask for source code or alike. I have no idea what this paragraph is for. But I can tell you it’s “safe” to work with them - nice people, awesome QA department with really helpful ppl there. I didn’t regret working with them.
Other than shockwave, there aren’t many portals around in that scale that accept Unity games. I just made another yearly round talking to most of them and still the same picture: “too less spread of the plugin”.
I launched on Kongregate, but they stopped accepting Unity content again. BigFish and RealArcade don’t accept Unity players (just got confirmation last night about that). So other than shockwave, there is next to none big portal yet accepting Unity which matters $$$-wise.
Of course Wooglie accepts content and it’s a good portal, but of course way way way smaller than shockwave. So do publish on Wooglie in anyway to support them and help them grow.
I have Jetlane up on wooglie and gamejolt but don’t expect to make any money really. Both are good sites to support though.
Then there is Musegames.com which publishes 3rd party games but you’ll need a full/extended version of your game to sell. They don’t make money from ads.
Then there is blurst.com which will be putting up 3rd party games. (but they are taking their sweet time to get it going :lol:)
zapak.com claims they take unity content, but I didn’t hear back from them after I informed them it’s impossible to import their Flash API into a unity game.
ultimatearcade.com takes unity content but have no revenue sharing in place at this time.
Thanks for all the info everyone. I had hoped that Unity would be the way to go with my small studio, but am begining to have doubts. Can Shockwave, Wooglie, and the others offer enough income to support a small studio? Last thing I want to do is switch to Flash, Unity is soo much better!
I recently contacted Miniclip to see if they accepted Unity games. They said that they currently do not, however they did express interest in it. For anyone who has a nice completed game, it might be worth it to contact them and let them see it.
I think the market penetration for the Unity web player is still quite low, especially comparable to Flash. This is likely why game portals are a bit hesitant to try Unity. It does seem that Unity is peaking their curiosity more and more though, and some may be close to giving it a try (as with Miniclip). As I understand it, the Unity web player installs are steadily inclining. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before most of the game portals jump on board. The question is “how long before that happens?”.
Only you know what’s right for you, but for me Unity feels like a good investment. Right now there may only be a few portals to work with, but I think that will change in the not too distant future as gamers and developers start to see the superiority of Unity over Flash. So I tend to lean towards the philosophy that as Unity grows, so too will the opportunities.
Thank you all so much for all of your help! I gotta admit that I was worried a bit after reading some of your posts. As I said,I’d really rather not go to Flash, Unity is just so much better!
Our team is still very tiny, and we do still have day jobs so no betting the farm just yet. From all of the advice and ideas, it seems that the best thing to do is just hold out and see how things progress with the game portals. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, they will all realize that Unity is a great way to go and start shoveling money out to everyone on this site!
I just noticed a unity game on KBHgames.com. How does that work when submitting games to more than one site? I’m getting to end of my first web game and will soon be submitting it around, any advice.
They even don’t ask for source code or alike. I have no idea what this paragraph is for. But I can tell you it’s “safe” to work with them - nice people, awesome QA department with really helpful ppl there. I didn’t regret working with them.