cross platform games - bit rhymes: ngdc2012
DESCRIPTION
Cross Platform Games - Bit Rhymes: NGDC2012TRANSCRIPT
I am here about the
inflation
Welcome!
Cross platform games The hit ones!
@LalitPatel Co-‐Founder, @BitRhymes
I am actually here about
Hello! Thank you for coming!
Agenda
1. About US
2. Our killer app
3. Game Mechanic ZEN
4. Going Cross Platform
5. LearningS: Facebook vs. phone vs. TABLET
6. Tips: Challenges / Solutions / Work arounds
7. Take aways
8. exit
Shameless self promotion AHEM!
We are No.1 Grossing App on iPad and No. 10 on iPhone
Hell yEAH!
Bitrhymes – Background
We make social casino games on FB and mobile Started in 2008
Tandem backed with OperaJons in US and
India 50 people team in
Bangalore and growing
30M+ viral installs on Facebook, 6M+ ac2ve
#1 Top Grossing app on iPad. #10 on iPhone
Prior to FB Acquired 25M+ installs on
MySpace Built casual giQing and
daJng apps
What we are now • Leader in Social Casino Gaming
• “Bingo Bash” Top Grossing Casino App across Devices
• Industry best Game Mechanics with unparalleled reten2on and mone2za2on
• Massive MulJ-‐Player technology of 35,000 concurrent users
• Streamlined development, producJon, and publishing capability
Re-Branding
Sumit Gupta, Founder & CEO • From IIT-‐D, 16 years of product and business experience in social gaming, media and web startups.
Vikas Gupta, Co-‐Founder and CTO • 13 years of strong technical experience. Was a lead developer at Yahoo's Ad Pla]orm.
Lalit Patel, Co-‐Founder and India Head • 7 years of technical experJse. Was part of iniJal team that built SlideShare.net
Core Team
Advisors / Angel INVESTORS • Tandem Capital • Mark Jung – Founder, CEO, IGN
• Vikrant Bhargava – Founder, PartyGaming
• Yu Chiang – CEO, World Golf Tour
• Dan Cooperman – Former general counsel of Apple and Oracle
• Doug Bergeron – CEO, VeriFone
Our Killer APP
• No. 1 top grossing app on iPad, No. 10 on iPhone • 15M+ Installs
• 1.5M people play daily, upto 35K concurrent
• ExponenJal Growth Across all major Pla]orms 100% per Quarter
Our Killer APP
• Bingo Bash is acJon packed game of BINGO with features like powerups and treasures that makes the game super exciJng!
• MulJ-‐player, synchronous bingo game for Web, iPad, iPhone, Android and Amazon Kindle.
Bingo bash
Top of the charts
Bingo bash – 100% growth every quarter • Facebook: Nov 2011 • iPad: Apr 2012 • iPhone: Jun 2012 • Android: Sep 2012 / Kindle: Oct 2012
Secret sauce Perfect balance of virtual economy, social, and fun features across pla]orms and devices.
Patent Pending Unique Bingo Rooms • Draw5 -‐ Draws 5 balls at a Jme • Springo -‐ 4x4 card • Speedo -‐ Quicker 3x3 card play • SummerGames -‐ Icon Card • Eagle – Complete Flag • Dash – Daub Fast
Data Driven Game Mechanics • CollecJons • Card Replacement • Lucky calls -‐ bekng on first ball etc. • VIP Status • Tournaments
THE Game Mechanic Zen and the path to achieve it
inner peace
THE GAME MECHANIC Zen
Social Games – Game DESIGN
• Appointment mechanics
• Instant GraJficaJon • Power Ups • Achievements and CollecJons
• Dual / Triple Currencies • Baked in Virality
Social Business is a tough business
The business of social games
The Funnel that goes AARRR
Acquisi2on
• Ads • Featured App
• Virality • Affiliate Links
Ac2va2on
• Install to Play raJo
• A/B tests • Tutorial • Session Time
Reten2on
• RetenJon -‐ 2 Day, 7 days, 30 day
• Churn and Cohorts
• SJcky Fun • Daily Return IncenJves
• NoJficaJons
Referral
• Neighbor Invites
• Facebook feeds and requests
• GiQing • Bragging • Ticker
Revenue
• ARPU daily, weekly, monthly
• % Paying • ARPPU • LTV
FuNNEL – acquisition
• Ads • Facebook Featured App (BONUS) • Virality • Affiliate Links
FuNNEL – Activation
• Install to Play raJo • A/B tests • Tutorial • Session Time
FuNNEL – Retention
• RetenJon -‐ 2 Day, 7 days, 30 day • Churn and Cohorts • SJcky Fun • Daily Return IncenJves • NoJficaJons
FuNNEL – Referral
• Neighbor Invites • Facebook feeds and requests • GiQing • Bragging • Ticker
revenue
• ARPU daily, weekly, monthly • % Paying • ARPPU • LTV
GOING CROSS PLATFORM and surviving
A nail biting true story
Casual vs Console
• Ship as fast as possible – Okay to ship incomplete game!
