How to Succeed in the West: Stats, Best Practices and Common Mistakes for F2P Core Games (Kongregate F2P Monetization Presentation, Casual Connect Asia 2014)
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As a platform for free-to-play browser games for core gamers, Kongregate has a unique perspective and a wealth of data on what types of mechanics and characteristics of F2P games are most effective at maximizing player retention, monetization and satisfaction. David will begin by looking at the retention and monetization metrics of free-to-play games by Asian & Western developers. He will then share the best practices and game mechanics that Asian developers can learn from their Western counterparts, highlight common mistakes that Asian developers make in bringing their games to a Western audience, and cover specific DO’s and DON’Ts regarding game themes, gameplay mechanics, community management/customer support and pricing with specific examples. Asian developers will walk away with a better understanding of the Western market, how to avoid costly mistakes and how to maximize success in Western markets.
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How to Succeed in the West: Stats, Best Practices and Common Mistakes for F2P Core Games (Kongregate F2P Monetization Presentation, Casual Connect Asia 2014)
- 1. How to Succeed in the West: Stats, Best Practices and Common Mistakes for F2P Core Games David P Chiu Senior Director of Developer Relations & Business Development Kongregate, A GameStop Company
- 2. What is Kongregate? • Open platform for browser-based games – Flash, Unity, HTML5, Java, etc. – 96%+ of users already have Unity installed • 21M+ monthly unique visitors worldwide • Core gamers – 85% male, average age of 22 • MMOs, RPGs, CCGs/TCGs, TD, shooters, etc. • Platform level virtual currency “Kreds” for F2P games • Acquired by GameStop July 2010
- 3. Kongregate is also a mobile publisher of F2P games
- 4. Some of Kongregate’s Existing Developer Partners
- 5. Asian F2P vs Western F2P Stats (Quick summary from last year’s presentation)
- 7. ARPU and % Buyers
- 8. ARPU and % Repeats
- 9. ARPU and % 50+ gameplays
- 11. Asian vs Western Style • Asian games: High ARPPU, tight player funnel – Monetization caters well to big spenders • Western games: Lower ARPPU, wide player funnel – Monetization focuses more on initial retention and broad conversion to paid at lower prices • Some common mistakes by Asian developers when bringing their games to the West can contribute to the lower retention and conversion rates • What are common pitfalls to avoid and best practices to adopt?
- 12. What works in Asia doesn’t necessarily work in the West
- 13. • Puzzle & Dragons (5/8 – 5/15) – #1 Top Grossing Game in Japan – Top ~90-150 Grossing Game in US • P&D’s US ranking is still great but not as good relative to success in Japan What’s popular in Asia isn’t always popular in the West
- 14. • MT Card Battle from LocoJoy – Huge success in China – But much less successful in the US Can’t expect a game to be successful in the West just because it was successful in Asia What’s popular in Asia isn’t always popular in the West
- 15. What’s popular in Asia isn’t always popular in the West • Many successful games in Asia based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West • But Westerners are not familiar with these classical Chinese novels and themes • Less likely to play Asian-themed game (compared to a medieval themed game) • Also have trouble remembering Chinese names for characters and locations • Hard to follow the game story or even play the game
- 16. Example: Autumn Dynasty Warlords • RTS game set in ancient China • Great game but theme only appeals to a niche audience in the West DO consider how universal the game theme is and if it will appeal to Westerners
- 17. Auto-pathing and Auto-Combat • The last 2 years have seen a flood of auto-pathing/auto-combat games from Asia • Very popular game mechanics in Chinese MMOs • Convenient feature that speeds up the game • Reduces fatigue from grinding • But unpopular with Western gamers • Like interactivity, control and choice • Want to play a game, not watch a game play itself • Feel all auto-pathing/auto-combat games are the same
- 18. Auto-pathing and Auto-Combat • If a game has both manual and auto-combat options: DO show player both options and give ability to set the default (or default to manual combat) DON’T set the default to auto-combat
- 19. Attitudes Towards Free-to-Play and Pay-to-Win
- 20. Free-to-Play and Pay-to-win • Free-to-play games have become a dominant model worldwide • Asian developers and players are used to paying for power • But some Western developers and gamers still don’t like it • Some Western players avoid games they feel are “pay-to-win” or in which (big) spenders have too big of an advantage over free players – So avoid appearing outright as a pay-to-win game
- 21. Free-to-Play and Pay-to-win • Soften the perception of pay-to-win and avoid sticker shock: DO hide USD$100+ packages until after first purchase DON’T scare away potential players/buyers with high prices (Ex. “$400 packages?!?!”)
