mobile game discovery for indies

Kevin Corti (Product Lead) Founder Everyone’s Playing 15+ years digital games/media Co-founded 3 studios since 1998 Game studio viewpoint

Don Turner Developer Evangelist at BlackBerry 14 years mobile/web development Co-founded digital agency (£1.7m t/o) Mobile platform/store viewpoint

games makers games consumers

• Cluttered app stores / no visibility

• Traditional media/PR doesn’t work

• Performance ads are very expensive

• Hard to get quality traffic (users)

• Limits product innovation

“How do I show players

we have a great game

without spending

$100k/day?”

• Finding good games is hard in app stores

• Want more variety, more choice

• Want much better search filters

• Frequently waste time & money

• Frequently frustrated

Discovery is a problem for…

A mobile games discovery platform…

EVERYONE’S PLAYING

assesses the quality & nature of every mobile game

finds the best matches for YOU!

that learns exactly what YOU like

What’s your experience with commercialising mobile games?

Let’s start with some good news… $17bn total annual revenue (large!) Growing rapidly (Android, Asia) Devices/connectivity always getting better People will always want new devices People will always want to play games

Before mobile… Significant challenges to small/indie studios: Production – make the game Distribution – put game in shops Marketing – make people want to buy

After mobile… Reduced barriers to small/indie studios: Production – make the game Distribution – put game in stores Marketing – make them want to play

THEN make them want to pay!

Marketing: Games makers – gaining an audience for your games Games players – finding games that are right for you

Marketing: Games makers – gaining an audience for your games Games players – finding games that are right for you

The ecosystem is bad at doing this So it costs $$$$$$!!!!

It’s not one market Find a (viable, addressable) niche

The more precise the niche, the easier to target right users

Hope is not a strategy! Is this you/your team? • “We will just make the best game we can”

• “We want to get featured by Apple”

• “We would like games press/media coverage”

Naive marketing strategy 101 Will get our friends to

download & post reviews

Will issue press releases

My mate writes game reviews for

pocketgames.com

= 1,000 installs (at best)

1,000 users is worth…

At $0.99 / install = $700 (AAT)* AAT = ‘After Apple Tax’

Premium Free to play

At $40 LTV At 2% conversion = $560 (AAT)* Success?

You make your own luck!

Work hard, over a long period.

Exploit every user acquisition channel you can

The channels

SEO / ASO

Platform feature

Traditional media

Social network

Cross-promotion

Paid advertising

Get found in the stores

Interest & word of mouth

Get eyeballs

App Store Optimisation (ASO) [1] Maximise chances of being found

[2] Maximise chances of getting install (SELL)

Space monkey tennis wars.. Search

“5 stars from BestGames.com, epic art…”

THE APP STORES Sell devices Sell ads/propagate

Android

More open (whilst they catch up)

+ 200 Android stores

Build ecosystem

THE APP STORES

Distribute your game Handle purchase Discovery

“Imagine a shop with 1,000,000 kinds of beer…”

THE APP STORES Search is bad Categories inconsistent Ratings & review systems weak (broken)

THE APP STORES Buying chart position…top free games (iOS) • #1 155k installs/day • #10 45k installs/day • #50 16k installs/day

• $25k spend on UA • Circa top 35 in ‘adventure’ & ‘role playing’

charts for week • $10k revenue • Game cost $150k to make!

$1-3 per install

GAMES MEDIA Recent PocketGamer ‘top iOS games’ list All ‘great’ well-made games Most had <1,000 installs and <50 reviews

“We got coverage in X magazine…it generated 17 new users”

CROSS-PROMOTION Great (free installs) ….if you already have

users. Amplify/boost only

“…they are the turbo for a car engine. You still need to buy petrol

though!”

SOCIAL HOOKS Doesn’t have to be horrible Zynga mechanics Give users opportunity to share moments of

delight

Also – helps with getting featured if you use platform APIs (Game Centre on iOS)

PAID USER ACQUISITION Banners, interstitals (static, video), FB mobile

ad units… Quality of user is paramount! (play? pay?) Know your CPC, CPM, CPI, eCPI, CPA etc

Do LOTS of tiny experiments (FB ads are great for this!)

MEASUREMENT You use analytics for in-game events… …so use them to assess quality of traffic Do they play? Do they pay? Attribution is key (where did user come from?)

FUNDING ‘MARKETING’ Investors will want: • Multiple games in pipeline (similar niche) • GAAS & FTP skills • Industry experience / successes

FUNDAMENTAL:

ACPU < ARPU

PUBLISHERS Gauge their interest at concept stage NOT once you have made a game! MVP may be too late!

Why would you start to build a game if you don’t know if you can

market it?

SUMMARY

• Devote serious time & effort to marketing • Do everything possible (all channels) • Have a meaningful budget – use wisely • Target a (proven) niche • Great game (no serious bugs!) • Cross-promote & cross-platform • Localise game & store presence

‘Build it & they will come’ is NOT a viable strategy!

YOU CAN’T RELY ON BEING LUCKY……YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK!

“EVERYONE’S

PLAYING…” “EVERYONE’S PLAYING…”

“EVERYONE’S PLAYING…”

Kevin Corti +44 7415 097822

@every1playing

www.everyonesplaying.com kevin@everyonesplaying.com

Questions