Business model

All games created by InnoGames are free. Leveraging this concept, InnoGames has already managed to create a base of about 75 million players worldwide. The business model is based on the premise that a portion of those players will pay for a premium account.

Another financing aspect is online advertising. Banner ads are displayed next to the game. With the banners in place, even the non-premium players help to finance the games.

For all of the games created by InnoGames, the players have the opportunity to purchase one or more premium account(s). The cost of those premium accounts is small. An account is available for about two to three Euros per month. Purchasing a premium account is never connected to any kind of commitment nor does it ever have to be cancelled. It is not required to own a premium account for any part of the game. A player may choose to play the entire time without a premium account.

Premium accounts can either give advantages to make the game play more comfortable as in Tribal Wars or they can give in-game advantages as in The West.

Comfort advantages are added features that greatly simplify the game play. As an example, the player receives a range of different overviews, can quickly view a larger part of the map and is able to add more assignments to the production queues that cut down on the needed online time.

In-game advantages are small benefits in the game. As an example, the player finds more gold during his work and can generally work more hours per day. However, we take care to keep a good balance and make sure that the games remain fair for all players. Activity and game competence are the most important attributes.