- 22. Sticker Stock: Extreme Edition • Chinese CCG game with VIP system • Earn VIP points by buying Gold (hard currency) • VIP points unlock VIP levels with increasing VIP bonuses • At launch, the developer stated outright that 200k gold is needed to unlock VIP10 • Players quickly calculated that it would cost USD$4,000 to unlock VIP10 • Players flooded game’s Comments Section • Even those that liked the game complained
- 23. Free-to-Play vs Pay-to-win • Developer removed 200k Gold for VIP10 text at Kongregate’s request • And no new complaints about the USD $4,000 cost of VIP10 DO be careful with messaging and placement of big ticket items in the shop DON’T come across as the extremely greedy, money-grubbing developer
- 25. “The Customer is Always Right” • Western customer culture is very different compared to Asia – Consumers feel more entitled, have higher expectations of customer service – Also more empowered (ability to get refunds, issue chargebacks, organize boycotts) • Need good community management and customer service teams to keep players satisfied
- 26. Community Management and Customer Service • The more time you invest playing a game, the more emotionally attached you become • Emotional investment can potentially lead to financial investment as well • Player less likely to spend in with inactive developer Will the game get updated? Will bugs get fixed? Does the developer even care? • Creating positive community and showing good customer service Players are more confident that their investment of time and money will not be wasted • Show the players that you are care about them (and not just making money) • Be visible – engage in chat, forums, etc • Be responsive – reply to common complaints/bugs/questions, purchase issues, etc. • Be informative – give advance notice for maintenance and changes
- 27. Communicating during a crisis Sometimes bad things happen (game does down, major bugs appear) and players will be upset • Effective crisis management can help calm the storm a little • Be open, transparent and honest • Post in the game forum to apologize and assure players that you are aware of the problem and are working on it • Don’t be silent! Players will think that you don’t care about them or the game. • Provide updates regularly even when you have nothing new to report (better than nothing) “We are still working to get the game back up ASAP. Sorry but please bear with us” • If you are unsure about when the issue can be fixed, avoid giving specific timelines • Don’t forget to express regret and acknowledge players’ frustration • “We know that this sucks as those in the middle of a Clan War will lose valuable time and gold from the downtime. We are sorry and we are working as fast as we can.”
- 28. After the crisis: Customer service is a chance to surprise and delight • Handle things quickly • Be generous with compensation • Poor compensation can make things worse • But don’t do something unless you’re willing to do it for everybody • Don’t forget to express regret – an apology goes a long way • Canned messages or short replies can come across cold or corporate • E.g. “It was fixed. You can play now.” No sympathy • Example of poor compensation making players angrier:
- 30. Timing is everything! • Specify time zones or set a server time and have it be visible so there is no confusion leading players to miss events/sales • Bar on top of Wartune’s loading screen clearly lists the server time, the next event’s start time and a countdown to it • If all players are in the same server (not split into US vs EU servers), then have at least 2 instances of an event so players in different time zones can join • Daylight Saving Time – be aware of when changes occur and make adjustments as needed so you don’t start events 1 hour early or late
- 31. Timing is everything! • Do not schedule maintenance if no one is around afterwards to make sure everything went well E.g. Chinese MMO dev does maintenance 5-7pm China time but everyone leaves work before maintenance is done • Maintenance fails and game is down for 12+ hrs • Big drop in daily revenue • Players unhappy with extremely long maintenance and lack of response from developer
- 32. You only get one chance to make a first impressions • Don't flood with fake reviews and comments as players are smart enough to know • Don't use art assets and sound effects/music from popular games Players will notice and rate down your game • Make sure that your game has a good translator
- 33. Remember: Commitment Matters Type of Player % Buyers Avg Trx ARPPU ARPU % Players % of Rev Non-Repeats 0.03% 2.1 $24.69 $0.01 43% 0% Repeats (2-9 plays) 0.40% 1.85 $19.61 $0.08 40% 3% Regs (10-49 plays) 4.68% 2.61 $21.35 $1.00 10% 12% Committed (50+ plays) 16.53% 7.03 $96.92 $16.02 7% 84% DO apply these learnings and best practices into your own game DON’T make the mistakes other Asian F2P developers have made in Western markets
- 34. THANK YOU For a copy of the presentation or questions, email davidchiu@gamestop.com For more talks & data visit developers.kongregate.com For web games contact us at apps@kongregate.com If you’re interested in mobile publishing it’s davidchiu@gamestop.com Follow us on Twitter: @EmilyG & @KongregateDevs
Notes de l'éditeur
- As a platform for free-to-play browser games for core gamers and mobile F2P publisher, Kongregate has a unique perspective and a wealth of data on what types of mechanics and characteristics of F2P games are most effective at maximizing player retention, monetization and satisfaction. We have developers from all over the world distribute their games on Kongregate.com, including many Asian developers. In this talk, I will share practices, highlight common mistakes that Asian developers make in bringing their games to a Western audience, and cover specific DO’s and DON’Ts regarding game themes, gameplay mechanics, community management/customer support and pricing with specific examples. You will walk away with a better understanding how to avoid costly mistakes and how to maximize success in Western markets.
