A selection of material about game economics and profit. Compiled for the indie developer of a visual novel or game. 
Ways to Monetize Your Game After Patreon Ban
- SubscribeStar Adult
A Patreon alternative that supports adult content creators. If you are moving to SubscribeStar, then you don't need to adjust your models. On the contrary, make them as young as you want (too young and f95zone will ban the game though) and you will probably earn more money than if you up their age. - Itch.io
Sell the game directly or offer it as pay-what-you-want with donation options. - Gumroad
Sell game builds, bundles, or exclusive content directly to fans. - Your Own Website
Set up a website with payment gateways (PayPal alternatives like Skrill, Epoch, or CCBill) to sell your game and offer memberships. - Ko-fi (With NSFW Flag)
Accept one-time donations or monthly memberships. Ko-fi allows NSFW content if flagged correctly. - Fansly or LoyalFans
Platforms similar to OnlyFans that allow adult creators, including game developers. - OnlyFans (For Adult Game Creators)
Offer sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, polls, and exclusive builds. - Discord Premium (Server Subscriptions) *from what I know from other devs, this is the most recommended*
Charge fans for access to private channels, beta versions, or exclusive updates. - Steam
More for developers only: https://f95zone.to/threads/banned-from-patreon.256712/
After a couple of years of active development, the likelihood for:
- 100 USD per month is about 50/50
- 1,000 USD per month is about 10/90
- 2,500 USD per month is about 5/95
- 4,000 USD per month is about 2/98
Very interesting answer, with a methodology for analyzing Patreon's stats: https://f95zone.to/threads/help-make-banished-bards-first-game-great.139469/post-9527999 and below https://f95zone.to/threads/help-make-banished-bards-first-game-great.139469/post-9538063
Discussions on the profitability of games and novels.
- Your game and your players should come first, don't enter into NSFW development expecting to make a profit. Read more.
Payment systems: Patreon, SubscribeStar and others.
- Patreon users' income statistics by activity. For game developers: https://graphtreon.com/patreon-creators/adult-games
- Question on porn game on Steam: is it okay to post zoophilia and incest games there? Turns out it's not illegal, but there are nuances.
- Motivating free members on Patreon. What can be done?
- Patreon: can someone clearly explain what is allowed and what isn’t? Best answer: You can use Patreon to fund porn games, as long as they do no include: Underage sexualized characters, incest (including step-incest), bestiality and none consensual sex. But you can not put explicit images on your Patreon page, except when they are behind paywall, yet them staying not too explicit is better. Read topic.
- A new gaming platform for adults. Sell and showcase your games. Reddit or Spicygaming.
- Anybody tried to use Onlyfans instead of Patreon / Subscribestar? Read more.
- Unifans - alternative to Patreon with loose policy? What kind of adult content can be posted? Read the article and Reddit.
- Is it possible to open an SFW game account on Patreon and secretly raise funds for NSFW games there as well? Without the risk of being blocked. Read this discussion.
- Any stable crowd funded sites like SubscribeStar that is not banning everything like Patreon? Read answers.
Publishing.
- "Tips & Tricks - Publishing a game on Itch & Steam with a 0€ budget". A detailed description of how a developer marketed his HTML game for adults. Read.
- Steam: YouTube vid that walks you through using their GUI wrapper. Source on F95Zone.