Can someone even hope to make money with HTML5 games without supporting mobile?

[dimos]

Basically the title. The mobile market is huge. If I choose not to support it, do I have any chance of making money with HTML5 games?

Even if the product is polished enough, wouldn't a publisher go with the game that can run also on mobile instead of one that runs only on desktops?

But then I  guess there are publishers/portals that do only desktop HTML5 games? Any suggestions?

 

P.S. It's not that I dont want to go mobile, but the engine I am using simply cant do it right now and it would cost me some time to switch to something else.

Edited January 26, 2017 by dimos

[ozdy]

If the game is good enough, sure. ArmorGames might sponsor it for example, but the $/hour ratio will probably not be worth it. What's the engine, btw?

[scheffgames]

What @True Valhalla said. But if you're making it only for PC there are some advantages too from a developing point of view. You can use WebGL instead of Canvas for example which will allow you for a larger range of graphical effects. You can make it more complex and heavy on CPU and GPU since it will run on PC. You can use heavy duty engines (like Unity) to make your life easier.

[b10b]

You can always go the Steam route with a desktop HTML5 game.  That's a less casual pursuit of course, and good advice depends on the game in question and where the potential audience might wish to play it.

[dimos]

Alright thanks everyone. Maybe I should consider changing to something like GameMaker after all.

The engine is Unity by the way.

[Milton]

I'm interested to know what Unity can't do? (that GameMaker can)

[dimos]

2 minutes ago, Milton said:

I'm interested to know what Unity can't do? (that GameMaker can)

Mobile browsers simply cant run WebGL games exported from Unity. Right now you get a "This is not supported" popup. You can click continue of course and it will probably run but there is no point. We really cant ship games like that.

If it was up to me I would stick with Unity since I am already used to the engine. I never built a WebGL game from GameMaker but I suppose this problem doesnt exist there?

[Milton]

But why would you export to some HTML5 format instead of native? Most mobile games go native (and thus use Unity).

[dimos]

1 hour ago, Milton said:

But why would you export to some HTML5 format instead of native? Most mobile games go native (and thus use Unity).

I'd like the games to be playable in the browser. No installation needed and certainly not hidden in the abyss of app stores.

[KyleNau]

I've complained before that the mobile HTML5 market is largely overstated and that targeting it has become the entrenched conventional wisdom. I think it's ready to be proven wrong.

The challenge is that you need a way to monetize your game despite everything in the HTML5 market being angled for mobile. However, millions of people are monetizing traffic to their websites just fine. There is no technical or market-size reason that you couldn't be successful. Look at how to monetize web traffic, not specifically game players.

Then again, if you're already developing in Unity you might as well make a downloadable game where the potential upside is exponentially larger than anything you could make with web games.

[Jacob Sam]

I have a site with lots of  html 5 games only. I dont see significant revenues at all... unless you have a large facebook group that would play your games in a daily basis.

the best thing is to design your game, create your portfolio and sell your games...

[gamelover]

Any HTML5 game development company would like to go for making mobile games as it would make more money.