- Hardcore gamers Driven by achievements (1M+ badges/wk) 96%+ of users already have Unity installed
- Some of Kongregate mobile games Millions of downloads – promotion through Kongregate and GameStop channels, Apple/Google features Tiny Dice Dungeon is by a Springloaded, a local indie developer based here in Singapore
- Here are some of the browser developers that we work with. We work with developers of all shapes and sizes from indies to big multinational companies. Most of the developers we work with are actually small independent developers.
- I also wanted to provide a quick summary for my presentation from last year’s Casual Connect Asia
- ARPU on Y-axis ARPPU on X-axis Each bubble represents a game and the size of the bubble represents revenue Cluster at bottom left is single player games Green bubbles are games by Western developers Brown are games by Asian devs Purple are mixed (Western developer based in Asia or vice-versa) Average ARPPU for a multiplayer game from Asia: $181 Average for Western multiplayer game: $51 Only 9 Western games have an ARPPU above $100 ARPPU is the main factor in high ARPU for Asian games, important factor for all games
- Asian games tend to have lower % buyers Western game tend to have higher conversion rates Data is a few month older than the data used in the previous graphs so #s are smaller for some games (e.g. game at $350 ARPPU in this graph is at $450 ARPPU in previous graph because users had more time to spend in the game)
- Asian games also tend to have lower initial retention as you can see here Western games tend to have higher initial retention Data is a few month older than the data used in the previous graphs so #s are smaller for some games (e.g. game at $350 ARPPU in this graph is at $450 ARPPU in previous graph because users had more time to spend in the game)
- And consequently also less players making it deep into the game since Asian games lose more players in the early game Data is a few month older than the data used in the previous graphs so #s are smaller for some games (e.g. game at $350 ARPPU in this graph is at $450 ARPPU in previous graph because users had more time to spend in the game)
- Let’s put the data in chart form You can see a strong correlation between long term retention and monetization- a player can only spend if they are still in the game! The more they plan, the more they are likely to buy, buy multiple times, spend more per transaction and overall. Revenue is dramatically weighted towards those who play a game very, very deeply – more than 80% of revenue comes from the 2% of players with more than 100 lifetime sessions Asian multiplayer games lose more players in the early part of the funnel, but more than make up for it by getting extremely deep investments from their most dedicated players.
- What are possible factors for the differences? What can Asian developers do to improve player retention and % buyers? Some common mistakes by Asian developers may account for some lower retention and % buyers
- Puzzle & Dragons (5/8 – 5/15) #1 Top Grossing Game in Japan Top ~90-150 Grossing Game in US P&D’s US ranking is still great but not as good relative to success in Japan
- Western gamers may also have trouble remembering Chinese names for characters and locations. This can make it harder harder to follow the game story or even play the game if the player can’t distinguish between different Chinese names
- Autumn Dynasty Warlords is from a local Singaporean developer (Touch Dimensions)
- Autho-pathing is a common mechanic in Chinese MMOs in which clicking on a quest automatically makes your character move to the desired location to complete the quest Auto-combat in these games basically start the battle and has the computer AI complete the battle with no input whatsoever from the player Player comments complaining about how these games play themselves, are all the game and are not interactive (with lots of upvotes!)
- Ex. Chinese MMO (Tales of Solaris) which featured auto- and manual combat. But they set the default mode to auto combat Some players didn’t even know there was a manual combat mode (which made the game actually more fun and interactive, like a console turn-based Japanese RPG) We asked the developer to set the default mode to manual combat instead of auto This led to higher player rating and initial retention
- Example of Wargaming removing all P2W monetization mechanics in World of Tanks and only selling cosmetic items. It may or may not work for them. But monetizing off just cosmetic items is very hard unless you have a a big volume of users and a high res 3D game in which the players can see the difference in appearance and show it off to others.
- Example from Dragons of Atlantis which had a top hard currency package of USD$400 Incredulous players bombarded the game’s Comments Section Hiding the big packages led to players not complaining about it anymore Don’t scare away potential players or buyers The more you play a game, the more likely you are to buy and the less price sensitive you become. In other words, as you become more invested in the game, time-wise and emotionally, the more likely you are to become also financially invested in the game.
- CCG game with VIP system Earn VIP points by buying Gold (hard currency) VIP points unlock VIP levels with increasing VIP bonuses (gamifying purchasing like airlines/hotels) At launch, the developer stated outright that 200k gold is needed to unlock VIP10 (highest level) Players quickly calculated that it would cost USD$4,000 to unlock VIP Players flooded game’s Comments Section pointed this
- We asked the developer to remove the text about 200k Gold needed for VIP10 and player anguish subsided
- Asians developers usually just say that the issue has been fixed and never really apologize for issues or use canned responses that do not come across as sincere: “We are sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience and keep playing the game!”
- The common mistakes highlighted in this presentation are factors that contribute to lower retention and % buyers for F2P games from Asian developers The mistakes introduce friction to the user experience. Friction causes you to lose players which will decrease your retention. Reduce long term retention leads to reduced monetization.
- This is about how you think about your business.