the secret behind clash of clans success

What is the secret behind the financial success? Melt

From the visual

strategy book

#meltCASE STUDY

What is Clash of Clans?Clash of Clans is a social real-time online strategy game designed for mobile touch screen devices.

The game involves building a village, gathering resources, attacking other villages and teaming up with fellow players to form clans.

BACKGROUND

How does it make money?The revenue generation model is based on the successful free-to-play strategy that is widely used in mobile games; actual playing is free, but in-app purchases can be made during the game.

BACKGROUND

This is myvillage

Key factorsthe success?behind

1 2 3

It’s 1It’s addictive!

It’s fun!

People want to

play it!a great game!

From Supercell’s Clash of Clans Super Bowl Ad.

Those are qualities of a great game,

but…

What makes it

a financial

From Supercell’s Clash of Clans Super Bowl Ad.

success?

Let’s take a closer

look using the melt

frame.

This isthe material

worlde.g.

objects and actions

e.g. emotions, competences

and knowledge

This isthe immaterial

world

Technology has created

new ways for them tomelt

ServitizationSharing

economy

Social media

meltInternet

This ‘melt’ has many names:

Data networks

Industrial Internet

Home

automation

AI Internet of

things

Collaborative economy

Melt’s concept of time

is new and somewhat unknown.

It has features from both the immaterial and material world and it

varies according to the viewpoint.

Clash of Clans uses this brilliantly!

Bending time2Clash of Clans makes use of the temporal concept of three different worlds.

Players may feel advancing their villages is important in order to correspond with the players’ skills, to receive admiration from others, or out of simple curiosity to

see what the future holds.

THE PLAYERS’ NEEDS EXIST IN

NONLINEAR TIME.

BA C

THE GAME IS PORTRAYED AS IF HAPPENING IN

”REAL TIME”.

The material “real time” is embedded firmly into the gameplay. Constructing a defense structure for a village may take

several days. Advancement takes longer as the game progresses.

BA C

Players are offered ways to fulfill their immaterial needs by “bending the time” – by momentarily escaping the material time by

buying gems as in-app purchases.

THE GAME ACTUALLY TAKES PLACE IN ”MELT TIME”.

THIS APPEARS TO BE LINEAR, BUT CAN BE ALTERED.

BA C

Layered ecosystem

3The financial profitability of Clash of Clans is established on a three-layer ecosystem.

Ecosystem roles serve different purposes.

SCALE LAYERA

One to create scale.

TOOL LAYERCHOME

LAYERB

One to create commitment.

One to create profit.

REACHING AS MANY PLAYERS AS POSSIBLE

Clash of Clans is a free-to-play game epiphyte in Apple and Google ecosystems.

APPLE AND GOOGLE

ECOSYSTEMS

SCALE LAYERA TOOL

LAYERCHOME LAYERB

Clash of Clans is

here!

Inviting players to create their own “homes” inside the game by letting players build

villages and clans as they wish.

HOME LAYERB TOOL

LAYERCSCALE LAYERA

HANDING OVER OWNERSHIP TO THE PLAYERS

Players’ “homes”

Players can advance their villages by collecting coins, elixir and gems.

OFFERING VARIOUS TOOLS TO ADVANCE

IN THE GAME

TOOL LAYERCSCALE

LAYERA HOME LAYERB

Tactics and skills

PROFIT

SOME OF THESE TOOLS CAN CAN

HAVE PAID OPTIONS

SCALE LAYERA HOME

LAYERB TOOL LAYERC

Gems can be also be purchased during the game.

PROFITSCALE LAYERA HOME

LAYERB TOOL LAYERC

The free-to-play model typically involves only a few percent of players

actually spending money on the game, while most play for free.

What have we learned?

TAKE AWAY

TAK

E AW

AYUSE

IMMATERIAL MOTIVATORS.

Fame, fear, curiosity…

TAK

E AW

AYMAKE IT

FEEL REAL!People are far more likely to pay for something they

perceive as material.

TAK

E AW

AY USE MULTIPLE

ECOSYSTEM ROLES.

One to create scale. One to create commitment. One to create profit.

You are now familiar with free-to-play and melt.

You may copy, modify and use these ideas as you wish.

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