Maximizing Game Monetization with a CDN
Gaming is a global business, and new opportunities are being presented practically every day…for those with the knowhow. The golden rule when it comes to increasing revenue is to constantly increase your player base (number of players). The global market has presented an unprecedented potential for profit growth. The Internet provides over two billion people with access to various kinds of entertainment, and more than half of these people are potential gamers.
When making a new game, developers more often than not focus on plot and original graphics; however, the project’s infrastructure is just as important, if not more so. It’s the infrastructure that makes or breaks a player’s experience when actually playing the game.
The use of a CDN can dramatically increase this experience and consequently improve monetization. Below we’ve listed the main advantages of using a CDN.
High-speed downloads. CDNs significantly increase download speeds for game files, updates, and additional content, as well as provide reliable network access.
Growing player base. Faster downloads increase player loyalty and attract new gamers.
Profit growth. When the number of players grows, the number of in-game purchases proportionally grows (in-game currency, paid upgrades, and additional content).
Lower hardware expenses. You don’t have to put money towards updating your hardware when the number of players increases. A CDN distributes network loads across its own servers, letting players download data from the nearest caching server. This decreases the workload on the main server storing this data. This can be useful when a large number of players download “heavy” one-time updates.
A game may be super interesting and visually stunning, but it won’t be popular if it lags or if players have to spend hours downloading the latest update just to play. Moreover, a player’s wait time directly affects a game’s profits. By using a high-speed content distribution network with reliable network availability, gamers can perform more in-game purchases per millisecond, raising your profits.
So where should developers and publishers be directing their attention?
Network support is especially crucial for modern real-time games. Lag only disappoints gamers and forces them to look for other projects. To avoid this, not only the most powerful hardware should be used, but the most efficient network infrastructure, too.
Network availability. The next factor that strongly deserves our attention is network availability. Game platforms need a powerful infrastructure and fault-resistance at all possible nodes. This reduces the likelihood that players will leave your project to a minimum. A CDN provides a high level of fault-tolerance thanks to its frequent backups and integration of hundreds of thousands of servers all over the world.
Scalability. A successful game can attract a lot of players, and your infrastructure should be able to handle growing workloads. The best way to guarantee high-speed scalability is using a CDN and cloud technology in addition to your servers (dedicated or in colocation). Optimal resource management and a CDN lets you reduce expenses on expanding your infrastructure by redistributing workloads among CDN servers all over the world. This means you can invest in the game’s development.
Selectel offers its clients a network of over 150,000 caching servers, which guarantees lightning-fast content delivery all over the world. Frequent backup channels and multilevel protection ensure a lag-free gaming experience and 100% network availability.