Date post: | 11-May-2015 |
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Technology |
Upload: | karl-bunyan |
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What I’ve learned from building and running one
Relatively low production costs (compared to conventional games)
Proven revenue generatorsA living wage can be made with a
few thousand daily usersNo sign of user-appetite drying up
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 2
Tens of thousands ofFacebook applications
Thousands of games
Games need to:Gain usersRetain usersMake money
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 3
Write developer monetisation tools Headliners (banner ads) for Social CashDevelop applications: Soccer Stars (20k MAU, 3k daily) Six Degrees of Separation (75k MAU) Which Vegetable Are You?
Plus “Which Car…?”, “Which Biscuit…?” etc Combined 750k installs, and then sold on
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 4
I wrote a handful of ZX Spectrum adventure games
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 5
Focusing on the area between casual and hardcore social games
Create long-term engagementA lifespan per user of months, not daysVirtual world/virtual economy game types
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 6
Football management : Challenge teams Buy and sell players Progress through a
league structure 20k MAU, 3k DAU >15 pages/visit 27% visit >200 times Makes around
$1k/week04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 7
Aka Things I’ve learnt from building Soccer Stars and how I should have built it
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5 things I’ve learnt, and how these have turned out in Soccer Stars
Assuming:A small team or solo effortVirtually non-existent marketing budgetNo tie-in license
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 9
1.Be easily defined Use an established game type or
theme Something users can easily understand
even before they play And will have emotional appeal
Choose a descriptive title Strongly appeal to a minority rather
than trying to suit all 1% of 250 million users is enough
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 10
1.Be easily defined – Soccer Stars
“Football Management” is an easily understandable subject
Could appeal to anybody who likes football (or soccer, given the US bias of the web)
Recognised game type But not over-crowded on Facebook, and
no “big name” competition04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 11
2.Recognise reasons for playing games
Types of players (from R.Bartle): Explorers, Socialisers, Achievers,
Controllers Pay attention to the learning curve
and player progress Create a feature roadmap
and be prepared to throw it away as soon as you launch
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 12
2.Recognise reasons for playing – Soccer Stars
Explorers: stadium and facility upgrades Socialisers: discussion boards, player
rivalry Achievers: move up the league system Controllers: an active transfer market
Soccer Stars is biased towards the “achievers”, but has elements of the other types:
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 13
3.Enable playing with strangers Add a social element Users may only have 1 or 2 Facebook
friends in the game Playing with strangers is the primary mode
Aim to become a niche social network Stickiness – users return Defensibility – harder to copy the game
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 14
3.Enable playing with strangers – Soccer Stars
League structures and a challenge system
Try to place beginner teams in the same league as friends
League discussion boards add a social element
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 15
4.Give reasons to share Viral mechanisms rarely work on
their own Users need some help, don’t assume
they’ll share just because they want to Incorporate virality through
interaction into the gameplay Build level-up accomplishments
that users want to publish04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 16
4.Give reasons to share – Soccer Stars
Invite friends to get them to join your team as players
Recruiting fans for a team increases match income
Feed stories to promoteachievements:
moving up the league winning promotion
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 17
5.Build for monetisation Create a need and provide a
monetisable way to satisfy it Design a system where wealth is
(generally) proportional to time invested
Spending money shortcuts the time investment
Use the possibility of loss as a motivator
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 18
5.Build for monetisation – Soccer Stars
Virtual currency Player transfer market Stadium upgrades and
coaching staff Reject hostile bids for
your players some of which may be your friends or partner
Enable buying of virtual currency
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 19
Summary
1. Be easily defined2. Recognise reasons for
playing3. Enable playing with
strangers4. Give reasons to share5. Build for monetisation
04/12/23 Confidential. Copyright (c) 2009 by SocialCash. 20
[email protected]/karlbunyan
apps.facebook.com/soccerstars
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