Stadia to offer a 85/15 revenue split for game sales up to a $3m threshold

Stadia has unveiled its Affiliate Marketing Program, which is “designed to empower partner engagement with new players” through Click to Play.

As part of the program, launching in H1 2022, Stadia Pro partners will receive $10 for each player that uses their Click to Play link to instantly play their game with the free trial month of Stadia Pro and successfully transitions to a paid subscription.

Additionally, by the end of July 2021, new Stadia Pro terms will give any new title that enters into Stadia Pro 70% of monthly program revenue back to partners. This will be based on engagement for active, claimable Stadia Pro titles, measured by “session days.”

Finally, Stadia will offer a 85/15 revenue split for game sales, up to a $3m threshold, for all games launching on the Stadia store through the end of 2023. This also takes into account the sales of full games, micro-transactions, pre-orders, and add-on content.

To find out more, we spoke to Careen Yapp – Strategic Business Development, and Lead Product Manager Alan Joyce.

From October 1st 2021 Stadia will be offering a 85 / 15 split for game sales. There has been something of a push away from the standard 70/30 split over the past few years. What prompted this change, and do you see an industry-wide shift away from the 30% platform fee?

Careen Yapp: On Oct. 1, we’re adjusting our revenue share for newly signed games to give 85% of game sales back to our partners. The program will run through the end of 2023, which is part of our continued investment in the success of our partners. Expanding on the opportunities that developers have to generate revenue opens up more opportunities for player engagement and content creation, which ends up benefitting our community. 

Once the title’s total sales reaches $3M, the revenue share will revert back to the previous split. 

Tell us more about Stadia’s Affiliate Marketing Program – Will all Stadia developers be eligible for the program, and how does it work in practice?

Alan Joyce: The Affiliate Marketing Program is powered by Click to Play, the Stadia technology that allows our partners to create links that instantly send players straight into their game on Stadia. The premise is simple – all Stadia partners can create Click to Play links for their games and attract new players who can use those links to sign up for an account, which includes a free trial month of Stadia Pro. For every player that successfully converts from their free month trial to a paid Pro subscription, we’re turning around that first $10/month payment (or local currency equivalent) and putting it right in our partners’ pockets. The program is launching for all Stadia partners in the first half of 2022.

With Microsoft expanding its xCloud capabilities, and Amazon entering the space with Luna, how does Stadia see its position/strategy in an increasingly competitive cloud gaming space?

Careen Yapp: Seeing other platforms recognize the importance of opening up access to games across different types of devices with cloud gaming is an affirmation that we’re on the right path to driving a new industry forward. As we’ve revealed today, Stadia is investing in the current and future success of our partners with never-before-seen programs and new changes to our revenue share models. The success of our partners and ease in which they’re able to bring games to Stadia makes a huge impact for our players. This feeds into our continued goal of creating the best possible platform for gamers and technology for our partners, and bringing these experiences to life for people everywhere.

We’ve continued to drive Stadia forward since launch, and in 2021 that’s translated into over 100 games arriving on the Stadia store by EOY, new games from AAA studios like Capcom, EA, Square Enix, and Ubisoft, and major promotions with companies like AT&T.