![Page 1: The Art and Science of Game Tuning and Revenue - Sean Clark, Big Fish Games](https://reader031.vdocuments.site/reader031/viewer/2022030318/5a648e697f8b9a82568b4a9b/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Sean Clark, VP & EP, Triton Studios, Big Fish Games
The Art & Science of Game Tuning and Revenue
Mobile Game Summit, Madrid, 2017
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Who am I?
Introduction (Hello!)
o 27 Years making games
o Programmer, Designer, Producer, Studio Manager, Executive Producer
o LucasArts Entertainment
o Electronic Arts
o Playdom
o Big Fish Games
o Desktop, Web, Console, Social, Handheld, Mobile
o Many genres
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Mobile-focused F2P publisher
Big Fish Games
o Distributed over 2.5 billion games since its founding in 2002, focusing first on premium
o Transitioned to mobile free-to-play games:
o Gummy Drop!
o Dungeon Boss
o Big Fish Casino
o Fairway Solitaire
o Cooking Craze
o Currently looking to partner with developers on mid-core and casual free-to-play content!
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Big Fish has been in Mobile Free-to-Play since 2012
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o Step 1: Give the game away for free…
How to Make Money in F2P
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o Step 1: Give the game away for free…
o Step 2:
How to Make Money in F2P
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o Step 1: Give the game away for free…
o Step 2:
o Step 3: Profit!
How to Make Money in F2P
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Categories of Revenue
Multiple Potential Revenue Sources
IAP
Consumable
Non-Consumable
Subscription
Advertisements
Static
Video
Rewarded Ads
Interstitials
Offer Wall
Other
Rewarded Surveys
Incent Loops
Misc.
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Who pays for what?
Sources of Cash
Player
IAP
Advertiser
Ads
Other
Misc.
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Who pays for what?
Sources of Cash
Player
IAP
Non-Player
Ads
Surveys
Misc.
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Categories Compared
Sources of Cash
IAPLow Conversion
High Value Proposition
Increased Commitment
Good Implementation: Hard
AdsHigher Conversion –
Lower Barrier to Entry
Low to Very Low Value Proposition
Increased Engagement
Good Implementation: Easy
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Development Investment
o Ads are “easy”
o Drop in placements
Implementation Compared
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Development Investment
o Ads are “easy”
o Drop in placements
o IAPs are “hard”
o Depends on good game design and a
strong economy model
Implementation Compared
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A few of the considerations…
o Game Balance
o Difficulty, tuning, flow, etc.
o Economy Balance
o Sources, sinks, cost, value, etc.
o How to create aspirational goals that a
typical player would spend money to
achieve?
o What is a good value proposition that would
encourage typical players to spend?
Game Design Is Hard
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A few of the considerations…
o Game Balance
o Difficulty, tuning, flow, etc.
o Economy Balance
o Sources, sinks, cost, value, etc.
o How to create aspirational goals that a
typical player would spend money to
achieve?
o What is a good value proposition that would
encourage typical players to spend?
o What is a “typical” player?
Game Design Is Hard
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One word:
Leverage
So Why Bother with IAP?
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Every $1 in IAP purchases =
~300 Static Ads
Or
~55 Rewarded Videos
IAPs Are The Bigger Lever
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Every $1 in IAP purchases =
~300 Static Ads
Or
~55 Rewarded Videos
IAPs Are The Bigger Lever
A single purchase of the $4.99
IAP makes as much money as
1386 Static Ad Impressions
Or
277 Video Views (1 Hour)
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It Gets Even More Ridiculous
A single purchase of the $99.99 IAP
would require
~30,000 Static Ad Impressions
or
~5,600 Video Views
(> 15 hours of video)
to yield the same revenue.
IAPs Are The Bigger Lever
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A few of the considerations…
o Game Balance
o Difficulty, tuning, flow, etc.
o Economy Balance
o Sources, sinks, cost, value, etc.
o How to create aspirational goals that a
typical player would like to achieve?
o What is a good value proposition that would
encourage typical players to spend?
o What is a “typical” player?
Game Design Is Hard
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In Which A Bug Fix Breaks A Game
o A “mature” game
o In market > 2 years
o Very stable, predictable
Case Study
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In Which A Bug Fix Breaks A Game
o A “mature” game
o In market > 2 years
o Very stable, predictable
o Game in growth mode
o Revenue, DAU, MAU, ARPDAU all
increasing at a steady rate
o Highly investable game (UA)
Case Study
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In Which A Bug Fix Breaks A Game
o A “mature” game
o In market > 2 years
o Very stable, predictable
o Game in growth mode
o Revenue, DAU, MAU, ARPDAU all
increasing at a steady rate
o Highly investable game (UA)
o Suddenly…
Case Study
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In Which A Bug Fix Breaks A Game
Case Study
Gross Bookings
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In Which A Bug Fix Breaks A Game
Case Study
Gross Bookings
What happened?(obvious question)
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Not so obvious answer…
Case Study
Deep in the data, a smoking gun…
Related to a client release…
Found in the data…
Verified with a code diff…
A minor logic bug that was related to the core game mechanic had
been fixed.
But the game had been tuned with the bug in the logic.
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Moral of story
o A small design adjustment can have a
profound impact on the game’s economy,
player experience
o Small changes to the game design can have
very high impact on KPIs
o Could be the difference between
investable vs un-investable, growth vs
decline, hit vs also-ran
o Design and tuning matter
o As does world class data collection,
analysis, and cross-team collaboration
Case Study
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IAP Revenue IAP 10% Lift RV Revenue
IAP Revenue Vs Rewarded VideoA "typical" real world model
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Tier 5 Tier 6 RV
Real Example From A Real Game
Revenue Components
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Real Example with Modest 10% Lift in IAP
Revenue Components
IAP Revenue IAP 10% Lift RV Revenue
IAP Revenue Vs Rewarded VideoA "typical" real world model
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Tier 5 Tier 6 RV
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It’s Additive!
Revenue Components
IAP Revenue IAP 10% Lift RV Revenue
IAP Revenue Vs Rewarded VideoA "typical" real world model
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Tier 5 Tier 6 RV
+ = !
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When Done Right
o While there is more leverage with IAP, good
implementations of Ad sources can be
accretive.
o Done well, it is a meaningful piece of the
puzzle
o Poorly implemented Ad Units can hurt
revenue
Best of Both Worlds
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o IAPs are highest leverage, but require most
expertise
o An unhealthy game will not be saved by Ad
Revenue
o A healthy game can benefit from well
designed Ad Units
o Every game is unique and there is no “ideal”
recipe…
Summary
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Path To Success
A Great Publisher-Developer Relationship
o High level of collaboration between Developer and
Publisher
o Balanced use of insightful data, instinct,
experience, and user testing/research
o Publishing with Big Fish is not a transaction
o We don’t evaluate a developer on a specific game
– we ask ourselves whether we can make a hit
game together
o If the answer is yes…
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How you can work with Big Fish?o Be a world-class developer
o Have Mid-Core or Casual content
o Be passionate about games
o Be willing to collaborate
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