gdc - top soft launch strategies for awesome metrics

Agenda

YOUR HOSTS:

Mark RobinsonCEO, deltaDNA

Stefano MelucciVP Product, Thumbspirewith

Top soft launch strategies for awesome metrics

Agenda Why players leave

Day-1 Retention rates•On average, less than 40% of

players return to a free-to-play game after one session

•44% of games have 60 – 80% of players not returning after one session

Agenda Why soft launch matters

• In beta more than one month

•20% plus increase in D1 retention

•24% boost in IAP

Agenda Why players leave

Agenda Testing in soft launch

Testing processWhat to test

Agenda Testing on-boarding

•60% of players never return after session one

•Combine Gamification

•With Analytics and Personalization

•To create great onboarding

•For everyone

Agenda Improving on-boarding

•Do players know what to do?

•Are they given clear direction?

•Have they achieved something early on?

Example: Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes

Rewarding used to encourage engagement / progression

Clearly signposted hints & tips led by a likable character that unveils game complexity over time

Agenda Improving on-boarding

•Is the game difficulty controlled?

•is the tutorial fun and engaging?

•Once the tutorial is complete, are players equipped to play the game and succeed?

•Have they had a taste of the best gameplay?

Example: CSR Classics

Players are shown something aspirational

Agenda Testing on-boarding

Where are players dropping out?

Practical steps•Set a high density of event counters to track how

players are moving through the First Time User Experience (FTUE)

Agenda Testing on-boarding

Practical stepsUse a funnel tool to analyze level progression & show which areas are acting as blockers

A/B test Find the most effective messaging variables for each segment with AB Testing

Agenda Testing retention

Which players segments are leaving the game and when?

Practical steps•Use a data mining tool to

segment players for targeting

Agenda Improving retention

Adjust the difficulty. Provide additional resources for target segment or signpost location unlocks

•48% of churned players leave because the difficulty is not balanced

•A game that is too easy will cause less retention issues than a game that is too difficult

•More than half of players joining any game are novices

Look at which player segments are failing to complete each mission

Agenda Improving retention

•38% of churned players leave because there aren’t enough rewards

•Incentives gives the player a reason to return, & rewards give a sense of achievement

•28% of churned players leave because there aren’t enough repeat play opportunities

Create replay opportunities for ‘Accomplishment’ types

Use targeting to reward your most loyal players with extra incentives

Agenda Testing retention

•Focus on retention first and foremost: you can always monetize a fun game

•Use segmentation to identify groups of players with similar experiences and test personalized intervention strategies

Agenda Novice: set your strategy

Agenda Grinder: set your strategy

Agenda Expert: set your strategy

Agenda How to optimize your soft launch process

1. Real focus on first 60 secs2. Map out the FTUE events in detail 3. Create segments 4. Analyze FTUE by segment 5. Overlay best practice gamification 6. Personalise your strategy for each segment7. Measure and repeat until metrics make

acquisition profitable.

Agenda deltaDNA: Powered by deep data

•The only deep data analytics platform dedicated to games •End-to-end toolkit to optimize & manage engagement, retention &

monetization

Agenda

Stefano MelucciVP Product, Thumbspire

Thumbspire use case

Agenda What is Thumbspire?

App Store USA Top Games Chart – 3/3/16

Analyze. Optimize. Monetize.

•We publish mobile games

•Work with small studios and dev shops across the world

•Games range from one-touch casual games to botanical simulations

•Our job is to ensure great engagement, and then to keep improving it

•All so that we can find the best way to generate revenue from the game

•While ensuring it finds the widest popular audience – through social media, user acquisition, featuring, PR, etc

Agenda Onboarding and retention - soft launch

Reduced the choicesin Menu navigation

Increased tutorial visual directions

Shortcut between chapters

Retention D1% increased by 66% in first 2 iterations (from 15% to 25%)

Agenda Optimizing marketing spending

•Tag all users with their marketing attribution

•Engagement and monetization by channel / campaign

•Optimize marketing investments

•D1% Retention 70% vs 65%

•Optimized LTV = 2x overall LTV

Overall Optimized marketing channel

Agenda Ad frequency optimization

•Dynamic parameters : - Frequency - Cooldown

•Measuring impact in engagement and IAP monetization

Agenda Optimize monetization - upselling

•Shown to users after Level 7 when they complete a task

•Converts when the bundle is purchased.

~0.8% conversion rate+39% on sales of the item

Agenda Optimize monetization - flash sales

•Users at Level 3 or more

•Who never purchased anything before

•And have a low virtual currency balance

Offer: 50% off on purchases for one session only

~2.5% conversion rate+23% on cash sales

Agenda Optimize monetization - merchandising experiment

•Users at Level 3 or more

•Offered Amazon t-shirts

9% click through rate

Agenda We partner with developers for the whole cycle

Pre and post launch servicesPRE

•Best practices for preparing your game for launch or soft launch

•Provide suite of tools: marketing attribution, analytics, ads mediation

•Work with developers through soft launch – iterations, analytics

•PR, relationship with stores , social media for launch

POST

•Regular re-engagement push notifications

•Analytics and game optimization

•UA and ROI optimization

•Social media

•Ads revenue optimization

•Engagement and upselling campaigns

YOUR HOSTS:

Mark RobinsonCEO, deltaDNA

Stefano MelucciVP Product, Thumbspirewith

Thank you!