mobile game discovery for indies
DESCRIPTION
Harsh truths about the mobile games ecosystem and discovery plus steps you can take as an indie mobile games developer to drive awareness.TRANSCRIPT
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 [email protected]
Questions