20 Questions You Should Ask Yourself and Your Team If You Want To Be A Successful Game Developer

(And Why Answering Them is Worth Every Bit of Effort)

20 Questions You Should Ask Yourself and Your Team If You Want

To Be A Successful Game Developer

http://www.slideshare.net/VGVisionary

HD Redux Edition

Table of contents• Who is this guy!?

• Where does this talk come from?

• Steps 1 - 20

• Summary

• Questions

Who am I?This is a talk by

Vlad MicuNow Head of Studio at

Critical Force EntertainmentUsed to be the PR Manager ofGrambleworld.com

Did production, game design and creative direction for

arkavis Siam co. ltd. in Thailand

Wrote for many other international outlets includingGamesauce.org, TechInAsia.com,

PocketGamer.biz, Control Magazine, Gamer.nl, XBLAFans.com, Casual

Connect Magazine and many more.

@vgvisionary

Partners & Clients

Where does this all come from?

• 500+ developers interviewed

• Personal start-up experience

• Advising multiple international studios

• Reading a BUTTLOAD on the interwebz & listening to other devs.

Bad News

Good News

#1 Should we even JAM?!• Think Small

• Aim High

• Fail Fast

• Repeat x 100

Even the big boys do it!

www.globalgamejam.org

My own first publishing deal (2009)

• Arcade Online Multiplayer Tank FPS Total organic installs: 300.000+ since Dec 18th on Google Play Average rating: 4.02/5.00 stars Installs per day +/- 2000 DAU: 1000-2000 50.000 Euro funding from AppCampus program for Windows Phone version Talking to publishers about seriously publishing the game on iOS.

#2 How much time did we spend to make first 0-15

minutes of your game count the MOST?

#2b Have we watched Sequilitis with the team?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM

We’re on top of it too

#3 Where are all our players going?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM

#3 Is our game popular before it’s finished?

• YouTubers

• Press

• Key influencers in the industry

• Events

• Game Portals

http://www.freelives.net/broforce-game

#4 Do we have ‘The LOOK’?

“One of the hardest parts of the job when trying to get people to look at games is

having something that is interesting to look at. Just in the fact that we did a very

dramatic change, which was perceived to be late in development, everybody was

looking.” – Steve Gibson, VP of Marketing at Gearbox about

Borderlands

It really helps, trust us

#5 How much do we test our game with strangers?

• At a train station

• In any queue

• As a pick-up line!

• At a school/university

#6 When was the last time we applied for indie game

festivals and competitions?• To volunteer

• To showcase

• Or even speak

Example

www.promoterapp.com/calendar www.gameconfs.com

#7 Do people consider our game a ‘must-have’?

Or at least a ‘must-try’…?

#8 Are we prepared for big business?

• Assets on your mobile

• Elevator pitch

• Investor deck ???

• Soft-launch numbers

Check Kadri’s awesome talk here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXRverBntZc

#9 Where’s our investor deck?

http://www.seriesseed.fi/

#10 How smart are we about EVERYTHING we do?

• Interns/friends are awesome!

• Integrate processes that work for you.

• Use that lovely Minimal Effective Dose (MED) approach.

20/80 rule

www.lifehacker.com

#11 How much info and research have we gathered before making a

decision?• FREE-TO-PLAY & FREEMIUM DEVELOPMENT• Ethical F2P Game Design - LINK• Successfully Migrating to F2P LINK• The ghosts of development past – Free to Play Tips for 2013 LINK• A comprehensive free-to-play game model: revenue, DAU, virality and retention

LINK• Driving free-to-play revenue: Increase conversion rate or increase ARPPU? LINK• Developer Roundtable: Triple-A, Free-to-Play LINK• The freemium monetization curve is continuous LINK• Is piracy a freemium strategy? LINK• New Study Investigates If Free is the Right Price for Mobile LINK• The Ethics and psychology of the ‘freemium’ model LINK• The Hidden Cost of AB Testing LINK• Alternative Financing Schemes for Mobile Gaming Companies LINK • Dear Indie Mobile Game Developer LINK• The Pyramid of free-to-play game design LINK• Mobile Indies and Three Steps Ahead LINK•

USER ACQUISITION• How to define reasonable KPIs for mobile games - LINK• Interpreting the new users drop-off chart - LINK• Three examples of misguided trips to the Top 10 Downloaded Chart - LINK•

