The Essential Steps For Mobile Games Success Todd Marks CEO Todd.Marks@mindgrub.com @mindgrub
2 6 Key Steps To A Successful App
Brief History
Growth of the Gadget http://conmoz.org/mobile-trends/mobile-devices-3g/?lang=en 4
Gaming Timeline Genre Innovation 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1998 1996 1994 1992 1990 1988 1986 1984 1982 1980 5
Trends in Console Gaming Graphics, Graphics Graphics Deep Rich Storylines Connectivity MMO Massive Multiplayer Online Games Life Beyond the Story: Unlocks, Replayability, Network Game play Appeal to Hardcore Gamers 6
Trends in Console Gaming Graphics Deep, Rich Storylines Connectivity MMO Massive Multiplayer Online Games Life Beyond the Story: Unlocks, Replayability, Network Game play Appeal to Hardcore Gamers 7
8 Casual Gaming Online Social Games
9 Casual Gaming Widening Demographics
10 Casual Gaming Socializing & Competition
Mobile Gaming Explosion Low Barriers Cheap- $1.07 and decreasing with freemium model Freemium Model- roughly 3% spending on in-app purchases 11
12 Mobile Gaming Explosion
Mobile Gaming Explosion Simplicity Game story Controls/ Intuitive Play Time & Length of levels 13
Mobile Gaming Explosion Connectivity 3G Connectivity- share or download a new game any time! 14
15 Mobile Genre Innovation- Fragmentation?
16 Mobile Genre Innovation- Fragmentation?
Production: What Makes a Good Mobile Game?
Game Design and Mechanics Games tell a story What is the setting? Who is the hero? Who is the villain? What are the hero's desires? 18
Game Design and Mechanics Cues Visual Audio Dynamic 19
Addicting Game Components Make the game easy and fun Lots of short levels More content they can unlock Depth- building up from a simple to difficult game play 20
Appropriate Game Controls Controlsntrols One touch/swipe controls Multi touch controls Gyroscopic Games 21
Popular Games
Top Games as comment "M5" all on one scree One touch controls Virtual Currency Great Graphics Unlocks and power-ups 23
Fruit Ninja Simplicity One touch control Not many short levels but one continuous 24
Where s My Water Where s My Water Simple controls Physics based interactions Many short levels- increasing difficulty makes more interesting over time Fantastic Character and level design 25
Words with Friends Where s My Water 3G connectivity Socialization Human Connection- Drives Competition, Emotional Investment 26
Temple Run Continuous level-stats Very easy controls that use smartphones well-swipe/touch accelerometer Easy, Simple & Fast! 27
28 Summary of Current Landscape
Mobile Game Engines
Game Engines Corona SDK Fast development time Affordable when compared with a tool such as Game Salad No Objective-C Good support No access to native API 30
Game Engines Cocos2d Ease of use Speed through the use of OpenGL ES Flexibility and simple integrations such as Box2D- and Chipmunkbased physics Support from a large, friendly community 31
Game Engines Unity for 3D Open Source Supports nearly all console and mobile platforms Deferred Rendering- Creates rich 3D environments while saving maximum space 32
Monetization
34 Mobile Gaming :: Scuba Adventures
35 Download Cost
Why Pay? Clickz Stats Expanded features and capabilities (77 percent) Remove ads (44 percent) Trial expired (35 percent) To support the developer (22 percent) Curiosity (16 percent) 36
Mobile Ad Frameworks Google AdSense Millennial Media iad AdMob Brightroll Greystripe InMobi Jumptap MdotMSAY Media ZestADZ 37
Freemium Free To Play. Costs to unlock additional content Apple, Android and Amazon all Keep 30% Barnes and Noble most likely will do the same 38
Subscription Similar to Freemium which uses and In-App Purchase Apple, Android and Amazon all Keep 30% 39
Distribution
Distribution ios Apps Must go into the App store Amazon and Kindle Apps must go into their respective stores Google Apps can be distributed a number of different ways including Email, posting on website and several 3 rd Party distribution channels. 3 rd Party Distribution Channels include: Amazon, GetJar, AppBrain, Appsfire 41
User Acquisition
43 ipad Applications : GEICO Glovebox
44 Case Study :: Escape From Detention
User Acquisition Can no longer just stick it in the store Good SEO practice with Social Media Marketing Dark Art of App Store Optimization. 45
46 Submission To The Store
Mobile Marketing Steps to Measure ROI 1) Establish - a Baseline to measure results 2) Create an Activity Timeline Activites, Social Data, Web Data, Transactions 3) Monitor Sales Revenue How often customers make transactions. How many customers you are reaching. How much customers are spending. ROI = (Gain from Investment - Cost of Investment) Cost of Investment 47
How Do They Find It Clickz Stats Categories (57 percent) Search (57 percent) Featured - new (52 percent) Top 25 overall (52 percent) Features - what's hot (48 percent) Featured - personalized recommendations (e.g., Apple's Genius) (18 percent) Ads in other apps (12 percent) 48
Engagement & Retention
50 Engagement & Retention
Analysis Flurry Google Analytics Appboy 51
The Future of Games
53 Last Month- Convergence
Convergence- Bigger, Better, Faster, Social Social/Network game play Upgrades in hardware Network Upgrades 54
55 Convergence- Location Based Mobile Social
56 Convergence- AR Games
57 App Gear- Amplified Reality
Questions? Todd Marks President & CEO todd.marks@mindgrub.com @mindgrub