future of gaming: synchronous & multiplayer gameplay | hussein chahine

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THE FUTURE OF GAMING Playing together is a truly shared experience Amsterdam – February 18, 2016

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Page 1: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

THE FUTURE OFGAMINGPlaying together is a truly shared experience

Amsterdam – February 18, 2016

Page 2: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

INTRODUCTION

Page 3: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

AN ANALOGY

If Nintendo Wii was...

Free

Global

On computer, smartphone and tablet

Anytime, anywhere

Instant & bite-sized

Page 4: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

GAMES ARE INHERENTLY SOCIAL

Play is what happy people engage in.

Personal interaction builds a dynamic and cooperation which is psychologically positive

Page 5: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

BUT THERE’S LITTLE THAT’S SOCIAL IN SOCIAL GAMES

Would playing solitaire on Facebook, make it a social game?

The definition of a social game

Games that run on or integrate with a social network and use that network to enhance gameplay between players - Quora

Page 6: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

YAZINO VISION

YAZINO CONNECTS MILLIONS OF PEOPLE THROUGH GAMES

Page 7: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

THE YAZINO OPPORTUNITY

© MIMO BRANDS

TIME TO RETHINK…HOW TO BE DIFFERENT A disruptive approach in a crowded market to

social games powered by synchronous game technology

WHY YAZINO?

Yazino’s ‘platform focus to remove friction to game development, operations and promotion‣ Strata’ technology significantly reduces cost and time to market‣ Highly scalable platform featuring an independent social graph‣ High barriers to entry: £15m R&D investment since 2009 ‣ ‘Proven quality: reliable, secure and fast

Industry leading game KPIs with limited historical marketing and experience:

‣ Invested £4.4m in marketing activities on Slots Wheel Deal, generated so far over $25m (£15m)

WHAT IS YAZINO?

Synchronous game publisher promoting innovative, multiplayer, social games for web, smartphones and tablets‣ Successful Slots Wheel Deal App with three games‣ Casino games: Blackjack, Roulette, Bingo and Poker‣ Two prototype games: Extreme Bingo and Hissteria

Social casino that brought casino games to the mass market in a shared experience

Founded by Hussein Chahine and located in London

Page 8: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

SYNCHRONOUS TRIGGERS ‘NEED SATISFACTION’

Synchronous games are psychologically positive, supporting long-term community building and retention

Autonomy

Mastery

Relatedness

Self Actualisation

SelfEsteem

Belonging

Safety

Psychological

“Synchronous play has a much deeper opportunity over asynchronous play with

respect to multiple need satisfactions, each of which incrementally contributes to sustained engagement and an enhanced

competitive advantage for Yazino.”

– Scott Rigby, Author of Glued to Games

Page 9: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

WHY IS SYNCHRONOUS THE FUTURE?

ASYNCHRONOUS GAMES Connect players but are about playing alone

Extrinsic motivationGame mechanics rely on negative emotional drivers – “I need to”

Scripted experience leads to short shelf-lifeGameplay follows a set path and does not change, resulting in content being quickly consumed and abandoned. Necessitates ongoing, rapid new content development to keep player interest

Delayed competitionCompetition is a secondary element of the game, provided through scoreboards, levels, badges, etc.

Limits social connectionsStatic interaction severely limits the ability to meet and connect with other players

Crowded market95% of social games are asynchronous (ex: Candy Crush Saga, Pet Rescue Saga, Slotomania)

Intrinsic motivationGame mechanics rely on positive emotional drivers – “I want to”

Dynamic experience leads to long shelf-lifeGameplay constantly changes based on the actions of other players. Social and competitive aspects of game content create stickiness, resulting in players being more engaged and staying longer

Real-time competitionCompetition is a key part of the game. More immediate, intense, and rewarding gameplay

Enables social connectionsReal-time interaction builds a dynamic of friendly competition and cooperation, enables deeper connections between players

Market opportunityComparatively very few synchronous games, because of the technical difficulty in creating them

SYNCHRONOUS GAMESReal-time player interaction creates a shared experienceVS

Page 10: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

SOCIAL GAMING TRENDS

Social games are evolving from...

Yazino is already at the forefront of game innovation

Single-player, offline gamesPlay alone, limited social interaction. Game is free-standing and not connected (e.g. Angry Birds)

People you know Play with friends and family (Facebook, mobile address book, email contacts)

Facebook-powered social featuresInvite friends, send gifts, publish to stream

‘Timeline’ style social interactionContent becomes a permanent archive

Single-platform game developmentCore game experience only available on lead platform

Multiplayer, network-enabled gamesCommunity is key to the experience. Includes account creation to save progress and social features (e.g. World of Warcraft)

People you want to know Profile matching (based on shared interests, geo-location) promotes meeting new, like-minded people / cafe culture

Platform independent social featuresFind friends, send gifts, chat, in-app inbox, publish to proprietary social graph

Immediate, ephemeral social interactionContent is instant, temporary, cross-platform

