1.
Behavioral Economics in Games
Why Players Do Not Always Make
Rational Decisions and How to Use it
When Developing Games
29–31 May 2018 | London
Vasiliy Sabirov
lead analyst
devtodev

2.
Behavioral economics
Classical economics implies that all
subjects act rationally.
Behavioral economics says the
opposite.

3.
Survivorship bias
Source

4.
Survivorship bias

5.
Survivorship bias
Surveys and customer development should be done not only for
your current users, but also for those who churned.
Not only for those who pay, but also for non-paying users.
Don’t focus only on success.

6.
Selective perception

7.
Selective perception
Community management:
● there will always be dissatisfied players;
● focus on negative aspects;
● learn to settle situations.

8.
Behavioral economics
Source

9.
Endowment effect
● people value things that they already own more than those they
can get
● don’t take away virtual currency, players will find where to
spend it themselves
● instead of taking away, give less (but give!) resources

10.
Endowment effect
● create a trial version
● give players an opportunity to invest something in your game
● opportunity to dress up a character

11.
Endowment effect
Source

12.
Tricks and experiments
Opportunity to choose
Source

13.
Tricks and experiments
Paradox of choice
Source

14.
Tricks and experiments
Paradox of choice
Source

15.
Tricks and experiments
4 types of prices:
○ Rounded ($37)
○ Rounded with zeros ($34,00)
○ Exact ($24,35)
○ «Charm» (39,99$ or 34,95$)
Source

16.
Tricks and experiments
○ round numbers are easier and quicker to comprehend than exact
numbers;
○ our brain reads numbers from left to right;
○ don’t use exact prices if a good is related to emotional purchases;
○ if the price is less than 10$, use «charm» prices regardless of a good
category
Source

17.
Tricks and experiments
The .99 prices
Source

18.
Tricks and experiments
Bait:
○ web subscription (59$)
○ print subscription (125$)
○ print + web subscription (125$)
Source

19.
Tricks and experiments
Bait:
■ web subscription (59$) - 16%
■ print subscription (125$) - 0%
■ print + web subscription (125$) - 84%
ARPU = $114.44
Source

20.
Tricks and experiments
Bait:
○ web subscription (59$)
○ print subscription (125$)
○ print + web subscription (125$)
Source

21.
Tricks and experiments
Bait:
○ web subscription (59$) - 68%
○ print subscription (125$)
○ print + web subscription (125$) - 32%
ARPU = $80.12
Source

22.
Tricks and experiments
Source

23.
Tricks and experiments
Anchoring
Source

24.
Tricks and experiments
Anchoring
The share of African countries in the UN?
More than 65%? How much?
Sources

25.
Tricks and experiments
Anchoring
The share of African countries in the UN?
More than 10%? How much?
Source

26.
Tricks and experiments
Anchoring
● Anchor 65% -> 45%
● Anchor 10% -> 25%
Source

27.
Tricks and experiments
Anchoring
Source

28.
Tricks and experiments
Anchoring - conclusions
● don’t make prices too low;
● give an expensive alternative;
● show it first.
Source

29.
Трюки и эксперименты
Power of free
Free vs Paid:
● Кейс Amazon:
○ заказать одну книгу за $20 + $5 за доставку?
○ заказать одну книгу за $20 + одну за $15 + доставка за $0?
Примеры доминанты “бесплатного”:
● F2P-игры
● ночь музеев
● кейс с подарком в виртуальной валюте
Источник

30.
Tricks and experiments
The power of free
People like when something’s free:
● Night of museums
● F2P games
● Free samples
Gifts in currency:
● 30% in short-term revenue
● 10% in long-term revenue
Source

31.
Tricks and experiments
Visualization of what needs to be bought
Source

32.
Tricks and experiments
Visualization - how to use it?
● the order of packages in the shop;
● “the most popular offer” and other
additional information
Source

33.
Tricks and experiments
A few more recommendations
○ The rule of the hundred
■ P < $100 -> discount in %
■ P > $100 -> discount in $
○ Choose numbers with fewer syllables;
○ Visualize difference between two prices;
○ The currency symbol is important: if you don’t specify currency, conversion
can be higher.
Source

34.
Conclusions
People make emotional decisions,
especially in games. Games are an
emotional product.
Our aim is to turn this players’
feature into a win-win strategy.

35.
In today’s highly competitive F2P market creating a good game is only a part of success. There
are so many problems that developers have to solve during the app lifecycle.
www.devtodev.com
There are so many
problems that game developers
have to solve

36.
www.devtodev.com
Here’s how
we work

37.
THANK YOU!
Vasiliy Sabirov
lead analyst
www.devtodev.com
sabirov@devtodev.com
www.devtodev.com