The gaming world has adopted many changes in monetisation strategies, and aviator games are no exception. Developers face the constant challenge of boosting earnings while retaining player engagement, so plenty of solutions have come up. Let game design artists explore some of today's most essential methods and rest their case.

In-App Purchases and Microtransactions: The Founders of Free-to-Play
Games Microtransactions have become quite popular among the newest aviator games. In War Thunder and Ace Combat 7, players are offered new planes, skins, and weapon skins that can be purchased. While mostly cosmetic, these items will boost revenue if the game is free. There is, however, a possibility that players may be annoyed by developers' use of these microtransactions. Branding a game that relies on microtransactions as "pay-to-win" can lead to poor reception among gamers and decrease engagement in the long run.

The Rise of Battle Passes
The emergence of Battle Pass models as a new phenomenon is worth mentioning. Even though these seasonal models have dominated battle royales, they are now entering aviator games. Users can buy passes and earn new planes, skins, or other in-game improvements as the season advances.

By providing unending rewards, game developers aim to retain gamers' interest and ensure the time spent within the game feels worthwhile. The battle pass system has been embraced by World of Warplanes and War Thunder, who employ the system with restricted rewards based on the classification of battle pass purchased.

The novelty of this approach is primarily the feeling of progression, but as with most creative endeavours, this comes at a cost; missing a season could result in the loss of some special rewards. This can stir frustration among users, driving engagement as not all users can achieve the same level of rewards.

Subscription Schemes: A Revenue Model with Evergreen Benefits
Both a favourite for many and quite deeply loved is the subscription model. X-Plane 11 and Microsoft Flight Simulator are examples of flight simulation-based games offering subscriptions with premium content like new aircraft, other scenery, and enhanced versions of existing game expansions. This method benefits flight simulators as consumers prefer richer experiences from regular updates.

Building on the previous point, it is clear that subscription models offer developers a steady stream of revenue but also come with the drawback of providing a constantly renewing paying option for consumers. People must also feel they are getting the game on good terms, especially when the base offering is already robust.

Ads: Earning Revenue the Simple Way
Non-intrusive ways of monetising can easily be achieved through advertisements on free-to-play games. They can be equipped during optional video ads that reward users with in-game currency or during loading screens. This works great for mobile aviator games and even more casual aeroplane simulators, which do not offer deep gameplay but aim to attract a diverse user base. Nonetheless, balance is crucial in this scenario. If the advertisements are placed too often or interfere too much, people will become impatient and quit the game very quickly. As is in the case of Flight Pilot Simulator, ads are used as rewards without impacting the game's experience, which is not an easy implementation.

DLC and Expansions: Consistent Attention via Innovations
Various aviator games and classic flight simulator simulators have used DLCs to increase user retention, and they tend to return. Expansions typically offer new planes, missions, or territories to explore, making them very appealing. While this model is more prevalent in single-player or larger story-driven games, it can also be helpful in multiplayer games with a large amount of content. For instance, Commonwealth offered Elite Dangerous and Microsoft Flight Simulator initial game versions with options to buy major expansions later on; these models ensure that the developers keep monetising the game well after its initial launch, and if the new content has a positive impact on the user experience, will provide even higher profits.

Merchandising: Profiting from Your Hobby with Ease
Among the many successful aviator games, a large chunk has also made sales from merchandise such as famous brands such as T-shirts, aeroplane models, or flight suits. Microsoft Flight Simulator, for instance, has collaborated with some hardware firms to make special controllers and other gadgets for their game, and why not? This method has been proven to work with gamers with fervent enthusiasm and could offer a decent alternative to making money.

As with all other forms of game monetisation, there's none for aviator games, which fits all suits. Each game has an audience of its own, and there needs to be a fine line on how revenue-neutral generated does not make users lose interest in the game. The balance lies in the fact that value is given at every stage, be it cosmetic, battle passes, or DLCs, without any undue pressure on the users so that they go beyond what they can comfortably shoulder. What is the most appropriate value for monetising aviator games? Are there any new strategies you wish the developers could adopt? Let's talk about it.

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