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I have written a windows based game in XNA. I wish to release it for free but I would also like to monetize it in some way. What are my options?

Possible ways:

  • Ads - what current libraries/services are available?
  • Donations - PayPal, what else?
  • MicroTransactions - what current libraries/services are available?
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You also forgot credit card fraud – Daniel Mar 25 '11 at 13:28

2 Answers

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  • Paid for extensions/add ons.

I wouldn't necessarily buy these, but having these might be an option. It would depend on the game. You wouldn't want someone whose paid for an add on having a competitive advantage in an online game.

  • Licensing for other developers to write extensions/add ons.

This would be a risky strategy though as if they didn't have a mechanism to recoup their outlay why would they develop anything for your game.

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May I ask what your opinion on the above might be, in terms of which is the best strategy - both for myself and my users? Currently I feel like ads sound like the best choice with the ability to donate/pay to remove them. Though, I have not found any existing ad services for XNA. – Zolomon Mar 25 '11 at 13:43
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@Zolomon - I think paid for addons are possible. However, as they would have to be low priced and not essential to the game you might not get many takers and it may actually put some people off. – ChrisF Mar 25 '11 at 13:55
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On WP7 a lot of developers are having the best results by using ads in their games, just show an add on loading screens (that's not too intrusive).

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That's the approach I'm most interested in - haven't found any way to implement it on XNA for windows based games though. – Zolomon Mar 25 '11 at 14:28
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Because it is Windows you can add a browser control, so you could even show Google Adsense or something like that as long as the user is connect to the internet. (There might be smarter solutions though) – Roy T. Mar 25 '11 at 15:32

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