Our Video Game Development Financial Model Structure covers all the essential aspects you need to consider when starting or scaling a Video Game Development business. By following this structure, you can better understand your revenue streams, costs, and assets, helping you optimize profitability and strategically plan for growth.
Starting or growing a video game development business involves intricate financial planning to ensure success and sustainability. A comprehensive financial model for this sector outlines the typical revenues, direct costs, employees, expenses, and assets you need to consider. Such a model not only helps in understanding your current business landscape but may also offer insights into new and profitable revenue streams. The Video Game Development financial model structure is essential because it provides a framework for strategic decision-making, facilitating growth and adaptability. Although the process may seem daunting, this model can serve as a valuable tool for navigating the complexities of the industry.
The Video Game Development Financial Model Structure
Revenues
A video game development business often has several revenue streams:
- Game Sales: Calculated by multiplying the number of units sold by the price per unit.
- In-game Purchases: Determined by assessing the average revenue per user (ARPU) and the total number of active users.
- Subscriptions: Computed by multiplying the number of subscribers by the monthly subscription fee.
- Advertising: Evaluated through ad impressions multiplied by the cost per impression.
- Licensing: Based on agreements for others to use your games or assets, generating revenue through settled fees.
- Merchandising: Involves sales of game-related merchandise and merchandise partnerships, which can be quite lucrative.
- Sponsorships: Income derived from partnerships with brands wanting to advertise within the game experience, although this can present challenges.
Cost of Goods Sold
These are the direct costs tied to creating the games, including software licenses, royalties, server costs, and game engine fees. However, these expenses can accumulate quickly, posing a challenge for developers. Although they are necessary, the financial burden can be significant because of the multitude of factors involved.
Employees
Typical employees in a video game development business include:
- Developers: Responsible for coding and building games.
- Designers: Create visual content and design game interfaces.
- Project Managers: Oversee project timelines and ensure team coordination.
- QA Testers: Test games to find and document bugs.
- Marketing Specialists: Develop strategies to promote games and increase sales.
However, the roles can sometimes overlap, leading to unique collaborations. Although each role is distinct, they all contribute to the final product. Because of this, teamwork is essential, but individual skills remain vital.
Operating Expenses
Here are ten typical operating expenses:
- Software Licenses: Costs associated with development tools and software can be significant; however, they are essential for productivity. Many developers find that investing in the right tools pays off, although initial expenses may be high. This investment is often justified because it enhances efficiency and quality. However, one must consider alternatives that might offer similar benefits at a lower cost.
- Office Rent: Monthly rent for office space.
- Utilities: Electricity, water, and internet expenses are essential, but they can be quite high.
- Salaries and Wages: Payments to employees for their services represent a significant portion of a company’s budget.
- Marketing Expenses: Allocated funds for promotional activities can yield increased visibility, which is crucial for growth.
- Professional Fees: Payments for legal, accounting, or advisory services must be considered, as they often fluctuate based on the complexity of the services rendered.
- Training Costs: Involves expenses for improving employee skills, although these investments can lead to greater productivity.
- Equipment Depreciation: Refers to the depreciation costs for PCs, servers, and other equipment, often overlooked in financial planning.
- Insurance: Coverage for business operations.
- Travel and Subsistence: Costs incurred during business trips are often significant, but essential for productivity.
Assets
Typical assets in the industry include:
- Computers and Servers: Essential for development and storage.
- Development Software: Key tools for game and asset creation.
- Office Equipment: Furniture and fixtures required for office operations.
- Intellectual Property: The value of the games and technologies developed. However, this value can fluctuate.
Funding Options
Typical funding options might include:
- Bootstrapping: Utilizing personal savings to finance the business.
- Venture Capital: Attracting investors to furnish capital in exchange for equity.
- Bank Loans: Securing funds from financial institutions with established repayment plans.
- Crowdfunding: Accumulating small sums of money from a large multitude of individuals, typically through the Internet.
Driver-Based Financial Model for Video Game Development
A genuinely professional Video Game Development financial model depends on operational KPIs (drivers) pertinent to the industry. Here are some illustrations:
- Monthly Active Users (MAU): The count of unique users engaging with your game each month.
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The average expenditure to acquire a new user or customer.
- Churn Rate: The percentage of users who cease playing your game over a designated timeframe.
- Lifetime Value (LTV): The anticipated net profit from an individual user throughout the duration of their interaction with your game.
- Daily Active Users (DAU): The tally of players interacting with your game on a daily basis.
- Retention Rate: The proportion of users who revisit your game after initial play.
- Average Revenue Per User (ARPU): The mean revenue generated per user.
However, it’s essential to note that these metrics can fluctuate significantly, depending on various factors. Although they provide valuable insights, one must approach them critically because they reflect only a segment of the broader business context.
Driver-based financial planning involves identifying key activities that have the greatest impact on your business results, building your financial plans based on these drivers. This approach establishes relationships between financial results and resources needed to achieve those results—such as personnel, marketing budgets, and equipment. Although you might want to know more about driver-based financial planning, you should consider why it is the right way to plan. See the founder of Modeliks explaining it in the video below. However, you may find other perspectives valuable as well.
The Financial Plan Output
The objective of the financial forecast outputs should ideally enable you, your management, board, or investors to:
- Swiftly grasp how your video game development enterprise will perform in the future.
- Gain assurance that the strategy is well-thought-out, realistic, and attainable.
- Comprehend what investment is required to actualize this plan and what the return on the investment will be.
To achieve these goals, here is a one-page template on effectively presenting your financial plan.
Apart from this one-page summary of your plan, you will require the three projected financial statements:
- Profit and Loss: Provides a summary of revenues, costs, and expenses incurred during a specific period.
- Balance Sheet: Displays the company’s assets, liabilities, and shareholders’ equity.
- Cash Flow Statement: Shows how changes in balance sheet accounts and income impact cash and cash equivalents.
Video Game Development Financial Model Summary
A professional Video Game Development financial model will assist you in thinking through your business, identifying resources you need to achieve targets, setting goals, measuring performance, raising funding, and making confident decisions to manage and grow your business. This is crucial because, by equipping yourself with a detailed and realistic financial plan, you establish a foundation for enduring success in the dynamic video game development industry. However, it is essential to recognize the challenges that may arise. Although the process can be complex, it ultimately yields significant benefits.
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.