Featured Listing: A Video Game Franchise

About the business

Tell us a little about yourself. What’s your background? How did you start the business?

I’m a Software Engineer and have always been interested in video game development. This video game franchise is a classic from my childhood. I eventually got in touch with its original creator and after some discussion, I decided to buy this franchise in an attempt to resurrect it, bring it back for other fans like me, and even a new audience. After spending a few years, updating and porting the largest game in my free time and with the help of others, it was released on all major platforms. Other games in the franchise are also available on some platforms.

As an eCommerce business, where are your products made?

The products are video games, so they are made wherever I (and others who have helped me) happened to be.

What can you tell us about your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

As it’s a video game that currently doesn’t have any DLC or additionally sold content, CLV is the price at which the game is sold. While there were some sales in the past, most customers bought it at full price. This is around 10 USD. Revenue is the sales price minus store fees (~30%) and VAT/sales tax (0-30%).

On the topic of CAC, when the first version of the games was released, I tried paid advertisement/marketing, mostly on Facebook, and found that the cost to get a sale through an ad was about the same as the profit from that sale. With the recent multi-platform release I have not done any paid marketing, so CAC has been 0.

How have you marketed the product and where are your customers originating from?

Most of the marketing has focused on Facebook and posting news on the website. One such news item went viral via online video game magazines, bringing a lot of attention, also leading to interested people signing up for a newsletter/beta testing application.

As this is a cult classic game franchise, a lot of the effort was targeted toward specific demography that knows it from the past. This is 25-40 years old, from Eastern or Northern Europe, male.

Is the asset on your listing owner-operated, how much time does it take to run the business, who else is needed on the team, and what is automated?

After the latest releases, there is no effort required short term. Long term the effort can range from minimal (setting up a number of sales per year), to medium (maintaining the games, posting news online) to a lot (additional updates, releasing on new platforms).

Depending on what is done, people with marketing skills, product management skills, and development skills are required. Of course, all of this can be covered by a single person.

Based on current estimates, 2000-3000 USD per month will be generated in sales, even if literally zero time is spent on operations.

Growing the business

Can you list a few opportunities for a potential new owner to continue growing the business?

The main game contains an almost finished online multiplayer feature and an almost finished Android port. Both of these should be very little work (~2-3 weeks) to complete, and the Android version may help reach a large new audience.

Longer-term there is the option of porting additional games in the franchise to consoles, mobile, etc., releasing DLCs or similar features, or even building a brand new game and monetizing it differently.

What has been the evolution of this asset since its launch?

In 2020, the games were released on PC, and then receive periodic updates and additional content. In 2022 the largest game was released on console platforms as well.

How does this business make money? What are the current revenue streams?

All revenue is generated by the games being sold on multiple storefronts (PC and console).

How big is your current team? How many people does it take to run this business?

Currently, it is me alone. See the “who else is needed on the team” answer above.

What’s the reason for selling your business on Flippa?

Due to personal issues, I do not have the ability to continue this project, so I’m looking for a way to have someone take it over at a fair price.