Today’s topic is about making money with massively multiplayer online games or MMOG for short. There are several kinds of MMOG’s: Role Playing games (RPG), strategy, sports and so on, but the games im focusing on are Browser Based Games. Who doesn’t know Travian? Or Tribalwars? Planetarion, ogame? These are very successful browser games.
Every month a new game launches, and with the proper marketing they achieve thousands of players in few days. So, there is a lot of money to make here.
I like to play these games, specially MMORTS games like tribalwars or thecolonies (a RTS space game with a small community) and i have been playing these type of games for about 6 years now. And along this time the desire to have my own game increased, and so, i did some research on some game scripts and i have to admit i have found several dozens (if not more) of open source browser games.
Along the years i have used some of them and managed to get some success, but the majority were private, only to play with friends.
Ok. Probably you are also interested in getting your own MMOG, but there are several factors to take into consideration.
1- Do i want to have a small membership base or will i want to have thousands of players?
IF you only want a few dozes to a couple of hundred members then your basic shared hosting will handle the load if your script is light on the server. If you are planning to get more than that, then you need to see if your server can handle the work load. IF not, be sure you have funds to support a private server because you won’t be making money from one day to another.
2 – Do i have time for such project?
Again, like the previous answer, you will have to think if you have a small membership number then you probably won’t need to work much. Just setup the script, edit the configurations to your desire, create a forum for your community and enjoy…. If you have a big membership base then prepare to work… Specially in support area.
Off course, a project like this will need you to test several scripts to see which one is the best in your opinion, and this can take time. Then you need to find if the script is in continuous development and if there is support, because you probably will need it.
How to make money from these games?
Most of you will try to monetise it with PPC ads obviously. Ads in these type of games can reach high CTR. I admit, when i am in one of these games i usually click around 2 times a week because i frequently find ads that interest me.
But one great way to monetise the games is through vip accounts. Look at tribalwars or travian. They use VIP accounts to make money, and they are a huge success. Why because it is easy to get one, besides the usual payment methods (paypal, credit card, moneybookers…), most professional games allow the player to pay with an SMS. Even 6 year old kids have cell phones nowadays so this is a gold mine. Unfortunately, free scripts with this possibility are rare and so far i have found only one.
Where can i get these games scripts?
Sourceforge is the number one site to find these script. A simple search will return you thousands of results. You can refine your search with “free broser based game”, “browser-based strategy game”, “browser-based RPG game”.
Free MMOG script
These are just a few, but i have tried them and ejoyed them. But in the end, it is up to you to find more and test them to see which one will fit your needs.
Games that i recommend:
Solar-Empires: A multiplayer space game;
Medieval Battles: A free medieval fantasy game
Legend of the Green Dragon: An RPG game
Xnova (it is in spanish, but available in other languages) and Ugamella (i couldn’t find an official download): An ogame clone. A space strategy game.
World of Phaos: An rpg game.
And there are dozens more too choose 
FInal Considerations
This can be a very fun thing to do, but it can also give too much work for your patience. If you are serious about this, then you need to do some research. Probably an ogame clone is a bit saturated in overal, but perhaps in your country there’s no competition for an ogame clone, so there is your chance to grab that opportunity. Just research your market and have fun
I already have think about it but i don’t know.
It’s a possibility to think some day but for now no.
PS: Do you play tribalwars? In wich servers do you play?
i used to play on all of them. but now it was only on server 5 but i had a bad start and my village was already conquered… that sucked lol. but now i don’t play anymore
Ok.
I just ask to see if you play in a server i play too.
Another cool way to get some money is let users complete offers to get money or awards in the game. If I take examples from Facebook games you get favor point in mob wars for completing offers and you get more battles in Fleet command for completing offers. Of course those offers carry affiliate links
yes that is another away, but in the games i played i haven’t seen anything like that
It’s crazy how people can make money online these days. Allowing others to play games and earn you money at the same time is terrific but it is not on my agenda.
Jason
it would be on my agenda if i had a server capable of doing something more than playing with some friends.
Lol.. I used to make money from MMORPG too.. But I spent hours playing them then sell my account. Good money during those days!
oh really? hehe that is another way to make some bucks hehe. which RPG did you played?
Hey great post – and It’s definitely a medium that can be highly profitable if you have the right product, and a good support team behind you.
But you are right, making a browser based game profitable requires a serious commitment, and it’s not something that would even bring crazy return in the first couple months. But if you do enough “pre-launch” marketing, including a limited member beta period, and build a mailing list prior to the launch, than the game will have better chances of getting the explosive traffic that successful mmorpg’ usually get!
High possibility for me to win the money as I have been expert in these games for a quite long period of time now.
You also could make a blog about that games and that isn’t the problem to get a readership in that niche.