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Community Building in Free-to-Play Games: How to Turn Minnows Into Whales
1. Community Building in Free-to-Play Games:
How to Turn Minnows Into Whales
Rob Winkler, CEO
5th Planet Games
2. Rob Winkler aka Felendis
Co-Founder (2009), CEO
– Lead Game Design on All Products
– Provide Company Direction
– Give Moderately Entertaining Presentations
Gaming Fanatic
– EQ, WoW, D3, Madden Social (I’m a whale!),
Halo, etc.
Husband and Father of 4 Little
Gamers…and a fifth gamer on the way
Who am I?
3. Founded in 2009
Launched first game, Dawn of the Dragons, in 2010
2010 = 5 people, $300k in revenue
2011 = 15 people, $3m in revenue
2012 = 30 people, $10M in revenue
2013 = 55 people, $15M in revenue
Where we are at now:
4 games live on 9 platforms (social & mobile)
New Game in the works (Fall Release)
5th Planet Games
Confidential. Do not distribute.
4. • Get ideas for product development
• Boost virality and user acquisition
• Improve engagement & retention
• Monetize more effectively
Why Cultivate Community?
Confidential. Do not distribute.
5. • There was no formula for us
• We made games we would want to play
• We Treat our community how we want to
be treated
• We Interact with community on a daily
basis.
• Run contests, giveaways, etc.
• Ask for feedback and implement results
The Roots of Our Community
6. • Guilds represent the highest level of
engagement
• Players in Guilds play more often
and for longer sessions.
• Guilds systems range from 25 to 250
players, depending on the game.
• Designed to focus on reengagement
Guilds
7. • Data for Dawn of the Dragons:
– 30% of the MAUs are in Guilds
– 85% of the DAUs are in Guilds
– Players in Guilds are 8.5x more likely to monetize
– APRU in a Guild is 53x higher than non-Guild
Guild Monetization
8. • The most intense way we engage is with Councils.
• Councils are different for each game and are held every 9-12 months.
• Council members are asked for direct, no BS feedback.
• Council members come with their own priority lists.
• Two half/travel days, two days of intense work.
• Council has daily contact with the dev. team via Skype.
• Bottom line: They understand the game better than
anyone, even us.
Councils
9. • Simple example in Clash of the Dragons: Drafts
• Prior to our first “Clash Council,” drafts were won by
winning one battle vs. your opponent.
• Draft monetization stats:
– 19% of game revenue from drafts
– Draft discounts were the 4th best sale we ran
– We were geniuses for having set these rules
• After the Clash Council unanimously told us we weren’t
geniuses, we changed the format to the best two out of
three.
– 35% of game revenue from drafts
– Draft discounts are the top sale now (people “camp
out” for these)
– We are geniuses for listening to our players
Council Monetization
10. • We have over 1M forum posts
• Dedicated forum moderators and community
managers for each game
• EVERY post gets read and actioned if warranted
• 25% of our payroll is associated with community
interaction
Forums
11. Forum Monetization
• 41 of our top 50 whales (players that have
spent over $500) have at least 5 posts on our
forums.
• 50+% of forum posters with more than 20 posts
have monetized.
12. World Raids/Legions/PvP
• World Raids: Individal Rewards as well as
cooperative community Rewards.
Participation is boosted because others count
on an individuals contribution.
• Legions:
• PvP:
14. • Building a strong community is good for the
players, the game, and company.
• Direct, intense, focused player feedback is
extremely valuable.
• The better your Guild system, the better your
important metrics will be.
• We are not in the gamed industry, we are
games as a service.
• Deeply engaged users are much more likely to
spend and at vastly higher rates.
TL;DR Version
