monetization case study - age of ishtaria

Kiyat Games, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential

Kiyat GamesMonetization Test IV

Age of Ishtariaby Silicon Studio

2015.08.27

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Why “Age of Ishtaria”?

● It’s ranked 198 on Top Grossing Games in AppStore (iPhone) for US.

● It’s ranked 114 on Top Grossing Games in Google Play for US.

● Silicon Studio (dev) has self-published the title despite its previous publishing experience with Mobage for Fantasica.

● It’s a game developed by Asian developer that, we think, has been successful in US market.

● It is a similar genre game to “Sid Story”, a game the Kiyat is operating at the moment.

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What’s purchasable with cash?

● Premium Currency : Ishtarian Crowns!○ $0.99 : 100 Crowns (1:100 ratio)○ $2.80 : 300 Crowns (1:107.1 ratio)○ $4.66 : 500 Crowns (1:107.3 ratio) - best value○ $9.34 : 1000 Crowns (1:107.1 ratio)○ $27.99 : 3000 Crowns (1:107.2 ratio)○ $46.69 : 5000 Crowns (1:107.1 ratio)○ The best value is a mid-level purchase that’s less than $5.

** Even though there is a regular currency (Gimmel), the Shop menu does not offer purchase options for Gimmels. This is rather odd as many games provide this options in their shop menus.

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What can you do with Ishtarian Crowns?

● Start Packs (100 Crowns)○ One-time only purchase that’s ⅓ price of a regular Gold Pack.○ A 3-6 star card draw with higher chance for 5 & 6 star card than a Gold Pack.○ Does not include 7-star cards.

● Beginner Packs (200 Crowns)○ One-time only pack that grants two cards (one 5-star guaranteed)○ Does not include 7-star cards.

** These two starting packs do not offer 7-star cards. We believe this is to prevent early users from getting too far ahead and consuming contents too quickly.

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What can you do with Ishtarian Crowns?

● Platinum Packs (3000 Crowns)○ Yields 11 cards that are between 3 and 7 stars.○ Offers 2x higher the chance of getting 6 & 7 star cards than a Gold Pack○ Better value than Gold Pack (1.1 : 1)

● Gold Packs (300 Crowns)○ A standard premium currency pack that provides a card between 3 and 7 star.

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What can you do with Ishtarian Crowns?

● Event Packs (3000 / 900 Crowns) - time limited○ 3000 Crowns -> 11 cards (3-7 stars) plus event specific items○ 900 Crowns -> 3 cards (3-7 stars) plus event specific items○ Offers event exclusive cards that are not in other packs○ Offers 2x higher the chance of getting 6 & 7 star cards than a Gold Pack

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Can non-paying users gather Crowns?

● Level Up Rewards○ For each account level-up, the game provides increasing # of Ishtarian Crowns.

● First Clear Rewards○ For each stage cleared for the first time, the game provides 20 Ishtarian Crowns.

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Can non-paying users gather Crowns?

● Challenges○ Completing Challenges (achievement) provides a various number of Crowns (20~300).○ There are 87 Challenges in the game altogether.○ Using this system, non-paying users can easily stack thousands of Crowns.

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Can non-paying users gather Crowns?

● Doing Events○ Participating in events allow users to earn Crowns (20, 30, 50 &100).○ A new events happens each week, meaning users can gather about 300 Crowns each

week by participating in events.

** All in all, it’s easy for nonpaying users to gather a big sum of Crowns by playing often.

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Premium Currency Usage Tutorial?

● No

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Monthly Ticket / VIP Mode ?

● No & No

** Unusual for Asian game.

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Monetization UI

● “Ishtarian Crowns” button at bottom left or “Menu” button at bottom right○ “Ishtarian Crowns” button - takes you to Crown Shop right away (2-step)○ “Menu” button - opens up the menu where it has Shop button. (4-step)

** We consider this to be a poor monetization UI. The users should know exactly where to when they decided to “convert”. Adding unnecessary steps may cause change of mind.

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Monetization UI

● Sales and promotions are shown at the title screen (once) and at the bottom in the main UI (scrolling). It’s non-intrusive to user experience.

● Tapping any of these two buttons directly put users to the target sales/event page.

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So what’s $5 worth in game?

● 500 Crowns

● Starter Pack, Beginner Pack, and a Gold Pack○ These translate into 4 cards that are 3 or above star quality.

** Why $5? It is the most popular pricing for beginner’s package. Also, we feel that $5 is a comfortable range for first time converters would be willing to spend.

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Wait! One more thing before the conclusion!

● There is a non-purchasable currency called “Medal” in the game.

● Only way to obtain this is the sell 3- or higher star cards. A certain number of “Medals” will be retrieved along with Gimmels.

● Some of the most appealing items and cards can be purchased with Medals.○ Card inventory expansion○ Permanent buff gems○ A line-up of cards that cannot be obtained with packs

** Creating such system, in addition to other mechanics that allows users to gather Crowns, makes nonpaying users feel that the game is not pay-to-win.

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Conclusion

● The game deliberately tried to avoid “pay-to-win” game.

● “Medal” is a unique currency that cannot be bought.

● Monetization UI is not the best one in the market. The UI adds 2 unnecessary steps to get to the purchase.

● Sales and promotions are shown in a non-intrusive way.

● No VIP or Monthly Tickets despite the game is from Asia. (Maybe this trend is only for Chinese and Korean games?)