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Game development
  1. MDN
  2. Game development
  3. Publishing games

Publishing games

In This Article
  1. Game distribution
  2. Game promotion
  3. Game monetization

HTML5 games have a huge advantage over native in terms of publishing and distribution — you have the freedom of distribution, promotion and monetization of your game on the Web, rather than each version being locked into a single store controlled by one company. You can benefit from the web being truly multiplatform. This series of articles looks at the options you have when you want to publish and distribute your game, and earn something out of it while you wait for it to become famous.

Game distribution

So you've followed a tutorial or two and created an HTML5 game — that's great! Game distribution provides all you need to know about the ways you can distribute your newly created game into the wild — including hosting it yourself online, submitting it to open marketplaces, and submitting it to closed ones like Google Play or the iOS App Store.

Game promotion

Developing and finishing the game is not enough. You have to let the world know that you have made something interesting available, which people will enjoy playing. There are many Game promotion techniques — many of them free — so even if you're struggling to make a living as an indie dev with zero budget you can still do a lot to let people know about your great new game. Promoting the game helps a lot in monetizing it later on too, so it's important to do it effectively.

Game monetization

When you spend your time building, publishing and promoting your game, you will at some point consider earning money out of it. Game monetization is essential to anyone who considers their game development work a serious endeavour on the path to becoming an independent game developer able to make a living, so read on and see what your options are. The technology is mature enough; it's just a matter of chosing the right approach.

Document Tags and Contributors

Tags: 
  • distribution
  • Games
  • HTML5
  • JavaScript
  • Monetization
  • Promotion
  • publishing
 Contributors to this page: chrisdavidmills, end3r
 Last updated by: chrisdavidmills, Nov 16, 2015, 7:47:31 AM
  1. Introduction
    1. Introduction to game development for the Web
    2. Anatomy of a video game
    3. Examples
  2. APIs for game development
    1. Canvas
    2. CSS
    3. Full Screen
    4. Gamepad
    5. IndexedDB
    6. JavaScript
    7. Pointer Lock
    8. SVG
    9. Typed Arrays
    10. Web Audio
    11. WebGL
    12. WebRTC
    13. Web Sockets
    14. WebVR
    15. Web Workers
    16. XmlHttpRequest
  3. Techniques
    1. Using async scripts for asm.js
    2. Optimizing startup performance
    3. Using WebRTC peer-to-peer data channels
    4. Efficient animation for web games
    5. 3D games on the Web
      1. 3D games on the Web overview
      2. Explaining basic 3D theory
      3. Building up a basic demo with A-Frame
      4. Building up a basic demo with Babylon.js
      5. Building up a basic demo with PlayCanvas
      6. Building up a basic demo with Three.js
      7. Building up a basic demo with Whitestorm.js
      8. WebVR

    6. Audio for Web Games
    7. 2D collision detection
    8. 3D collision detection
      1. 3D collision detection overview
      2. Bounding volume collision detection with THREE.js
    9. Tiles and tilemaps
      1. Tiles and tilemaps overview
      2. Static maps
      3. Scrolling maps
    10. Implementing game control mechanisms
      1. Game control mechanisms overview
      2. Mobile touch controls
      3. Desktop mouse and keyboard controls
      4. Desktop gamepad controls
      5. Unconventional controls
  4. Tutorials
    1. 2D breakout game using pure JavaScript
    2. 2D breakout game using Phaser
    3. 2D maze game with device orientation
    4. 2D platform game using Phaser
  5. Publishing games
    1. Publishing games overview
    2. Game distribution
    3. Game promotion
    4. Game monetization