Transcript Casual Games Association ppt Template

Balancing Virtual Economies
in free2play Games
KPI driven Game Design and
monetization of Virtual Goods
The journey so far
Education:
Game Design & 3D Art, Games Academy
Work:
Game Design & 3D Art, northworks
Software
Head of Publisher Relations,
Balao/GratisPay
Producer, Bigpoint
Sr. Product Manager, MondiaMedia
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What can be item sales?
• Customization/Vanity-Items
– (Rooms, pets, cloth, …)
• Advantages
– (Bigger cannons, better
ships,…)
• Features
– (Instant action, comfort …)
• Probabilities
– (Drop rates, safety …)
Everything that has a need!
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How to create a need (Bragging Approach)
Instinct to Play
(Let‘s have fun!)
Improved Experience
(Winning is fun!)
Social Needs & Bragging
Rights
(unique, individual, rich$ …)
Drive to Collect
(I want it all!)
Rewards
(Success, acceptance,
recognition …)
Advantages
(bigger, better, faster,
stronger …)
Balance!
Also see: Maslow‘s hierarchy of needs and the concept of flow
Tracking “the need”
• Analysis is a key factor for success
Item specific tracking
• How many are in the game?
• Which sell best and when?
• …
User specific tracking
• What pages he visits most?
• Which items does he use?
• …
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Key Performance Indicators
• What KPIs to track?
–
–
–
–
Registration to Active User
Registration to Paying User
Average Revenue per Paying User
…
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KPI Driver Example: Events
• Main activity drivers (CCUO)
• Lead to engagement and recurrence (Activity- /Login Rate)
• Can be revenue driver (Consumption  Track Items)
• Example:
– Seasonal Event: Hunt & Loot
– Aim: consumption and activity
– Mechanics:
X
X2
X1
X3
– Result: users buy X1 and immediately
reuse it, event engages to come back
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Balancing Methods
•
•
•
•
Time vs. Money (all Items can be achieved via playtime)
Skill vs. Money (XP booster, a core gamer still kicks ass)
Occurrence vs. Money (drop rates/probability of release)
Expiring Date vs. Money (condition can vanish / if an item
is big – it has to be short lasting)
• Keep it fair:
– P2P Market Place (with fees you still make money/fraud!)
– Pay Item Auction House (Time vs. Money)
– Serve bragging rights no advantages (Trophies,
statistics)
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Balancing Examples: Soft Monetization
• Sports-game with fair-play community:
– Talent cards regulated by appearance depending on
their value
• Occurrence -> common, uncommon, rare, ultra-rare
– Your players get talent slots with rising experience
• Advantages regulated by time
– Probability of release for a card
• Way to value a card
– Every tactic has a counter tactic
• Skill vs. Money
– Special point budget for card use per session
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Balancing Example: hard monetization
• Player owns biggest tank (20 €)
• Tank has 10 cannon slots (each cannon 2 €)
• Every cannon fires 5 rounds per minutes (0,0001€/round)
 10 x 5 x 0,0001 = 0,005 €/every minute fighting
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Risks in free2play & Solutions
• User ruins himself
– Free2Play Games with virtual goods allow the user to spend
unlimited amounts of money
• Set up limits (daily/weekly/monthly )
• Age verification
• P2P Fraud
– Multi Accounting, Phishing, aso.
• Take a commission fee when P2P trade is allowed
• Players trade to the bank -> prices calculated by the
system
• Bad Experience
– Losing against money lowers your gaming experience
• What kind of game do you have? Do you care?
• What kind of community do you have? Do they care?
• Develop Items that can only be bought by Virtual-Currency
– Make them short lasting & expensive, but ass-kicking
 takes money out of the game
• Don‘t become greedy!
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Test, Track, Try Again …
"Learning doesn't happen from failure itself but
rather from analyzing the failure, making a
change, and then trying again.“
- Michael Hunter
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Creatives vs. Analysts
Building a profitable gaming company is
NOT A LOTTERY!
• VCs just focus on numbers and success stories
 Reputation + PPT + Excelsheet = funding
• Game Developers are to self centered
 Our baby  we know it best = fail
Developers!: Learn your math, analyze your
strategy, built a monetization design focused on
market needs and challenge everyone against KPIs!
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Questions?
Julian Huehnermann
Revenue Strategist
Email: [email protected]
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