Game monetization: Overview of monetization methods for free-to-play games

23
GAME MONETIZATION Overview of monetization methods for free-to-play games

Transcript of Game monetization: Overview of monetization methods for free-to-play games

GAME MONETIZATION Overview of monetization methods for free-to-play games

Agenda

• Monetization loop. Action -> Incentive -> Expansion. Structure of paywall.

• Key elements of Engagement. Mechanics, Progress & Goals, Social Factors, Game Evolution.

• What do players pay for?

• How to sell virtual items. Steps to sell virtual items, desirability parameters, economy & pricing.

Monetization Loop

Transition from one phase to another

blocked by paywall.

Action – core gameplay (“Action phase”, basic actions of the player).

Incentive – what does the player wants (win the match, finish the level, get new item, get the highest

score etc.).

Expansion – player’s progress (level up, new content, new difficulty levels etc.).

Paywall structure

Player can overcome paywall by three main ways:

Grind, Spam and Pay.

Grind + Spam = 80% of progress

Player Grinds, then Spams and asks friends for

help, after that player has to Pay “just a little bit” to

finish the task and finally overcome a paywall.

Grind – player can overcome paywall spending time, make numerous attempts, grind in-game

currency.

Spam – player can overcome paywall by asking friends for help (and advertise the game and

improve retention by viral mechanics).

Pay – player can overcome paywall by buying premium content.

Engagement The key element for successful monetization is player’s engagement. The more player engaged in

your game, the more times player moves through monetization loop. More times the player moves

through the monetization loop, the higher is the chance that the player will pay.

There are four key elements of the

player engagement:

1. Mechanics

2. Progress & Goals

3. Social factors

4. Game evolution

Mechanics: Core Loop First and the most important key element of player engagement is the core gameplay loop.

Properties of good core gameplay loop:

• Fun 1 time — fun 1000 times. “Endless” mechanic with “uncertain outcome”.

• 4-6 steps max. “Magical seven” of human memory limitation.

• Clear and immediate feedback.

• Layers of complexity. Base layer of the mechanic is very clear for casual players, but deep enough for skilled players. “Easy to learn — hard to master”.

• Elements of “emergence”. Interdependent elements with simple behavior which creates much more complex behavior.

• Viral requests tied to the core loop.

• Rewarded by the main game resource (usually, soft currency).

Mechanics: “Fun pain” One of the of ways to monetize core game mechanic, is to make it simultaneously fun and little bit

annoying. Zynga calls it “Fun pain”. Player can buy items that reduce pain. Surprisingly, such items are

very popular.

Good example of such mechanic was a Tractor

from Farmville. Base gameplay action of crop

gathering is fun and rewarding for the player,

but if the player has a lot of farm tiles, it’s pretty

annoying to gather crop from all of them.

And the player can buy a Tractor to gather crop

faster!

Progress & Goals Second key element of engagement is feeling of progress:

• Keep the player busy. The more interesting activities the player has, the higher is the chance that the player will stay in game.

• Allow players to plan their time. Allow them to choose period between sessions. Asynchronous multiplayer.

• Every game session ends with feeling “I've done all I could”. Reward players after returning to create feeling “I've done all I could, reward will be awaiting me when I return”. Player starts a loop during the first session, close it during next session and create new loop.

• Create long-term goals: Leaderboards, Quests & Achievements, Events.

• Look for intrinsic motivation. Game mechanics that allow players to create their own goals can lead to much higher engagement (Competition, User-generated content).

Social Factors Third key element of player engagement is sociality. Strong

social mechanics can create a huge natural growth of game

audience and can be an important element of re-engagement

for existing players.

• All social mechanics are retention mechanics. It's not

only about audience growth, it's about re-engagement.

• Executing a social mechanic creates a reason for the

player to come back. Player opens loop during first

session, close this loop during next session and create

new.

• Game events and core gameplay loop should be

designed with ability to be “viral”. Social mechanics tied

to core gameplay loop.

• Clear and visible metrics of competitional mechanics

(Leaderboard, Friend panel)

Social Factors: Viral Loop

One of the most important parts of the social mechanic is virality.

Usually, viral mechanics are based on such loop:

The key elements of virality:

• Social Proof. People see behavior as more

correct when see others performing it.

• Persuasion. Viral message should be very

clear and motivate people to respond on it.

Create “loglines”.

• Reciprocity. Virality exploit human “social

obligation” to respond on favors from other

people.

Social Factors: Viral Messages

Viral messages is a way for the players to express their motives — getting help, gaining tools, show

achievements etc. Two main properties of the viral message are Shareworthy (it's worth sharing from

player's perspective) and Clickworthy (it's persuasive enough to respond/click).

Shareworthy conditions of the viral message:

• Message has prospect of reward

• Message shows personal achievement

• Participation of other people grants mutual

benefits

• Element of charity, player can help others

for free

Clickworthy conditions of the viral message:

• Message has prospect of reward

• Message provokes competition, curiosity or empathy

• Message is socially obligating, motivate player to

respond on social gesture

• Message is visible in main communication channels

Three the most popular viral messages:

• Offering partnership

• Cry for help

• Sharing reward/resources

Game Evolution: Schedule

Forth and very important key element of engagement is Game Evolution.

70% of players left the game because there are no new updates.

