AgendaIntroduction
• Frictionless and interactive on-boarding
• A hierarchical approach to game loop at session, day and week level
• Aggressive rewarding process that constantly gives player momentum
Last few years has seen radical improvement in retention mechanics in F2P :
GARDENSCAPES STAR WARS GALAXY OF HEROES CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS
Strong task system to direct player Escalating rewards for daily play Strong elder player loop
AgendaF2P monetization
• ‘GOOD’ retention (e.g. D1 retention of 40% and D7 of 15%) will give an ‘average’ player lifetime of 15 days
• So if you want a $1.50 LTV (i.e. $1 net LTV) need an ARPDAU of 10¢ **
• In the deltaDNA platform, currently fewer than 30% of games would achieve this.
30%
However running a profitable F2P game is still difficult…
**All revenue figures gross (i.e. before app store cut)
AgendaWhy games struggles?
1. Too generous to non-payers
2. IAP is too cheap
3. No drive for spenders to spend again
4. Not enough Whales
Why do games with good retention struggle to monetize?
AgendadeltaDNA study
• 100 best performing games by MAU
• Roughly even split across genres: Puzzle, Action, Strategy
• Just iOS
• Just US players
Can use deltaDNA data across many games to answer these questions
Charts that follow are for:
AgendaToo generous
Day 7 Retention vs. Day 7 Spender%
• Day 7 Spenders: %Players active on day 7who have spent at any point
• High Day 7 retention no guarantee ofgood monetization!
• 38% of games with D7 > 10% have 10cARPDAU
• 54% of games with D7 Spenders > 10%have 10c ARPDAU
AgendaIAP is too cheap
Conversion does not decrease if minimum price point is increasedBut… ARPDAU increases dramatically
Does not include starter bundles / promotions – just standard pricing
Price point lower than $2 devalues game significantly
Q3 = 75th percentile of games studied; M = median of games, Q1 = 25th percentile of games
AgendaNot enough Whales
Hard to get to 10¢ ARPDAU without at least 5% of spenders being Whales
Whale > $100/month
AgendaGetting to 10¢ ARPDAU
If you want 10¢ ARPDAU, you need:• Day 7 retention > 10%• Payers on day 7 > 10%• Min. price point > $2• At least 3 spends / spender• At least 5% whales ( > $100 lifetime spend)
16% of games achieve all thisAll that do have ARPDAU > 10¢; 30¢ mean ARPDAU
How can this be achieved? (via analytics of course!)
Derive basic KPI goals from these charts
**All revenue figures gross (i.e. before app store cut)
AgendaHow to do it?
• Need at least 1,000 spenders to get any answers from analytics
• At 2% conversion rate, this means 50k players(i.e. serious soft-launch with marketing spend)
• Want to get basics right before this:‣ Core game must drive committed players towards IAP‣ IAP pricing should be well thought-out‣ Game must drive repeat conversion
Recipe to build a high LTV game
AgendaCarrot vs stick
Either way, it must be deeply integrated into the core game loop
Design: driving conversion
Premium experience
Flexible play
Pros: Naturally leads to repeat purchase
Cons: Hard to design
Resource pinch points
Pay walls
Pros: Easy to construct
Cons: Increases churn
R E W A R D P U N I S H
AgendaGood monetisation strategies
CLASH ROYALE
‘Soft’ pinch points
BEST F IENDS FOREVER
Integrated into core reward loop
GOLF CLASH
Well balanced bundle offers Gacha and collection mechanics
STAR WARS: GALAXY OF HEROES
AgendaBuilding analytics into design
Three step process to drive design-analytics cycle
1. KPIs (is there a problem?)
2. Shallow (where is there a problem?)
3. Deep (what is the problem?)
Developing these mechanics via analytics
Agenda
STEP STEP STEP
K P I S H A L L O W D E E P
Example: Repeat spend
Lifetime conversion > 2%but…
Daily conversion < 1% Spends by level Spender economy balance
Agenda
STEP STEP STEP
K P I S H A L L O W D E E P
Example: Pricing
Is my minimum price < $2
Daily conversion > 1%but…
ARPPU = $8
Yes
Agenda
STEP STEP STEP
K P I S H A L L O W D E E P
Example: Whales
Lifetime conversion > 2%Daily conversion > 1%Min. price point > $2
but…ARPDAU = 6c
Most whales build up via daily spend of moderate amounts Look at player spending patterns
AgendaUsing analytics
• Ability to track and analyze player behavior at granular level
• Ability to build custom reports and track bespoke KPIs over time
• Ability to test quickly and report detailed impact of tests (not just p-value)
How analytics technology can support decision making?
AgendaConclusion
Designing a successful game is not easy!
Using analytics it is possible to identify and understand underperforming aspects and improve
BUT…