In "Bejeweled Blitz: One Year in the Life of a Top-Grossing Mobile Game," PopCap's Giordano Bruno Contestabile will discuss how Bejeweled Blitz made the jump from Facebook to iOS, and became one of the platform's most long-lasting success stories. Along the way, he'll explain how other cross-platform social game developers can emulate that success by combining smart game design, data analysis, and more.

1. One Year in the Life of a Top-Grossing Game:
Operating and Growing Bejeweled Blitz
Giordano Bruno Contestabile
Executive Producer – Bejeweled, PopCap Games
November 17th, 2012
Twitter: @giordanobc

2. Some quick facts • Launched in late 2000
• History: Bejeweled, Bejeweled 2,
Bejeweled Twist, Bejeweled Blitz,
Bejeweled 3
• Key platforms: Facebook, iOS,
PC/Mac
• Units sold: > 55 million
• Installs: > 200 million
• MAUs: > 25 million
• Total users: 500 million+

3. One Very Long Minute
 History of Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook & iOS
 December 2008: Bejeweled Blitz launches on Facebook
 November 2009: Blitz mode and FB Connect added to Bejeweled 2 iOS client
 December 2011: Bejeweled Blitz iOS launches as a freemium title
 3+ years from launch, still consistently popular:
• Facebook: top 10 games by DAU (3M+)
• iPhone: top 10 highest-grossing games
 One of the first games to be fully integrated across FB and iOS

4. Traditional PopCap model
1. Make game
2. Wait (years) for game to be made
3. Profit!!!
3 YEARS

5. Live service model
1. Prototype
2. It’s fun!
3. Production!
4. Telemetry first
5. MVP
6. Closed Beta
7. Open beta
8. Launch
9. Keep going!
MONTH 1-3 MONTH 4-9 MONTH 9-12 YEARS 2-10

6. Why We Changed
• Every game we make is a service
• Needs to be updated and improved over time
• Every game we make is free to play
• Reach 10x the audience, need regular events to keep engaged
• The distinction between product and business has disappeared
• One interdisciplinary team
• Product innovation drives business innovation, and vice versa

7. How Does Our
Business Model
Work?

8. Boosts
• Low-priced in-game effects meant to be used regularly
• Balanced not to grant excessive advantages
• The better player will still score higher on average

9. Rare Gems
• Higher-impact bonuses
• Can be activated every few games, appearing randomly
• Require skill to be fully taken advantage of
• Entertainment value as important as effect

10. Daily Spins
• Slot machine mechanic granting in-game currency
• 1 free “daily spin” every day
• Additional “daily spin” can be purchased

11. Key tenets
• “Play forever”: no pay walls or limitations for non-paying users
• Game is fun and balanced also without paying
• Pay to have fun, not because the games forces or punishes you
• Server-side code to tweak economy in real time
• Events really important: busy marketing calendar

12. Marketing Efforts

13. Marketing Mix
Ads on Bejeweled
Blitz Facebook
“Free App Of The Day”
programs
Mobile Ads “Apple Love”

14. Result analysis
• Vast majority of downloads from:
• “Apple love”
• Chart position
• Organic searches
• Existing Blitz players
• Free app programs didn’t drive significant installs
• Encouraging conversion from paid advertising
• Very high CPI on iOS ($1 to $4)
• Organic growth more valuable than paid growth
• Sustained efforts more effective than “burst” actions

15. What Did We Learn?

16. “Casual” gamers?
• 86% of active players play every day
Frequency of play
Once a month
Every 2 weeks
Once a week
Few times / week
Every day
Multi times / day

17. iOS: A Very Efficient Platform
Key Metrics iOS (FB = 100)
Daily Active Users Weekly Average 48%
ARPU DARPU 229%
Engagement Games / day 100%
Retention 7-day retention 193%
Monetization % of paying users 205%
But iOS players have
multiple, shorter,
sessions
iOS performs 2x Facebook in several key metrics

18. Not all mobile players want to be social
Approximately 18% of Blitz iOS
downloads have activated Facebook
Connect…
• FB Connect was required to unlock full features
• Launched “Universal Mode” in June 2012
• FB-connected users tend to spend more
…but over
40% of DAU
use FB
Connect

19. UI matters. A lot
From this: To this:
Snazzier presentation!
Satisfying lever
pulling!
Clearer payouts!
 Average revenue from Daily Spin increased 131%

20. UI matters. A lot
2X

21. Key Lessons

22. Be metrics-informed, don’t be metrics-driven

23. Specialize, but share knowledge

24. Huge features are dangerous: go for small sprints when you can

25. Cross-platform is hard, but can be worth it

26. Don’t underestimate players’ willingness to spend
(but give them fun in exchange)

27. Thanks!
Questions?
@giordanobc