Common schedule of game updates:

• 3-6 months of content on the launch.

• Major expansion every 3-6 months (new game modes, new experience).

• Minor expansions every 4 weeks (new items).

• Daily events (quests, challenges, tournaments).

• Multiplayer and user-generated content can reduce amount of content

Game Evolution: Community

Be caring – listen to player concerns, communicate with the game community, it will create

loyalty. If players invest many hours into your game they begin to feel some ownership. The

game now is their experience, even if it’s your game.

• Be visible – forum, chat, e-mail. Policy of “one voice”.

• Handle things quickly.

• Give players notice about future changes in advance.

• Be generous with compensation.

• Don’t do something unless you’re willing to do it for everybody.

• You can make any promises only after you’ve already made next update. Before that – no

any clear deadlines.

What do players pay for?

Identity expression – players will pay for

items that are socially surfaced in the game

and presenting player somehow (farm, city,

avatar etc.).

Vanity – players will pay for exclusive items,

limited in number or to get things before

other players.

Competition – hardcore players, especially

males, will pay to get a competitive

advantage against their opponents.

Social value – players want their friends to

play and want to help them. Items that have

social value are much more valuable to pay

for it.

Chance – random chance is a huge

incentive for people to buy. Lotteries

(GACHA) and “Mystery Boxes” might be a

great monetization features.

Progress – players will pay for progress

(“time for money”) or temporary power in a

game, especially a competitive one. Very

stable and consistent way of monetization.

Story – players will pay very well to advance

the story (quests). They feel a sense of

progress when completing quests and will

pay to overcome roadblocks in that

progression.

Fun – items that make the game more

convenient and remove “pain”.

How to sell virtual items

There are four main stages of selling virtual item:

1. Awareness — item must be visible, players needs to be aware of existence of this item.

2. Understanding — item functions need to be explained to the player. The more intuitive item

functions, the better.

3. Desire — increase desirability of the item. Usually, based on the item functionality or artifical

scarcity.

4. Ability — access to the item must be easy. Payment methods and structure of the shop must

support player's desire to buy item.

Awareness Understanding Desire Ability Sale

Awareness

Awareness methods:

Shop

• Mix premium with non-premium

• Non-payers see the products

• Products are comparable

• Clearly distinguish premium items

• Lead player to the shop, highlight it

Advertising

• Can be used in many UI screens

• Be careful with being too annoying

• Need to be interesting

• Mix with regular game info

• Refresh frequently

• Might be personalized

Understanding

Understanding methods:

Tutorial

• Can explain complex content

• Requires significant work

• Useful for very desirable items

Demo products

• Is very effective

• Using item makes its value well understood

• Very good for high desirable items

• Special abilities of the item must be very clear

• Works great when mixed with in-game events

Desire

Desire methods:

Events

• Limitation by number, sale duration, availability

• Limited unique/special items

• Limited bonuses/discounts

• Artificial scarcity increase perceived value and

reduce time for judgment

Pricing

• Free products are seen as worthless

• High prices create a feeling of quality

• High prices reduce availability

• Prices are relative and make sense only compared to

others

Desirability parameters

There are ten attributes that influence item desirability:

• Customizability – players have higher feeling

of ownership to items that they can customize.

• Cultural references – items that attached to

the real world can be very popular (holiday

items, national flags, popular jokes etc.)

• Licenses – items that based to popular

licenses might be popular among fans of that

IP.

• Rarity – limited items can be very desirable

and valuable for player.

• Price – items with high prices can be desirable

only because of their high prices.

• Performance – item parameters (dmg, armor,

income etc.)

• Functionality – how useful is the item for

gameplay.

• Visuals and sounds – “look and feel” of the item.

• Background fiction – items that are tied up to the

story are more valuable.

• Provenance – items that are tied to in-game

stories.

Economy

Economy guidelines:

• Fluid economy. Amount of sources and sinks must be balanced. Do not allow players to

save a lot of resources. Player’s resources are always limited, it’s never enough resources to

finish all the activities.

• Entice users to make more than one purchase, people spend money easier 2nd time.

>50% of revenue are repeat consumers. First buy must leave a positive impression.

• Create shopping baskets (low/medium/high spender) then correct them based on statistics.

You can set prices based on these shopping baskets.

• Use principle of “central resource”. All game resources are tied to premium currency/time

and have prices in premium currency/time.

Pricing

Pricing guidelines:

• Keep in mind psychological barriers: 49, 99, >100, >1000 etc. Use these barriers for item

grouping into price categories.

• Keep in mind price similarities. 889, 899 and 999 are all similar prices in the user mind as they

look similar.

• Use numbers similarity. Users don’t seem to care if they pay 449 or 490, but they do care between

a 449 or 549 prices.

• Price discrimination policy. Prices set based on current statistics (ex. amount of soft currency of

every player).

• Start with high prices, test them as soon as possible, then change.

Ability

Ability methods:

Payment options

• Clear and accessible.

• Provide variety. Players can choose favorite

payment method.

• Options with the best revenue set as default.

Starting bonus

• Teach player how to use payment system.

• Player can take a look on the premium content.

• Integrated into tutorial.

• Try to avoid situations of “wrong spending”, it

might be frustrating for the player.

QUESTIONS?