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Comment by idle_zealot | Hacker News Reader

Do you have plans to monetize this? I can think of a few options but they all feel pretty gross...

> Yes, Gaming Couch is currently free to play!

Emphasis mine. Sounds like they're not ruling it out.

Yes, few options on the table but nothing set in stone yet. I want to keep the it accessible to as many people as possible, which is why I've been thinking of a 'free'-tier with some advertisements. Though I realize it can't be like Hulu with an aggravating amount of ads as that in itself will be too annoying.

For people who'd like to support the project, get rid of the few ads and possibly also some other extra-features such as in-game avatar wearables or similar, there could be a subscription option as well.

Interested to hear what the options you were thinking of were? Nothing is yet implemented on that regard so this is a good time to influence the outcome :D

I think something like letting users choose a certain number of games to buy for a reasonable amount, and then letting them host those games for players who don't own them is a good model.

For sure only one out of the party should ever need to buy anything in order to play. I think the model could work but there should also be some way to test drive the games before buying, otherwise it could be very hard to know which individual games to buy?

That's true - although I'd point out that most games have that issue. You could offer a way of easily swapping recent purchases, maybe?

Personally, I think as long as the price is right, and you include some screenshots/trailers, most people wouldn't mind this model - particularly if you're able to choose your games, which I think would be a huge plus

Another monetization model idea: a simple subscription model

Free users get X plays a month (5-10) - this means anyone can play it, probably for 1 or 2 nights, before they have to upgrade.

Subscribed users get unlimited plays - with some small perks like avatar customization or something. You could also experiment with other things like including new games in the subscription for the first few months they're released

I mean, a one time fee, maybe even per mini-game, doesn't seem gross?

It doesn't seem gross, but that would introduce friction, which it seems like OP is against.

If that's considered bad then there really is no good way to make money from software in 2025.

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