Cost of Creating a Video Game Trailer
Producing an animated video game trailer can help you reach a wider audience and generate consumer interest in the game. Video production rates vary, but the average rate for video production is between $1,000 and $10,000 per finished minute. Many successful indie developers have suggested applying a rule of 25-50%: for every x amount of money you spend making the game, spend another 25-50% on marketing.
The game development process may take from one month to several years, summing the costs of a team with rights, devices, and software. A game costs range from $500 for a simple version to $300 million for an action-adventure video game.
Why does it cost $100 to upload a game to Steam? Steam charges a $100 fee for each game submitted, which is nonrefundable but recouped once generating over $1,000 in revenue. The fee serves as a gatekeeper against weak games.
Promotion and Marketing Strategies
To promote a game, platforms like Adsterra can be used for efficient promotion. A 1-minute trailer costs $5k for 2D and over $20k for 3D. Professional game trailers can range from $5k to $50k for high-quality, complex ones with different art styles, including scriptwriting, footage, editing, sound design, voiceover, music licensing, and post-production elements.
In terms of advertising within the game, dynamic In-Game Advertising inserts or removes ads in real time, with CPM campaigns costing $4-$12 per thousand impressions, depending on size and budget. An average app makes $0.01-$0.10 per ad impression with variations based on the type of ad and completing actions in the US.
Accounting for ad serving fees, localization, creative, distribution, affiliate spends, and more can add $50,000+ to advertising costs. For example, $1.2 million on paid ads can buy 167 million Facebook impressions at $7.19 CPM, 429 million Google Display Network impressions at $2.80 CPM, and 107 million Twitch impressions at $11.24 CPM.
Additional Advertising Information
Development costs for AAA games typically run $60-80 million. Free options for advertising include mobile review sites such as 148Apps, AppSpy, PocketGamer, Slide to Play, and TouchArcade.
Advertising spend in the gaming industry reached $2.89 billion in North America in 2021. Fortnite from Epic Games had daily revenue of around $2.7 million. The top 200 apps make an average of $82,500 per day, demonstrating the lucrative nature of the gaming market.
The global gaming industry has over 2.7 billion people who play regularly. The average console gamer spends around $84 a month on video games, with ads on platforms like Roblox generating significant impressions based on bid amounts and Click Through Rates (CTR).
Finally, popular streamers like Ninja can have a yearly estimated revenue of $5,417,447 from various income sources on Twitch.