Mass-Scale Monetization in Mass-Scale Games

In this article, I want to take a step into a speculative future. This isn’t about optimizing your battle pass conversion funnel, tweaking ad placements, measuring ROAS for your campaigns, or refining your LTV curve — it’s something you don’t see much being posted about as everyone’s so focused on “what’s happening now”.

This article is about what happens (/could happen) after we leave the current monetization meta behind and look at mass-scale games with truly mass-scale engagement and monetization models.

We’re talking about games as dynamic ecosystems — game-worlds where hundreds to millions of players can interact, influence, and co-create (/participate), not just in terms of user-generated content but in e.g., systemic, strategic, and factional layers. These are games where monetization isn’t just layered on top of gameplay — it’s embedded in the social fabric and systemic interdependence of roles, events, and emergent gameplay.

Let’s dive into what I call Mass-Scale Monetization for Mass-Scale Games.

Note: This post is a theoretical exploration — a map for worlds we haven’t yet created. None of this is inevitable. Some of it may never happen. But, all of it is worth thinking about — and I hope deeply that some people will find inspiration from this article now, or in the future. Furthermore, please note that some of this post’s inspiration comes from other blogs I’m following, as well as recommending, on Substack. Some of the credits should go directly to the writers of these Substacks.

The Premise: Mass-Scale Games Need Mass-Scale Systems

At the heart of this idea is a simple premise: if we are to build mass-scale games — games that operate more like civilizations than arenas — they need monetization systems that are equally layered, scalable, and participatory.

This is not just about whales or spenders. It’s about enabling meaningful participation — and monetization — across a spectrum of roles and playstyles:

• Active players engaging in moment-to-moment gameplay.
• Strategists and manipulators influencing outcomes from a meta-layer.
• Spectators and backseat tacticians consuming and reacting to live events.
• Supporters and social players who contribute through guild, faction, or infrastructure systems.

All of these user types can be monetized — ethically and effectively — if the systems they engage with are deep, social, and systemic.

But… how do we begin to imagine this?

Event-Centric Ecosystems: Layered Participation in In-Game Events

Let’s start with a scenario.

A live in-game event: a massive multi-faction siege in an MMORPG-meets-extraction shooter world. Tens to hundreds (or even thousands) of players are involved:

• The front-line players are raiding, flanking, defending.
• The commanders are not on the field — they’re managing logistics, issuing commands, allocating resources.
• Spectators are watching through in-game systems, betting on outcomes with in-game currency, triggering minor boons or setbacks through vote-based engagement.
• Manipulators are setting up misinformation campaigns in other factions’ communication layers, maybe even embedding NPCs to sow discord.

This one event has multiple gameplay and engagement layers, and each of those can support monetization — if the game’s systems support it.

Monetization Touchpoints:

• Spectator Influence Mechanics: Viewers spend tokens or soft currency to trigger boosts, support specific squads, deploy limited-use assets, or create “momentum events.”
• Strategist and Commander Roles: Players can pay to access high-level data overlays, exclusive communication channels, or advanced planning tools. Think of it like buying the tools of war.
• Faction-Wide Unlocks: A live economic system where contributing resources or completing objectives during events unlocks powerful upgrades — not just cosmetics, but long-term faction buffs.
• Manipulator Mechanics: Optional tools to influence faction politics, player morale, or information distribution. These could be monetized via access gates or subscription layers, rewarding creative social players.

All of this turns a single event into an economy of participation. But the critical idea is: participation is not limited to active combat. It spans layers of social, strategic, and even “passive” involvement.

Passive & Asymmetric Participation: New Monetization Roles

The idea of asymmetric roles (on mass-scale games you might need to assume different motivations and archetypes, as on scale your player-base’s preferences start to have lots of variance) is part of the core here. Not everyone wants to fight. Not everyone wants to grind. As segmentation through fundamental systems and gameplay styles is possible, in a mass-scale game, we can monetize e.g., the support roles just as effectively as the traditional power fantasy.

Let’s break this down:

1. Passive Strategists / Infrastructure Builders

These players may “never” pick up a weapon, but they could:

• Build supply lines
• Craft or transport gear
• Design base layouts
• Optimize logistics across the map

Monetization Layer: Premium blueprints, exclusive access to high-efficiency tools, or even marketplace commissions on logistical success. These players are closer to economic operators than combatants.