ANALYTICS• Game Analytics 101 - LINK• Intro to User Analytics - LINK • Getting started with analytics 4: Reading (Part 1) - LINK• The 10 Commandments of Mobile App Analytics - LLINK• Guide to Mobile App Analytics - LINK • Trevor McCalmont's Blog - 5 Common Pitfalls for Mobile Game Analytics - LINK • Soft launch product development using the Minimum Viable Metrics - LINK• The Game Life Cycle & Game Analytics: What metrics matter when? - LINK• Top 5 Performance Indicators for Mobile Analytics - Trilibis Mobile Blog - LINK• Data-driven design vs. Data-prejudiced design LINK• Analytics is not a cost center LINK• Minimum Viable Metrics for Mobile LINK• Big Data in Mobile Gaming: Optimizing the User Experience LINK• Quantitative Literacy an Interview with Wharton Professor Dr Peter Fader LINK• Guide to Mobile App Analytics LINK

• DEVELOPMENT• Refining Diablo III LINK• Starcraft 2 as E-SPORT LINK• 6 Reasons why Pet Rescue Saga isn't the next Candy Crush Saga LINK• Android Fragmentation Visualized LINK• Gunghos Stock Price Rollercoaster and Hit driven valuations LINK• http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TanyaShort/

20131010/201752/50_Easy_Steps_to_Indie_Success.php•

REVENUE• Mobile gaming revenues are shifting to tablets...and to Asia LINK• iOS vs Android - Revenue Wars Infographic LINK• Six Ways to Maximize App Revenue LINK• Maximize Ad Revenue and Maintain User Retention in Mobile Games LINK•

RETENTION• Why the retention profile is more useful than the churn metric in freemium LINK• Retention rates and their impact on lifetime customer value LINK• Three Promotions to Get You Through the Holidays LINK• Improving player engagement, retention and monetization - check out what we’ve got

in store LINK•

VIRALITY• Better way to monetize your app and drive deeper engagement LINK• http://ufert.se/user-acquisition/mobile-virality/explaining-tinders-curiously-viral-growth/•

USER-ACQUISITION• Emerging Strategies to User Acquisition: Video from Casual Connect Panel LINK• Two misconceptions about paid user acquisition LINK• Infographic: Want your new game to land in the US Top 10? You have 72 hours to

spend $56,000 LINK• User Acquisition Divid Android iOS growing - LINK•

#12 How well do we know ourselves, our product and our

market?• SWOT analysis

• Competitors

• Devs with similar backgrounds (and what they’ve done)

• Keep minutes during your key meetings!

Examples

Our own example

• We were the ONLY pitch with market research

#13 Are we pitching to everyone we can?

• Blow people away

• Show the core gameplay

• An AWESOME video helps (example)

#14 How much do we measure?

http://www.gameanalytics.com/

#15 What are we sharing?

• Insights and numbers

• Valuable contacts

• Opportunities and jobs

• Even a place to stay

Especially our mistakes

#16 What kind of partnerships would we

need to flourish?

Examples

Our example

#17 Are we making ourselves better & stronger

people?

Preparing mentally for success, just as much as

failure.

Both Failing and/or Succeeding Hard = Growing Up Incredibly Fast

#18 How have we embraced the power of

timing?

Examples•Resogun on PS4 (Housemarque)

• Company of Tanks on Android (Critical Force Ent.)

#19 In what ways can we work with YouTubers & Streamers?

#20 How do we get out of the trenches enough?

You’re here now, but what about the rest of your team?

Bonus: Should we quantify our work?

My numbers (2007-2013)

Career in numbers (2007-2013)

• 22 talks given (next one being at Digital Dragons in Krakow, Poland next month).• 232 articles written from September 2007 – today.• 3 website staff managed filled with talented young writers for Gamesauce.org, Windowsphonefans.com and PSNFans.com• 1 super-talented development team managed (for arkavis Siam Co. ltd.)• 13 videogames that I’ve been credited on (only six have been released till this day).• 30 countries visited in the first 27 years of my life. 9 countries that I’ve lived in.• 60 video items created with 85.253 views (16324 of which were for Control Magazine). • 500+ people interviewed as an industry journalist (most of them game developers). • 4500+ business cards handed out • 8621 contacts in my Gmail (categorized thanks to Smartr).• 1200+ hours spent playing League of Legends between summer 2011 and today spread over my 2x EUW, 1x US and 1x Thai account. • 1917 friends on Facebook (of which 1016 are Game Industry-related). I’ve spoken at least 5 minutes to 99% of them.• 2000+ LinkedIn connections I have no clue what to do with.• 97+ press badges collected• 3 months per year spent traveling or abroad on average (4.5 months in 2013)

Bonus #2: Did we watch Vlad’s other lectures?

www.youtube.com/vgvisionary

Contact me

• @vgvisionary

• Mail me at vlad@studioonmars.com

• Slides: www.slideshare.net/VGVisionary

#imlonely

Thanks!

Questions?