The numbers might be similar, but I don't love the comparison due to the ethical differences between the two. There is a lot more shady psychology and manipulation going on with Zynga than there is when a creator of free content starts accepting donations through Patreon. This is especially true when the membership bonuses are setup like Ben's in which they are mostly just being thanked in slightly more elaborate ways as the donation level increases.
Importantly, there's a limit to how much money you can spend on a single 'client' [0]. I don't think Zynga had meaningful limits on whale spend per game?
[0] I assume client is the inverse of a patron? Just going by Roman usage.
Is there? Apart from the preset tiers, you can usually specify a custom amount to donate monthly, so you could easily spend a few thousand per month on a single creator.
That depends on the user behavior and expectations. For example, I get exactly nothing back directly for any of the patreons I back. No gifts, no bonuses, no personal interaction, nothing. Some send things to backers but I ignore it as it doesn't interest me. OnlyFans and Zynga there is I feel an expectation and goal of a personal reward for your payment.