2. Faction Administrators / Morale Officers

Players who focus on people management:

• Organize squads
• Write news updates
• Boost morale with events
• Run diplomatic missions

Monetization Layer: Access to special comms tools, morale-boosting buffs, faction-exclusive cosmetics, or unlockable leadership slots with real-time impact on gameplay.

3. Spectators as Dynamic Participants

Like Twitch chat, but inside the game world — and with agency. They could:

• Vote to influence weather or battlefield conditions
• Drop resource crates for their favored team
• Send “morale boosts” to keep squads from breaking

Monetization Layer: Spectator passes, real-time influence tokens, battle-pass progression for spectators.

Persistent, Social, Systemic: Why These Models Work

Let’s connect this back to our key themes: systemic design, social monetization, and intrinsic motivators.

Systemic Design

By embedding monetization into the systems — not as superficial add-ons — we enable:

• Emergent economies: Where players naturally create demand for monetized tools or services.
• Persistent loops: Where players’ long-term engagement creates steady, predictable revenue over time.
• Social capital value: Where players earn status, power, or influence through participation, not just cash.

Social Group Monetization

Think of monetization not as individual conversion, but group contribution:

• Factions unlock cosmetics or power-ups as a group when a threshold is reached.
• Guilds pool resources to build mega-structures or fund expeditions.
• Victory or defeat in large-scale events affects everyone’s bonuses or progression.

This creates emotional investment and peer-driven incentives — you don’t want to let your team down.

Furthermore, if you do these “right”, there could be phenomena you could create where certain spending streaks on collaborative gameplay could be happening on a mass-scale, based on e.g., social layers and events activating certain physiological mechanisms in the design.

Intrinsic Monetization

If players are genuinely engaged in the systems — logistics, social engineering, diplomacy — they are more likely to invest. Not just for power, but for status, access, and expression.

That’s the sweet spot of intrinsic monetization: players paying because the systems matter to them.

Genre Fusion: MMO Layers for Every Genre

This doesn’t have to be confined to MMORPGs. Imagine MMO layers applied to:

Extraction Shooters

• Factions fight over persistent extraction zones
• Strategic spectators influence spawn rates or loot distribution
• Guilds run black-market trade routes across zones

MOBAs or Arena Games

• Persistent meta-game between matches
• Faction-wide buffs or resources affected by win/loss ratios
• Spectators sponsor teams or vote for sabotage events

City Builders or 4X Games

• Live raids against other cities
• Diplomacy layers driven by players, not AI
• Passive contributors build cultural landmarks that boost the faction globally

Each of these opens a new layer of participation — and thus a new layer of monetization.

Source Material for Inspiration for Mass-Scale Games

If these types of applications interest you, here’s a comprehensive list of my blog posts you can use for inspiration for building these types of experiences:

Future principles and DNA for sustainable games — if you want to make business case for your game, you should know how games of future need to be build:

Matchmaking — Matchmaking will be key to be managed these worlds to have them working effectively:

Manipulator Mechanics — Could your game use manipulation systems?

Innovative Retention-Driven Monetization Models — These types of games would need new retention-driven monetization methods most definitely:

Expanded Guild and Clan Mechanics based on Tribe and Sports Team Dynamics — How you should build social mechanisms’ dynamics to your game?

Intrinsic and Social Live Ops — What kind of Live Ops “engine” would work for these types of games? It would need most likely be truly intrinsic and social:

What Genre-Blending would allow this type of game?

Systemic and Emergent mechanics and systems will be key for building these games, incl. having them running “Live Ops” themselves in “UGC-like” manner (not direct UGC but these systems and players’ decisions driving the game world further):

We’re exploring here the future of Social Multiplayer games — about which you can find more inspiration for your endeavors here:

The (Potential) Future is Interdependent

What we’ve outlined here is not a roadmap. It’s a constellation of possibilities.

Some of these ideas are technically and socially difficult. Others may never reach scale. But even if only a few of them prove viable, they could reshape the way we think about both engagement and monetization.

Mass-scale games need mass-scale systems. Not more content. Not more cosmetics. More depth. More roles. More participation.

The frontier lies in designing economies of participation / group systems — where monetization is not an extractive process but a dynamic byproduct of how players choose to engage with the game world.

We should be building these worlds — not just because they monetize better, but because they matter more to the people who inhabit them. But will we see that happening knowing the current economic landscape and tough reality we’re living in? Well… I guess time will tell.

If you found this inspiring or want to explore one of the layers more deeply together — let me know. This is a seed, not a conclusion.