Anatomy of an Event:How to Improve Retention and Monetization

via In-Game EventsBryan Mashinter

Game Director - Backflip Studios@bryanmash

Life is about expectations.

Defining an Event• Engagement Event

• Speaking from the perspective of mobile, but an Engagement Event should NOT require a new binary or version download.

• These types of events are generally shorter in duration and require little energy/time from the player.

• Things should be skewed in the player’s favor.• Monetization should NOT be the primary goal.*

Defining an Event• Engagement Event - Examples• Kairos’ Birthday• Om of Noms• Twin Weekend

Defining an Event• Enrichment Event

• Can (and should) require more effort with commensurate rewards.

• Unique currency/content. • Limited time.• Greater sense of urgency,

still balanced for fun.

Defining an Event• Enrichment Event - Examples

• Light/Dark Event - Community Based• Seasonal/Holiday Events

• Important note. Feel free to make stuff up.

Impact of an Enrichment EventEnrichment Event Data

Magic Holidays '13 Eggs '14 Fireflies Candy '14 Holidays ‘14 Roses '15Est Revenue Lift 107% 184% 209% 165% 155% 331% 189%

Est DAU Lift 36% 26% 39% 24% 23% 34% 27%

ARPDAU Lift 52% 126% 122% 114% 107% 220% 128%

Impact of an Enrichment EventEven more tiny numbers no will be able to read

Eggs '15 StarFall Faire Candy '15 Holidays ‘15 Roses '16Est Revenue Lift 148% 67% 59% 96% 352% 168%

Est DAU Lift 25% 9% 14% 11% 60% 14%

ARPDAU Lift 98% 53% 39% 76% 182% 135%

Balancing an Event• What are your goals, both as a product and as a business?

• Do you want more people to spend, or people to spend more? Obviously the answer is both, but what is the actual target?

Balancing an EventSessions

1 3 WKND MAX

How many times do you visit others? 0 2 0 5

What place do you recive in the colosseum? 3 2 3 1

How many Clearables do you clear? 0 0 0 0

How many Harvests do you perform per day? 5 11 5 75

How many Habitats do you collect from per day? 10 20 10 75

How many gifts do you get from friends? 0 3 0 7

How efficient are you at finding special NPCs? 15.00% 25.00% 15.00% 100.00%

How many times do you complete quests? 0 1 0 3

How many times do you breed dragons? 1 3 1 5

How many turns do you take on island games 5 10 5 10

How often do you do island challenges 0.5 1 0.5 5

How often do you collect from a full Parade 0 0 0 0

How to Learn from your Events

Stupid Mistakes

Stupid Mistakes• Lack of Urgency - Hoarding in the Summer Event.• Poorly communicated times, especially for limited time content.• Accidentally gave away TRILLIONS of our event currency.• Accidentally ended the event early. Twice.• Forgot to account for Daylight Savings.• Typo that gave away $3.4mil in premium currency.