How to develop, launch and grow a free-to-play MMO on Facebook without any external funding. (Presentation at Digital Shoreditch 2015)

1. How to build an indie Game-as-a-Service
(on a super low budget)

2. Hello!
I am Carsten Kisslat
Game Designer and Production Consultant,
based in London
Co-founder of Robot Riot, a small but
beautifully formed indie game studio

3. How to build a super low budget GaaS …
… without external funding
… with a $40 Facebook-Ad-voucher
… with a team spread over 2 countries and 4
cities
… and NOT “mobile first”

4. The Fishing Club 3D

5. The Fishing Club 3D

6. The Fishing Club 3D

7. The Fishing Club 3D
Facebook Canvas App (launched 11/2013)
Free-to-play MMO
Next-Gen Social
Club vs Club
Built with Unity3D

8. Some metrics
Avg. session time per player: 35 minutes
Up to 10,000 Daily Active Users (DAU)
Up to 2,000 concurrent users (CCU) at peak time
Live in Europe, North America, Asia
Main markets western & northern Europe / USA

9. Requirements
Software licences
Graphics
Sound
Servers (scaling!)
Marketing (FB)
Customer support
Payment provider
(FB)
Distribution platform
(FB)
Analytics (GA)

10. Requirements
Development took 8 months

11. Requirements
Revenue from day 1

12. So how can 5 guys in 4
cities with no budget
create an international
business?

13. Core team
Client & server development
Game design / Prod. Mngmt
2D & 3D graphics
Analytics
Marketing / PR
Community Support
External
Sound design (Sound of Games)
Additional 3D assets (Digital
Steam)
Accounting
Legal

14. Keep the costs down
No salaries until revenue covers costs: Boot-strapping, equity and
revenue share deals with external partners.
IT-Infrastructure costs were marginal when we started (€29 / month)
Graphic & sound asset costs were marginal. Embrace the Unity
Asset Store! (e.g. €65 for Nature Asset Pack. Approx. $200 for
sounds, title theme and jingles (sounddog.com) )
Development tool costs were marginal or zero
Virtual studio setup: A (free) team chat is our office

15. Development
Minimum viable product/features BUT maximum viable
documentation
Unity3D instead of custom engine
Agile decision making and execution
No HIPPO. No politics. No greenlighting. No BS.
Team chat + Agile PM tools = EFFICIENCY!
Launch version was not perfect but good enough™

16. Key decisions
Technology: Unity3D offers rapid prototyping/development and cross-platform support
Web-first strategy: Facebook Canvas App (No approval process. Deploy anytime. Low
player acquisition costs. Still huge audience on desktop. Still good virality and
discoverability.)
Sustainable monetization design (avg. 6+ payments / paying player. Paying players
show super high retention.)
Super simple core game loop with universal archetypal appeal.
Strong focus on community building (in-game chat) and Club vs Club gameplay.
Rapid feature and content updates (and bug fixes)
International business from day 1

17. Marketing & Player Acquisition
Comfortable niche with an emerging audience
$40 FB Ad voucher —> $400 revenue
Extremely low CPI on Facebook (as low as $0.20 vs
$1-3 on mobile)
Profitable campaigns enable organic growth
Lookalike audiences work very well on Facebook

18. Customer Support
Essential for building trust
Trust is essential for converting players into payers
Well behaved mature community (most of the time)
Clubs moderate themselves
Google Translate is my best friend

19. Wrap it up
We couldn’t have done this 10 years ago without external funding
Freemium tools and services enabled us to build a freemium international
business
Facebook Canvas was the perfect platform for take-off
Full control of IP and decision making process
Organic growth with lots of headroom left
Next stop: mobile
Amazing learning curve and experience!

20. Thank you!
carsten@robotriotgames.com
@carstenkisslat
my blog: www.kisslat.com