Multiplatform game developmentUbiquitous game experience on all platforms

Page 11: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

Social casino is the fastest-growing gaming category

In Dec 2013, five of the 25 top grossing social games in the iOS US App Store and eight of the 25 top grossing social games in the Google Play US Store are social casino games. Five of Facebook’s Top Games of the Year are social casino applications, which is over a fifth of the 23 games on the select list

Top performing KPIS: Proven game mechanics and audience and strong monetisation and retention (3-10X casual games ARPDAU)

Social casino products are starting to become commoditised in the same way that online gambling has, with little differentiation between games

Vertical becoming very crowded on Facebook and mobile. Small developers are dropping out due to difficulty in making a good, unique product and cost to compete. Top team and a lot of marketing money required to succeed

Advertising acquisition costs are continuing to skyrocket. For the industry, the average CPI was $4.36 and reached $7 to $8 in December 2013. (288% increase since 2012)

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SOCIAL CASINO OVERVIEW

SOURCES:1. AppAnnie2. Facebook’s Games of the Year 2013 list is selected on the basis of “user ratings, Facebook implementation, growth, and overall quality 3.‘Social Casino Games Market Report,’ Social Casino Intelligence, 20134. Superdata Research

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Yazino OpportunityOffer highly differentiated, synchronous social casino

games, taking advantage of Yazino’s new game studio to

create exciting content and of the industry-leading monetisation already achieved. Leverage

partnerships and licensing to grow the opportunity even further.

Superdata Research, Western markets only (North America, Europe)

Page 12: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

REAL-MONEY GAMBLING MARKET

SOURCES:1. PokerUpdate.com, “Gaming Market to Grow Sharply by 2018,” September 20132. Eiler’s Social Casino Tracker, August 2013

People served by online gambling

industry

People who love casino games

Huge opportunity for online gambling to expand reach by embracing social gaming and new, innovative technologies

The gambling market is thriving

The global gaming industry is projected to be worth $174.1 billion by 2018, a 28% increase from current values. Strong future growth is coming from the opening of online gaming markets in the US and from Asia

Gambling firms have been the source of major acquisitions in the last few years, reflecting the ongoing convergence of gambling and social gaming:

• 2011: Caesars buys Playtika (Slotomania) for $100M+• 2012: IGT buys Double Down Interactive for $500M• 2012: Aristocrat buys Product Madness• 2013: Caesars/Playtika buys Buffalo Studios ($50M) and EA Montreal

Five out of the top 10 largest social casino gaming publishers now come from the real-money gaming industry (as a result of M&A)

Branded/licensed games help to achieve differentiation and improved monetisation. Proven land-based slot content monetises 2-3x higher versus traditional online social casino games (ex: IGT/DoubleDown, WMS/Jackpot)

Incorporating community slots into land-based casinos is also a big opportunity (ex: Bejeweled slot game in Vegas casinos)

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Yazino is the first platform wired for both social and

real-money gaming

Page 13: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

STRATA PLATFORM and GAME DEVELOPMENT

Page 14: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

EFFICIENT GAME DEVELOPMENT

Our objective is to significantly reduces cost and time to market‣ Eliminates the need to build a synchronous engine from scratch, a

complicated process that can take several years of engineering with no guaranteed result

‣ Removes the requirement to develop a new version of the game for each publishing platform (Web, Facebook Canvas, iOS, Google and Amazon)

‣ Makes it possible to produce a game from a complete concept in months, not years

Proven synchronous, multiplayer game technology ‣ Reliable, real-world tested game server eliminates performance risk‣ Includes the tools required for sophisticated, data-driven marketing

communications and promotion‣ Already wired for free-to-play or play-for-money gaming‣ Flexible platform with ongoing optimisations‣ Allows game developers to focus on making quality game content

Our biggest barrier that nearly killed us many times

Page 15: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

CROSS-PLATFORM BEHAVIOUR DRIVEN CRM

BONUS MANAGEMENT TOOL

Daily AwardAdds free bonus chips

Buy ChipsDiscounts chip packages Deposit

YAZINO BI

Real-time Segmentation ‣ Segmentation based on player behaviour

Smart Message Delivery ‣ Management of automated retention

program ‣ Reflex and one-off campaign messaging ‣ Smart message routing to relevant

communication channel

Reporting ‣ Real-time dashboards and analytics

CommunicationChannels

Email

iOS Push

Android Push (Google)

Android Push (Amazon)

Facebook Notifications

Facebook Requests

While many systems can manage message delivery and reporting for a single channel, a truly comprehensive, cross-platform CRM with a single BI does not yet exist on the market. This technology required significant time and investment to build.

Our CRM helped us accelerate revenues while also cutting the costs of working with multiple suppliers to deliver targeted, cross-platform messaging.

