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BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS IN GAMES:
Neither Players Nor Developers Are Rational
AND THIS IS GOOD FOR EVERYONE
VASILIY SABIROV,
LEAD ANALYST & CO-FOUNDER
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BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS
Classical economics implies that all
subjects act rationally.
Behavioral economics says the
opposite.
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SURVIVORSHIP BIAS
Surveys and customer development should be done not only for your current
users, but also for those who churned.
Not only for those who pay, but also for non-paying users.
Don’t focus only on success.
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SELECTIVE PERCEPTION
Community management:
● there will always be dissatisfied
players;
● focus on negative aspects;
● learn to settle situations.
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FEW WORDS ABOUT MEETINGS & BRAINSTORMS
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● halo effect
● bandwagon effect
● closed set of variants (A or B)
What to do?
● de-identified data
● A/B-testing as hypothesis testing
● another spheres (e-commerce -> ABCXYZ analysis)
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ENDOWMENT EFFECT
● people value things that they already own more than those they can get
● don’t take away virtual currency, players will find where to spend it
themselves
● instead of taking away, give less (but give!) resources
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ENDOWMENT EFFECT
● create a trial version
● give players an opportunity to
invest something in your
game
● opportunity to dress up a
character
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TRICKS & EXPERIMENTS
opportunity to choose
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Source
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TRICKS & EXPERIMENTS
paradox of choice
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Source
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TRICKS & EXPERIMENTS
paradox of choice
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Source
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4 TYPES OF PRICES
● Rounded ($37)
● Rounded with zeros ($34,00)
● Exact ($24,35)
● «Charm» (39,99$ or 34,95$)
round numbers are easier and quicker to comprehend than exact numbers;
our brain reads numbers from left to right;
don’t use exact prices if a good is related to emotional purchases;
if the price is less than 10$, use «charm» prices regardless of a good category
www.devtodev.com | [email protected]
Source
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TRICKS & EXPERIMENTS
bait
● web subscription (59$)
● print subscription (125$)
● print + web subscription (125$)
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Source
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TRICKS & EXPERIMENTS
bait
● web subscription (59$) - 16%
● print subscription (125$) - 0%
● print + web subscription (125$) - 84%
ARPU = $114.44
www.devtodev.com | [email protected]
Source
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TRICKS & EXPERIMENTS
bait
● web subscription (59$)
● print subscription (125$)
● print + web subscription (125$)
www.devtodev.com | [email protected]
Source
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TRICKS & EXPERIMENTS
bait
● web subscription (59$) - 68%
● print subscription (125$)
● print + web subscription (125$) - 32%
ARPU = $80.12
www.devtodev.com | [email protected]
Source
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ANCHORING
The share of African countries in the UN?
More than 65%? How much?
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Source
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ANCHORING
The share of African countries in the UN?
More than 10%? How much?
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Source
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ANCHORING
Anchor 65% -> 45%
Anchor 10% -> 25%
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Source
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ANCHORING
Anchor 65% -> 45%
Anchor 10% -> 25%
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Source
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ANCHORING
● don’t make prices too low;
● give an expensive alternative;
● show it first.
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Source
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THE POWER OF FREE
People like when something’s free:
● Night of museums
● F2P games
● Free samples
Gifts in currency:
● 30% in short-term revenue
● 10% in long-term revenue
www.devtodev.com | [email protected]
Source
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FEW MORE RECOMMENDATIONS
● The rule of the hundred
○ P < $100 -> discount in %
○ P > $100 -> discount in $
● Choose numbers with fewer syllables;
● Visualize difference between two prices;
● The currency symbol is important: if you don’t specify currency, conversion
can be higher.
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Source
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CONCLUSIONS
People make emotional decisions, especially in games.
Games are an emotional product.
Our aim is to turn this players’ feature into a win-win strategy.
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We love games. We understand the process of game development and the needs of
game studios.
From marketing to game design - devtodev provides you with valuable insights for any
role and any side of game development.
devtodev for game studios
www.devtodev.com
PRODUCER ANALYST ACQUISITION
MANAGER
GAME
DESIGNER
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www.devtodev.com
Here’s how
we work
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www.devtodev.com
game design education course
20% DISCOUNT,
ASK ME!
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VASILIY SABIROV
lead analyst & co-founder
[email protected]
www.devtodev.com
THANK YOU!