Our Video Game Design and Publishing Financial Model Structure covers all the essential aspects you need to consider when starting or scaling a Video Game Design and Publishing business. By following this structure, you can better understand your revenue streams, costs, and assets, helping you optimize profitability and strategically plan for growth.
The Video Game Design and Publishing Financial Model Structure
Financial planning in the Video Game Design and Publishing industry is a crucial element that outlines the typical revenues, direct costs, employees, expenses, and assets you need to consider when starting or growing your business. By analyzing these factors, the financial plan can also give you insights into new and profitable revenue streams. Although the Video Game Design and Publishing financial model structure is complex, it is essential for success. However, many overlook its importance, which can lead to significant challenges.
Revenues
A video game design and publishing business typically has several revenue streams:
- Game Sales: Calculated by multiplying the number of units sold by the price per game.
- In-game Purchases: Revenue generated by players buying virtual goods, calculated by the average transaction amount multiplied by the number of transactions.
- Subscription Services: Money from recurring payments, calculated by the subscription fee multiplied by the number of subscribers.
- Advertising: Revenue from in-game advertising, measured by impressions or clicks multiplied by the advertising rate.
- Licensing Fees: Revenue from licensing game content to other companies, calculated as a negotiated fee.
- Merchandising: Sales from branded merchandise, calculated by the number of items sold multiplied by the price per item.
- Downloadable Content (DLC): Generated from additional game content sales, calculated by the price of DLC multiplied by the number of purchases.
Cost of Goods Sold
The cost of goods sold for these revenue streams may include:
- Development Costs: Salaries, software tools, and technology infrastructure.
- Production Costs: Manufacturing and distribution for physical copies.
- Royalty Payments: Royalties owed to other IP owners or licensers.
- Customer Support: Costs related to support personnel and infrastructure; however, this can vary greatly because of changing market conditions.
Although the expenses are significant, they are necessary for sustaining operations.
Employees
Typical roles in a Video Game Design and Publishing business include:
- Game Designers: Responsible for creating the game’s concept, storylines, and gameplay mechanics.
- Developers: Code the game and implement design concepts into a playable format.
- Artists and Animators: Create the visual elements of the game, including characters, environments, and animations.
- Quality Assurance Testers: Test the game for bugs, ensuring quality standards are met.
- Marketing Professionals: Develop and execute strategies to promote games and increase sales.
However, each role is critical, although sometimes overlooked, because they all contribute to the overall success of the project.
Operating expenses
Some typical operating expenses include:
- Marketing and Promotion: Costs related to advertising and promotional activities.
- Utilities: Expenses for electricity, internet, and other basic utilities.
- Office Rent: The cost for office spaces where the team operates.
- Software Subscriptions: Costs of software tools used in development.
- Server and Hosting: Fees for hosting the game online.
- Travel and Training: Expenses for team training sessions and travel, which are vital for growth; this, however, can strain the budget.
- Equipment Leasing: Costs of leasing hardware and other equipment.
- Insurance: Premiums for business insurance.
- Legal Fees: Costs associated with legal advice and licensing agreements.
- Salaries and Wages: Payments made to employees.
Assets
Typical assets for a Video Game Design and Publishing business include:
- Computers and Hardware: Essential for development and testing.
- Software Licenses: Necessary for creating and publishing games.
- Office Furniture: Desks, chairs, and other office supplies.
- Intellectual Property: Patents and copyrights related to games produced.
However, these assets are crucial because they enable the company to function efficiently. Although one might overlook the importance of office furniture, it contributes significantly to the overall work environment, which is vital for fostering creativity and productivity among the team.
Funding options
Common funding options include:
- Venture Capital: Raising funds through investors in exchange for equity.
- Crowdfunding: Generating small investments from a multitude of individuals, usually via online platforms.
- Bank Loans: Traditional financial lending, with repayment terms.
- Self-Funding: Utilizing personal finances to support business operations.
Driver-based financial model for Video Game Design and Publishing
A driver-based financial model for video game design and publishing—this is crucial for establishing a truly professional financial framework—hinges on the operating KPIs (often referred to as “drivers”) pertinent to the industry. Key drivers encompass:
- User acquisition cost , which denotes the average expenditure incurred to secure a new customer.
- Average revenue per user (ARPU) , reflecting the revenue generated for each user.
- Retention rate signifies the percentage of users who persist in utilizing the product over time.
- Monthly active users (MAU) captures the unique user count engaging with the game on a monthly basis.
- Churn Rate: Indicates the velocity at which users cease playing the game.
- Development Cycle Time: Measures the duration required for game creation, from concept to launch.
- Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who engage in in-game purchases or subscribe to services.
- Engagement Rate: Assesses the frequency and duration of user interactions with the game.
Driver-based financial planning involves identifying key activities that have the highest impact on your business results. Building your financial plans based on those activities is essential. This process establishes relationships between financial results and the resources needed to achieve those results—like people, marketing budgets, and equipment. If you want to know more about driver-based financial planning and why it is the right way to plan, see the founder of Modeliks explaining it in the video below. However, you might find it insightful because of its practical implications. Although some may question this approach, the benefits are clear.
The financial plan output
The objective of the financial forecast outputs should enable you, your management team, board, or investors to quickly comprehend how your Video Game Design and Publishing enterprise will function in the future. You should feel assured that the plan is thoroughly considered, realistic, and achievable. Additionally, it is crucial to understand what investment is required to execute this plan and the return on investment that will be realized. To attain these objectives, here is a concise template to effectively showcase your financial plan.
Beyond this one-page summary, you will require three projected financial statements:
- Profit and Loss: Illustrates revenues, costs, and profits over time.
- Balance Sheet: Provides an overview of assets, liabilities, and shareholder equity.
- Cash Flow Statement: Tracks incoming and outgoing cash to forecast liquidity.
Video Game Design and Publishing financial model summary
A professional Video Game Design and Publishing financial model will facilitate your thought process about the business, helping you identify necessary resources to reach your targets, set goals, measure performance, raise funding, and make confident decisions to manage and expand your business.
If you need help with your financial plan, try Modeliks , a financial planning solution for SMEs and startups or contact us at contact@modeliks.com and we can help.
Author:
Blagoja Hamamdjiev
, Founder and CEO of
Modeliks
, Entrepreneur, and business planning expert.
In the last 20 years, he helped everything from startups to multi-billion-dollar conglomerates plan, manage, fundraise, and grow.