• Game can evolve as per user feedback – Less risk, low cost of failure – If you fail, fail early
• Low development cost • Rapid IteraJons • AnalyJcs Driven. Driven by AB Tests • Freemium Model + Variable Pricing • Larger Target Audience
• We started promoJng in Dec’11 • Quickly became a hit, reaching 1M installs in first 3 months
• Cross promoJon through our other Jtles. • + AdverJsement on FB
Pros – You can go Viral – Personalize playing experience – Rapid iteraJon with AB tesJng – App Insights from Facebook – Targeted adverJsing
Cons – Virality is going south – Cost of user acquisi2on going north – Facebook mood swings
Going Portable
Pros – Level of engagement is higher. – People pay 3x more on mobile devices
Cons – Different beast – Development cycle mimics console gaming with liule flexibility
– Difficult to fix bugs easily – No viral growth (spend lots of $$$ in advt)
Ipad / iphone • iPhone != iPad – iPhone is personal, iPad is shared by the family – All over the world, iPad is mostly used as a living room entertainment device
• Level of engagement is much deeper in iPad due to the screen size and processor speed
• People play more on iPhone, pay more in iPad
Android Phones • Black Sheep of devices, not any more – With Google Play and Kindle both supporJng In-‐app purchases, opportunity is as great as iOS
– No app review process à you can iterate fast!
Cons • Screen sizes – More than you can count in ur fingers
• Device CapabiliJes – Most devices can’t do shit!
Challenges • It needs genius to fit a complex game in the screen size of that of iPhone. – Not all the game elements can be shown on dashboard
• Very difficult to keep the game play consistent. – PC and iPad users can play with 4 cards, iPhone guys can afford max 2
• Two (four?) (six?) sets of graphics assets
• Release cycles.
• Device ResoluJons and capabiliJes
SolutionS • Make two apps, one for iPad, one for iPhone – Gives us flexibility of fast release cycles – Downside: Two apps on App Store
• DifferenJate iPhone and iPad users for few rooms so that winning raJo is maintained. – Fixes the 4 vs 2 cards issue – Downside: Chips last longer, economy is affected
• Make iPhone Dashboard minimal – Take advantage of portrait and landscape mode. – Show hide few dashboard features based on number of cards played by the user
SolutionS • Screen sizes – Start with devices with same size or aspect raJo – Its okay to leave out some devices
• Device CapabiliJes – Google market allows you to filter out devices you do not support
Take Aways
NOW With 30% more chEese
Tip #0: Work harder after releasing the Game
Experiment – Challenge paradigms
• We have avg session Jme of 5 min on iPhone – More than 50% people play for 10+ mins
Experiment – Challenge paradigms
• Appointment Mechanics – 20% people visit more than 5 Jmes a day!
MONETIZATION BASICS • Profit – (life Jme value – user acquisiJon cost) × Scale
• ARPUs (for US users) – Top above $1 /month – Good $0.3 – 0.5 /month
• Sources – User Payments – Offers – Sponsored Items – Ads
43
Community or Competition • Make it an emoJonal experience – Encourage interacJon – Allow them to Show off
45
FOCUS ON THE Viral Loop
• Quality • New user experience • Game Mechanics • Key Metric: DAU/MAU
Visit
• Idea • TargeJng • Persuasion • Key Metrics – Click through rate
Conversion
• Invites, feeds, noJficaJons • Call to AcJon • Self expression • Key Metric: Infec2on rate
Infec2on
METRICS – Measure everything
– New User flow – Level Progression – In Game acJviJes – Clicks on Call to AcJon – Page Views – Goods Sold – Viral Growth – GiQs Sent/Accepted – Friends / Allies – RetenJon – User Age in Game – Frequency of return – Paid Credits – Skill AllocaJons – Achievements
– Age – Gender – Country – Level – User AcquisiJon Source – Number of friends/allies – User Age in Game – Paying Users V/S
METRICS – Optimize Everything • Op2mize Everything – UI Elements – Text Length, Text Language – Buuon placements – Call to AcJon – Game mechanics – New User Flow – Level progression – Virtual Goods – LocalizaJon
• Iterate Daily 47
www.bitrhymes.com
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