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5th Planet Games' CEO, Robert Winkler, presents to the 2013 IGDA Summit.
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Community Building in Free-to-Play Games: How to Turn Minnows Into Whales
Rob Winkler, CEO 5th Planet Games
Rob Winkler aka Felendis
Co-Founder (2009), CEO– Lead Game Design on All Products– Provide Company Direction– Give Moderately Entertaining Presentations
Gaming Fanatic– EQ, WoW, D3, Madden Social (I’m a whale!),
Halo, etc.
Husband and Father of 4 Little Gamers…and a fifth gamer on the way
Who am I?
Founded in 2009Launched first game, Dawn of the Dragons, in 2010
2010 = 5 people, $300k in revenue2011 = 15 people, $3m in revenue2012 = 30 people, $10M in revenue2013 = 55 people, $15M in revenue
Where we are at now:4 games live on 9 platforms (social & mobile)New Game in the works (Fall Release)
5th Planet Games
Confidential. Do not distribute.
• Get ideas for product development• Boost virality and user acquisition• Improve engagement & retention• Monetize more effectively
Why Cultivate Community?
Confidential. Do not distribute.
• There was no formula for us• We made games we would want to play• We Treat our community how we want to
be treated• We Interact with community on a daily
basis.• Run contests, giveaways, etc.• Ask for feedback and implement results
The Roots of Our Community
• Guilds represent the highest level of engagement
• Players in Guilds play more often and for longer sessions.
• Guilds systems range from 25 to 250 players, depending on the game.
• Designed to focus on reengagement
Guilds
• Data for Dawn of the Dragons: – 30% of the MAUs are in Guilds– 85% of the DAUs are in Guilds– Players in Guilds are 8.5x more likely to monetize– APRU in a Guild is 53x higher than non-Guild
Guild Monetization
• The most intense way we engage is with Councils.• Councils are different for each game and are held every 9-12 months.• Council members are asked for direct, no BS feedback. • Council members come with their own priority lists.• Two half/travel days, two days of intense work.• Council has daily contact with the dev. team via Skype.• Bottom line: They understand the game better than anyone, even us.
Councils
• Simple example in Clash of the Dragons: Drafts• Prior to our first “Clash Council,” drafts were won by
winning one battle vs. your opponent.• Draft monetization stats:
– 19% of game revenue from drafts– Draft discounts were the 4th best sale we ran– We were geniuses for having set these rules
• After the Clash Council unanimously told us we weren’t geniuses, we changed the format to the best two out of three.– 35% of game revenue from drafts– Draft discounts are the top sale now (people “camp
out” for these)– We are geniuses for listening to our players
Council Monetization
• We have over 1M forum posts• Dedicated forum moderators and community
managers for each game• EVERY post gets read and actioned if warranted• 25% of our payroll is associated with community
interaction
Forums
Forum Monetization
• 41 of our top 50 whales (players that have spent over $500) have at least 5 posts on our forums.
• 50+% of forum posters with more than 20 posts have monetized.
World Raids/Legions/PvP
• World Raids: Individal Rewards as well as cooperative community Rewards. Participation is boosted because others count on an individuals contribution.
• Legions:
• PvP:
World Raids/Legions/PvP Monetization
• Building a strong community is good for the players, the game, and company.
• Direct, intense, focused player feedback is extremely valuable.
• The better your Guild system, the better your important metrics will be.
• We are not in the gamed industry, we are games as a service.
• Deeply engaged users are much more likely to spend and at vastly higher rates.
TL;DR Version
Questions?