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(source: http://www.quakelive.com)

A hot topic in the news this week has centered on technology that brings quality 3D game graphics to the web browser. Articles featured on GigaOM, VentureBeat, TechCrunch and GameDaily all touched upon the idea of melding console-quality graphics with the ease of web play and the companies behind these technologies.  As James Brightman of GameDaily states, “While the casual sector has done well with simple browser-based games, there haven’t been many sites that truly offer the hardcore audience what they’re looking for.”

If what they are looking for is visually intense game play without having to leave the PC - or wait for long downloads - then Brightman appears to be right.

One of the companies that is helping these hardcore web gen gamers, InstantAction, has built a platform that allows game developers to port existing 3D games to the web browser with ease. Now with companies like InstantAction and others such as Valve (who just announced a deal for digital delivery of Square Enix games) becoming more popular, this move should be a no-brainer right?

The logic behind the success of these technologies is based on the principles that users want to play games in this manner and that game developers will want to publish in this manner. Both of these depend heavily on one component – money.

How much will it cost to play? How much return will I make?

A huge concern with gamers is that digital versions of games can’t be equated to the real thing, making it hard to validate a high price tag. Sure, publishers can charge a lower price than the retail version, but why not alter the revenue model altogether? The key to making both players and publishers happy is creating a payment/revenue strategy that works with web games. Take some of the well-known names in the industry testing new methods:

-Valve has recently experimented with a new pricing strategy for one of their digital download games and according to Mary Jane Irwin’s article on Edge, had increased sales of the game on Steam by 3,000 percent.

-This week, id Software released the beta of Quake Live as a free-to-play game, proving the older game development companies are thinking of new business models.

With companies running tests like its apparent there is room for a better model, and the experimenting is only beginning. Adding the option to purchase virtual items (a good or currency) through microtransactions in addition to or in place of a lowered price model is a logical next step.

Offering an advertiser supported transaction platform like Sometrics as a method of exchange satisfies both variables of keeping the cost down for users and putting money in the pockets of publishers. By introducing a low barrier of entry for these traditionally pricey games, publishers will receive the benefit of a burgeoning user base, which equates to more possibilities for transactions – and offering users the chance to earn virtual items without actually spending money will increase conversions of  “paying users” quickly.