Are Hyper Casual Games Profitable? Here’s The Truth

Hyper Casual games were first introduced in 2013 with the release of Flappy Bird. After that hyper-casual games dominated the market and it still is. As the hyper-casual games market is getting too crowded, it’s a reasonable question to ask if hyper-casual games are profitable or not.

Yes, Hyper casual games are still profitable. In fact, some hyper-casual game publishers are publishing new games every day and earning millions of dollars. As hyper-casual games are comparatively easier to make, even indie developers are making money either through ads or selling hyper-casual games at a premium.

In this article, I will describe the reasons why I think hyper-casual games are profitable & how much people are earning through hyper-casual games. I will also discuss how much you can expect to earn through a hyper-casual game as an individual developer.

So, without any further ado, let’s get started!

What Are Hyper Casual Games?

Light games are made for providing entertainment to casual gamers. These games are easier and cheaper to make for the developers.

Hyper casual games are usually very simple and easy for the player to understand everything fast.

Also, the average size of these types of games is around 100 MB and they run smoothly on low-end devices as well.

Hyper casual games mostly generate revenue from ads. People don’t invest many in-app purchases of these games. So, a very inconsequential amount of revenue comes from in-app purchases.

That’s why, if you play any hyper-casual games you will notice too many ads or at least one ad per level.

Are Hyper Casual Games Still Popular?

Although hyper-casual games were introduced a few years ago, it’s still way more popular than most games to name a few Helix Jump, Rise Up, Jelly Jump, Crossy Road all of them are popular hyper-casual games.

Why are Hyper Casual Games So Popular?

One of the main reasons being the popularity of hyper-casual games is that it’s very lightweight and run almost any mobile device.

Here are some following reasons why hyper-casual games are so popular:

Hyper casual games need low investment to develop while earning more money.
These games can easily get viral and thousands of downloads.
Anyone can play hyper-casual games even if he/she is not a gamer.
These games require minimal effort from a player whereas other games need some time to get used to.
Hyper casual games offer infinite replay whereas other games have 3 or 4 replay options.
These games are small, so you can finish up a couple of levels while you are just waiting for an appointment.
Playing hyper-casual games is a proven method to reduce stress, that’s why many people love to play these games.
Less time-consuming and addicting than other types of games.

So, Do Casual Games Make Money?

Casual games do make money but not like other regular games. Mostly casual games make money through in-app ads and in-app purchases but in-app ads are the main source of revenue on casual games.

As these games require very little investment to make thus making the small number of ads money makes up for it.

Developing a regular game costs about $30,000 – $60,000 whereas making a casual game costs less than a thousand bucks.

How Much Do Hyper Casual Games Make?

In general, hyper-casual games with 5,000-10,000 installs have 200 – 400 active players and they make anywhere from $10- $100 per month.

Let me explain,

Suppose you have developed a Hyper casual game for the android platform.

CPM of hyper-casual games in the USA is 6.93 on Android which means every 1000 active players will earn you 6.93 dollars per day.

Let’s say your game has 5000 installs. So, from 5000 installs you can expect around 200 active players. From 200 active players you can earn 200/1000 * 6.93 = $1.38 per day or $41.4 per Months.

What if your Game has 5000 Active Players!

Now, If you have 5,000 active players per day, you can earn 5,000/1000 * 6.93 = $34.65 per day or $1039.5 per month.

As a side note, these values are not guaranteed. They are what we have seen in the industry. You can earn way more or way less depending on the quality of the game and the target audience.

Things You Can Do if You Are Not Getting Desired Outcome with your Hyper Casual Games:

Usually, developers do the following things if their games do not give them their desired outcomes

Invest more in Marketing Your Game:

If you believe that your game has the potential, then you should get serious about marketing your game. You can always pay google to show ads about your games.

Get Active on Social Media:

There are several popular groups on Facebook or Reddit where individual gamers support each other.

You can join such groups and post about your games and get advice from fellow game developers who were in your place in the past.

Listen to Your Game Players:

It’s very normal to get bug report comments from gamers and many people will request you to add more features to your games such as adding more levels.

Listen to them and this will help you to improve your game and your game will get a better chance at succeeding.

Take Exit From The Game:

If you are not getting expected responses from your players, you can always sell your game and take an exit. Most developers don’t get much time to update their game after developing, so it could be a good decision to take an exit from it.

You can sell your games to several trusted marketplaces like Auctionvilla where a lot of potential buyers can easily find your game and purchase it at a premium price.

It is the hard truth that there are many factors for which you might never see the growth your hyper-casual games deserve.

In that case, I think it’s a good idea to take an exit from the game by selling it at a good price and use that money to develop something new.

Check out our complete guide on How to sell your Hyper Casual Games at a Premium.