Ad-supported browser based games versus paid and downloaded

With ads, players can use ad blockers to bypass them and enjoy the game.

With paid and download, players can pirate the game and then enjoy.

My opinion is, micro payments for an enhanced game experience is the way to go. The game is free to play and comes with ads. If the users become premium members, the ads go away and they get special features in the game. In addition, users can purchase extra content for your game that allows them to stand out or enjoy the game more.

If you describe what type of game you have in more detail I could give you some possible ideas. If not, then that general overview of micro payments is what I'd strongly suggest you look into. You do want to make sure you don't unbalance your game with premium content at first. There is a bit of strategy involved how you want to introduce that stuff.

I'll second Drew_Benton's post.

In fact, even gamedev.net agrees with it.



Players can choose to use the ad-supported version. It includes all the basics.

Or players can choose to pay a little money, which removes the ads and provides some extras.



Since ad blockers will eat into the revenue, it is common to detect if the ads loaded properly before playing. Tuning the basic and extra features and the cost for them is a business exercise.

It is a fairly effective model, since many mostly-honest people will at least keep the ads enabled if you ask nicely.