What Generic Game Dev Agencies Say:
What Protocloud Delivers:
3–4 months before first build 
Playable core loop in 30 days 
Mobile game development costs vary significantly based on genre, art style, feature complexity, and monetisation requirements. Our typical ranges: Hyper-casual prototype (one mechanic, rewarded ads, leaderboard, dual-store launch) – $5,000–$12,000. Casual mobile game (30+ levels, progression system, IAP, analytics) – $15,000–$35,000. Mid-core mobile game (progression RPG, guild system, AI difficulty, IAP economy) – $35,000–$80,000. Multiplayer mobile game with dedicated server – $60,000–$120,000+. AI features (adaptive difficulty, NPC AI, churn ML) are scoped at $3,000–$15,000 based on complexity and are only recommended where ROI is measurable. Every project receives a fixed written quote before development starts.
Our typical game development timelines: Hyper-casual prototype (playable, publisher-ready) – 6–8 weeks. Casual mobile game (App Store + Google Play launch) – 10–14 weeks. Mid-core mobile game with AI systems – 16–20 weeks. Multiplayer game with dedicated server backend – 20–28 weeks. Key milestones: playable core loop prototype – Week 4. Vertical slice (publisher-ready build) – Week 6–8. Full game QA and store submission – Week 10–12 (for casual), or 16–20+ weeks for complex titles. Both iOS and Android are developed in parallel from a shared Unity codebase and submitted simultaneously.
Unity is our default recommendation for 80%+ of projects – especially mobile games, hyper-casual titles, AR experiences, and mid-core RPGs. Unity’s C# codebase, mobile performance optimisation tools, Unity ML-Agents AI integration, and the largest game asset ecosystem in the world make it the most practical choice for most budgets and timelines. Unreal Engine 5 is the right choice when you need photorealistic visuals (Nanite/Lumen technology), MetaHuman character quality, or are targeting PC and console platforms where visual differentiation is a publishing requirement. Godot is appropriate for 2D indie projects with open-source requirements. We’ll confirm the right engine for your specific game during the free strategy session – with reasoning, not preference.
Not every game benefits from AI, and we will not recommend it unless the impact on retention or revenue is specific and measurable. AI makes genuine sense for these game types: mid-core and RPG games (adaptive difficulty increases Day-30 retention 25–40%), games with 10K+ DAU (churn prediction ML has sufficient training data), open-world and roguelike games (procedural content generation extends replayability at proportionally low cost), and games with IAP (dynamic monetisation AI increases ARPU 20–35%). For hyper-casual games, puzzle games with handcrafted levels, and MVP-stage projects, excellent core loop design and satisfying audio feedback consistently outperform AI systems at the same budget. We’ll give you an honest AI assessment during your free strategy session.
Yes – and we have experience doing it. Three of our client games in the past 4 years have resulted in signed publishing agreements. A publisher-ready game needs: Day-7 retention above 25% in soft launch data (we design for 30%+), a CPI estimate below the publisher’s genre threshold (typically $0.30–$0.80 for casual), a polished 2–3 minute vertical slice, a monetisation model with documented LTV/CPI projections, and a clear live ops roadmap. We build games to publisher benchmarks from the GDD stage – not as a retrofit. We can participate in publisher pitch meetings alongside you and help prepare pitch materials including retention data, monetisation model documentation, and a polished game trailer.
Protocloud provides written guarantees on every game project: (1) Fixed Price Guarantee – your quoted price covers all milestones from prototype to store launch; no additional charges for in-scope features. (2) Playable Prototype Guarantee – a working core loop prototype is delivered in Week 4; if it is not fun per the GDD spec, we redesign at our cost. (3) Store Approval Guarantee – 100% first-submission approval on App Store and Google Play; if rejected for any reason attributable to our code or submission, we fix and resubmit within 5 business days at zero cost. (4) IP Ownership Guarantee – 100% source code, art assets, and AI systems transferred to you at launch, in writing. (5) 3 Months Live Ops Support – content updates, A/B testing, monetisation optimisation, and one free game update patch.
This is the most important question in game development – and the one most studios avoid. Our answer: the playable prototype in Week 4. Before a single piece of final art is created or licensed, you play the game’s core mechanic. If it’s not fun, we redesign the core loop in the same sprint. We’ve rebuilt core loops at Week 4 three times in our history – always at our cost, always before the client committed final art budget. After the prototype is approved, you’re not funding a guess anymore. You’re funding a game you’ve already felt.
🛡 Guarantee: If the core loop prototype delivered in Week 4 does not feel engaging and playable per the agreed Game Design Document specification, we redesign and rebuild it at our cost before proceeding to final art production.
Our fixed-price model requires a complete Game Design Document before a price is quoted. We don’t quote games from a one-page concept – we scope them properly. Every feature, mechanic, art asset type, and platform requirement is documented in the GDD, and your fixed price is derived from that document. If we miss a requirement in the GDD that falls within your described game concept, we build it at our cost. We’ve delivered 50+ games without a single invoice exceeding the agreed fixed price for in-scope features.
🛡 Guarantee: Fixed price means fixed price. If the game exceeds our estimate due to our own scoping gaps, we absorb the cost. Your GDD is your contract – not a guidelines document.
App Store and Google Play featuring is never guaranteed – anyone who promises it is lying. What we can guarantee: we build games that meet the technical, design, and quality criteria that increase featuring probability significantly. These include: 60fps performance on a 3-year-old device, first-submission approval, a trailer that meets Apple’s editorial team specifications, metadata optimised for feature consideration, and a launch story that gives editorial teams a reason to feature. Two of our last five shipped games received featuring within 30 days of launch. We’ll show you the specific criteria and our historical featuring rate during the strategy session.
Guarantee: We guarantee 100% first-submission approval on both App Store and Google Play. We guarantee our game meets Apple’s and Google’s technical performance standards for feature consideration. Featuring itself is at their editorial discretion.
Monetisation that fails is almost always a design failure, not a marketing failure. Games earn nothing when the IAP economy is poorly balanced, the rewarded ad placement breaks immersion, there’s no daily engagement loop, and there’s no live ops calendar creating urgency. We design monetisation architecture as a core game system from the GDD stage – not a feature added after the player experience is “done”. We’ll show you comparable games with similar monetisation models and their ARPU data during the strategy session so your revenue expectations are grounded in evidence before you commit budget.
🛡 Guarantee: If the monetisation systems we design and build don’t function as specified in the GDD and technical spec, we fix them during your 3-month post-launch live ops support period at zero additional cost.
Yes – and we’ve done it. Three of our games in the past 4 years have resulted in publisher deals from our vertical slices. A publisher-ready game requires: Day-7 retention above 25% (we target 30%+), a CPI estimate below publisher thresholds for your genre, a polished vertical slice of 2–3 minutes, a monetisation model with projected LTV/CPI ratio, and a game architect who can present the technical vision credibly. We build to publisher benchmarks and can participate in publisher pitch meetings alongside you if required.
🛡 Guarantee: We guarantee the vertical slice we deliver will meet the technical and content quality standards required for submission to the top 10 mobile game publishers. If it doesn’t meet those standards per the agreed GDD, we revise it at our cost.
