peter kjaer. battlesouls post launch
TRANSCRIPT
Pixeleap • Shipped 9 games
• Shipped BattleSouls in May • Improving BattleSouls
• Pitching for new projects
Post Mortem • What Went Wrong • Retention
• Underestimating the competition
• What Went Well • Open Development
• Production
Retention – Day7
Underestimating the competition • A lot of similar games came out
• We needed more of everything • Free is not enough
Production • We build an online multiplayer game • On time and on budget
• We did a lot of prioritizing
• Sticking with Unity
• Coupling employees and outsourcing
Why Open Development • Better Games • We are a very small team
• Marketing • We have limited budget
• Community • The more the merrier
• Sharing • Give back to the community
Early Testing • On location tests
• Going where the testers are
• Closed alpha as soon as possible • Asking dedicated testers to help us
• Open Beta • Opening up for critical mass testing
• Launch • Live ops is still a testing phase
Community Activity
Community Status Then • Reddit ~ 28 subscribers • TigSource ~ 2 comments • Player.me ~12 followers • Twitch ~ 140 followers • Youtube ~ 20 subscribers • Twitter ~ 750 followers • Facebook ~ 480 likes
Community Status Now • Reddit ~ 28 subscribers • TigSource ~ 5 comments • Player.me ~16 followers • Twitch ~ 170 followers • Youtube ~ 112 subscribers • Twitter ~ 870 followers • Facebook ~ 1.200 likes • Newsletter ~ 9.950 subscribers
Open Development • We changed our patching procedures
• We upgraded all the artwork
• We are keeping skills that we might not have
• We are sticking with our vision!
Sticking With The Vision • Fast Paced Action • Don’t make decisions that slows down the game
• Fun With Friends • Make teamwork shine • Don’t let one player have fun at the expense of others
• Class Change Is King • Changing your class should always be a good choice
Summing Up • Start community work early
• Test early and often
• Stick with the tools you know
• Never tell me the odds!