Page 16: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

PROPRIETARY SOCIAL GRAPH

SOCIAL FEED STORIES‘Stories’ generated based on user activity

and game progress (e.g. Level-ups, Achievements, Leaderboards)

P2P COMMUNICATIONDirect player to player engagement

through app features (e.g Challenge, Gifting, Chat)

CommunicationChannels

EmailiOS Push

Android Push (Google)Android Push (Amazon)

Facebook RequestsFacebook Notifications

Player activity and engagement with P2P features create stories and notifications to be delivered to

other players

One story or message delivered to other

players’ buddies using optimal channels

Yazino’s independent, cross-platform social graph enables connections and more rewarding social engagement

Removes the reliance on and restrictions of platform providers (e.g. Facebook limits interaction and gameplay to people you already know)

Encourages meeting, playing and interacting with new, like-minded gamers. Allows for the development of strong relationships that make players more engaged and stay longer

Combines the best features of...

‣Social Games: Playing with friends

‣Social Discovery: Recommendation of like-minded people (based on interests, geography, community status, level, etc.)

‣Online Dating: Meeting new people

‣Instant Messaging: Chatting with friends

World of Warcraft and FIFA have used similar social features to develop a passionate, loyal community. Yazino is the first to achieve this

powerful social graph cross-platform.

Page 17: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

FLEXIBLE PLATFORM

Yazino prototyped Extreme Bingo (strategy game) and Hissteria (casual game), demonstrating the flexibility of the Strata platform to power very different types of games

EXTREME BINGOBingo just became a

contact sport!Category: Strategy game

Overview: Extreme Bingo is a completely new, exciting twist on classic bingo. As in normal bingo, players had Bingo cards which they completed as the Bingo ball numbers were called in the game to win a prize.

However, everything else about this version of the game is extreme! Yazino introduced a multiplayer community ‘Battleboard’ and team gameplay elements including Bingo ball ‘slots’ that could be defended or attacked by other players, power-ups that released explosive flames, and both community and individual prizes. Teams worked together to dominate the battleboard and win the community prize.

Category: Casual game

Overview: Hissteria is a dynamic, fast-paced new take on the classic board game, Snakes & Ladders. Players roll the dice as fast as they can in a race to be the first to reach the end of the board and collect the jackpot.

The game became multiplayer and highly competitive by removing the traditional snake and ladder icons from the board and placing them on the dice. Rolling a ladder moved a player forward. Rolling a snake gave a player the option to throw the snake at another player on the board and move him backward.

HISSTERIASnakes & Ladders

gone bad!

Page 18: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

GAME PORTFOLIO

Legacy Games

TEXAS HOLD’EMSLOTS HIGH STAKES

ROULETTE HISSTERIAEXTREME BINGO

Prototype Games

Slots Wheel DealMultiplayer slots with game show thrills

LUXOR BlackjackMultiplayer and multi-table Blackjack

Current Games

Slots Wheel DealMultiplayer slots with game show thrills

High-quality portfolio of social games

Page 19: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

SLOTS WHEEL DEAL CASE STUDY

★ Launch Date: Nov 2010 (web)★ Over $25m in revenue since launch★ 7 million unique registrations (all platforms) ★ Close to 4 million mobile app downloads (iOS & Android)★ iOS app has reached number #1 (grossing in Casino category) in 9 countries on

iPhone and 14 countries on iPad. Top #4 grossing in key markets including US, UK, Canada and Australia.

★ Launched Sep 2013 on Facebook Canvas.★ Nearly 1 million Facebook fans on Yazino and Wheel Deal pages

*Limited investment‣ Yazino has spent a maximum of $122K monthly (8-month increment 2011/2012) on

Facebook, and a maximum of $245K monthly (2-month increment 2012) on iOS.‣ By contrast, competitors are investing between $1m-$10m monthly on Facebook. The

leading social casino games are investing a minimum of $2m monthly on IOS.

Page 20: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

MONETISATION KPIs

DAU / MAUGrowth opportunity

Social graph enhancements and new game content development are shifting Yazino above industry average and improve all other KPIs

Industry

25%

Yazino

30%

ADVERTISING ROIExcellent ROI

With a marketing investment of only $7.2m, Yazino has already generated close to $20.3m in revenue

$25m$7.2m

BUYER LTV

Yazino24 mo. LTV

$300

Yazino6 mo. LTV

$130

Yazino12 mo. LTV

$180

Yazino 36 mo. LTV

$415

Buyers stay for the long runYazino games have a very long shelf life, with players still buying even after 3 years.

Unlike other ‘hit’ games (e.g. Draw Something) that come and go, Yazino’s multiplayer synchronous games retain purchasers over time.

AVERAGE REVENUE PER PAYING USER (ARPPU)

ARPPU calculated per month and is a 6-month weighted average from July - Dec 2015Yazino ‘User’ defined as someone who plays

Industry Leading MonetisationYazino outperforms industry on monetising players. Competitor ARPPU ranges from $20-$50 monthly based on game genre

Social CasinoARPPU

Avg. ~$40YazinoARPPU

$53

Page 21: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

CHALLENGES OF SYNCHRONOUS SOCIAL GAMES

WHY isn’t everyone doing it? We got it wrong so many times….

Technology intellectually challenging

Game agnostic

Synchronous broadcasting

Low latency and transactional

Financially very expensive to develop

Eco-system to support business

Page 22: Future of Gaming: Synchronous & Multiplayer Gameplay | Hussein Chahine

THANK YOU!ANY QUESTIONS?