G3 GDC 2015 - Bringing Western Mobile Games to China
1. G3 - Golden Gate Games
GDC 2015
Challenges of Bringing Western
Mobile Games to China
2. G3 - Golden Gate Games, Inc. - GDC 2015
G3 Introduction
Keith McCurdy
20 years game industry executive; console, online, web, mobile.
12 years Electronic Arts; VP Product, VP Online, VP Technology.
Launched EA’s Online Gaming business. First MMO.
Multiple time VC backed CEO (KPCB, MDV, VPVP).
David Zhu
Chinese born serial entrepreneur, founder of 4 startups.
PhD Stanford grad lives ½ time in China and ½ in Silicon Valley.
Sold first China based game development business to Disney.
Built a 2nd successful China based game business which worked with
leading western game companies EA, Disney, Zynga, etc.
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3. G3 - Golden Gate Games, Inc. - GDC 2015
What G3 Does…
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G3 enables western (US/EU) mobile game developers to access
the huge and fast growing mobile gaming market in China.
Identify mobile games that will monetize well in China.
License the game for Android and iOS in China.
Extensive Culturalization of the game for the unique game
play and monetization needs of Chinese gamers.
Publish the game via dozens of Chinese app stores.
Operate the game with ongoing content, community events,
online marketing, and live operations activities.
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So, Why Care About China?
The Obvious…IT IS REALLY BIG
Chinese are Avid Gamers
#1 PC and #1 Mobile
Mobile Phone Growth
200m new Android phones per year.
Largest iPhone market in world.
China Mobile Gaming Growth
While Growth in the West has Stalled…
China Is The Largest Mobile Gaming Market In World, And It Will
Continue To Widen That Gap In The Coming Years.
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5. G3 - Golden Gate Games, Inc. - GDC 2015
So, Why Care About China?
And the Not So Obvious….
Pushing the Envelope in F2P Game Design - China is on the
cutting edge of F2P monetization techniques. There is a lot to learn
that can fold back into your game designs for world wide players.
Proving Your Games “Work” in China – Showing that your IP
works in China and you understand the largest market in the world
will increase the valuation of your company.
Incremental Revenue to Compete - If you exploit your game
wisely in China (low costs) you can generate cash flow to
invest back into creating more IP.
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So What Can I Do ?
Why Can’t I Just Localize My Game & Release In China?
What About Distribution & Marketing?
How Many App Stores Are There? Which Ones Matter? How Do
I Work With Them? What Do They Want? How Do I Market?
Can I Actually Do Business in China?
International Banking, Legal Issues, IP Protection, etc.
Do Games in China Need Live Operations?
Can I Just Launch and Forget? Will My US Servers Work? Do I Need
to Manage the Community? What About Live Events?
What Is This “Culturalization” Thing I Hear About?
Even if Everything Above Was Solved…You Still Need…
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Culturalization Overview
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Menus
Tutorials
Leveling
Difficulty
First User Exp.
Pacing
User Interface/Experience
Consumables
Depth / Whales
Vanity
Pay Wall
Aggressiveness
Gotcha
Monetization
Style
Colors
Objects
Cultural
Levels
Characters
Art & Content
Social
Leaderboards
Friends
Live Ops
Multiplayer
Events
Network Features
Local Servers
Analytics APIs
Ad Networks APIs
Payment APIs
File Size Versions
Localization
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UI & Engagement Examples
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Western China
Bubble Blaze,
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UI & Engagement Examples
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Player Avatar. Need For
Friends And Social Features
Health Score Move To Near
The Avatar
Change The Map To Be Linear
And Vertical – Easier For
Player To Find A Level And To
Know Where They Are
System Notice – For
Announcements
Rewards: From Events,
Holidays, And Others
Daily Check In
Slots For Gotcha Mechanic
Rolling Messages/News UI
Functional Icons, Including
Events, Pets, Shop, Friends,
Bubble Blaze,
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Monetization Examples
10Bubble Blaze,
Pets Power Ups Inventory
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Monetization Examples
11Bubble Blaze,
Gotcha Daily Prize
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Style & Design Examples
12Bubble Blaze,
App Store
Icons
Marketing
Material
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Style & Design Examples
13Bubble Blaze,
Splash Screen Pets
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Core Game Mechanic
14Bubble Blaze,
Western China
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Wrap Up…
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Take Away Points…
China is the Largest Mobile Gaming Market in the World.
Chinese Gamers Have Very Different Expectations.
They Require Significant and Thoughtful Culturalization.
Culturalization Requires Real Product Development Skills.
Culturalization Should Include Social & Network Features.
Live Operations and Services are Very Important.
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Thank You
Keith McCurdy
keith@GoldenGateGames.com
www.GoldenGateGames.com
Follow us @G3MobileGames
Notes de l'éditeur
Those that mine China for revenue will be able to outspend you in creative investment in the future. So you HAVE to do it, even if you don’t want to. Maybe not at first launch. But anyone successful should be looking at China as a territory to exploit their game in…
China is on the cutting edge of monetization techniques in F2P. There is a lot to learn. This is what monetization will look like in the west…
When someone buys your development company and your 1 or 2 or 3 games, they want to know that they “work in China”. That will create a lot more value for you. So even if you just prove that out to a couple million$ a year, that could $10s of million to the sale price of your company.
Many App Stores – Lots of points of contacts, lots of builds, lots of promotion, lots of meetings, lots of issues, lots of payments systems, reporting systems, travel, etc.
Business Model – Payment is different, different channels are different, SMS billing,
Market Profile – 4 different Chinas. Big Cities professionals, Tier Two Cities, Workers in Factories and Dormitories, Rural
Culturalization – This is the BIG one…. Even if everything else could be solved, you would still be releasing the WRONG game, the wrong UI, the wrong monetization tuning, the wrong File size, running the wrong events, and so on….
Also, legal, govt regulation, advertising networks, etc. etc. etc.