Mike Hines, Amazon

Increasing User Engagement with Competitive Gaming

The official conference website — http://wnconf.com
(White Nights Conference St.Petersburg 2018)

Transcript

1. @MikeFHines MikeFHines INCREASING ENGAGEMENT W ITH COMPETITIVE GAMING MIKE HINES D E V E L O P E R E V A N G E L I S T, A M A Z O N
2. @MikeFHines Founder Mentor Game Judge Presenter Mike Hines Developer Evangelist
3. WHAT IS COMPETITIVE GAMING? A N D IS IT REAL LY A THIN G ?
4. W H AT I S I T C O M P E T I T I V E G A M I N G Real time competition between two or more players.
5. WHO IS WATCHING? WHO IS PLAYING?
6. S C O P E H O W M A N Y H O U R S D O P E O P L E S P E N D WAT C H I N G … Data courtesy of: The Economist, NCAA, Twitch
7. A U D I E N C E E S P O R T S A U D I E N C E G R O W T H
8. COMPETITION IN INDIVIDUAL GAMES
9. PRO ESPORTS EVENTS ONLINE PRO ESPORTS AMATEUR ESPORTS EVENTS ONLINE AMATEUR ESPORTS SHARING COMPETITIVE VIEWING EXPERIENCE ESPORTS IS THE PINNACLE OF COMPETITIVE GAMING 9 UNDERLYING SUCCESS OF COMPETITIVE GAMING HAS PUSHED IT TO A PROFESSIONAL LEVEL © copyright Newzoo 2018 500 300 100 50 20 10 Progression stages of a non-competitive game to a major esports title.
10. PRO ESPORTS EVENTS ONLINE PRO ESPORTS AMATEUR ESPORTS EVENTS ONLINE AMATEUR ESPORTS SHARING COMPETITIVE VIEWING EXPERIENCE MOBILE ESPORTS PATH © copyright Newzoo 2018 Mobile games can be equally to PC and console games. F2P business model dominates both mobile and PC games. Mass audience required for competitive matching is represented on mobile. Moments to determine content creation. What these moments are determine if it is esports. Do the moments have to do with skills? Or fun or visual? Esports require skill-based moments. Traditional esports is most on mobile where there is no option to play. For mobile games, fans can immediately switch between playing and viewing. Performance on Twitch is a clear indication of esports potential. Mobile esports scores low viewership. Facilitating & stimulating the between friends is key to both mobile and PC competitive games. Consumers and small organizations set up at physical locations, for instance, fun community competitions. These events can be anywhere and anytime for mobile games, as there is no additional equipment required. There is a market for pro esports events in Asia, but less so in the West. In Asia, esports around mobile games is more similar to PC, especially in Southeast Asia. Single player will not be enough for esports entertainment. Giant’s Battle of Balls is already an esports success in China, and other Asian regions are soon to follow. The Battle of Balls Professional League (BPL) is the world’s first casual mobile esports league. Giant E-Sports is part of the company’s mobile esports ecosystem. It organizes events for franchises such as Battle of Balls, Vainglory, and Streetball in China. Progression stages of a non- competitive game to a major esports title.
11. TOURNAMENT WEEK FOR ONE MOBILE TITLE Source: Newzoo 2017 Esports Trends Report C O M P E T I T I O N A N D E N G A G E M E N T
12. Amazon GDC We have experienced it’s potential COMPETITION AND MOBILE Our Champions of Fire Invitational was a proof- point that competitive gaming on mobile can be as engaging as on PC.
13. COMPETITION IN GAMES
14. ADDING COMPETITIVE EVENTS TO YOUR GAMES
15. Prizes Competitions (Leaderboards, Leagues) Connecting Players Admin Console Cross-platform, Flexible APIs User-generated Competitions ABOUT GAMEON FOR PC, IOS, ANDROID, CONSOLE
16. Prizes Competitions Connecting Players Dashboard for Marketing Managers Cross-platform, Flexible APIs User-generated Competitions REST APIs FOR PC, IOS, ANDROID AND CONSOLE
17. Two kinds of competitive games: Direct Competition • Fencing • Tennis • League of Legends • Hearthstone Indirect Competition • Archery • Downhill Skiing • Sonic 4 • Ostrich Among Us COMPETITION IN YOUR GAME
18. DIRECT COMPETITION Leagues • Rank players by score • Rank players by number of competitive wins • Hold competitions for best players in each league COMPETITION IN YOUR GAME
19. Indirect Competition Leagues Challenges • Who can kill a boss in a special level? • Who can get farthest with no spells/power-ups/whatever Leaderboards • Make Leaderboards local/relevant COMPETITION IN YOUR GAME
22. OSTRICH AMONG US TOURNAMENT NOW UNTIL 18:00 FRIDAY Links to all app stores: http://ostrichgame.com/ http://developer.amazon.com/GameOn
23. OSTRICH AMONG US TOURNAMENT RESULTS People close to the top score played many more games than those whose first few attempts were nowehere close to the top. Use multiple leaderboards, show the player as close to a milestone (Top 1000, Fortunate 500, 100 Masters, Elite 25…). Offer rewards (IAP items) at milestones
24. • Reward players for participation – a common, low-value in-game digital item is a good start • Recognize top players with rare or limited- edition digital items • Reserve physical items for tournament winners, finalists, and special recipients Best Practices Awarding Prizes COMPETITION IN YOUR GAME
25. “I never lose. Either I win or I learn.” Nelson Mandela
26. NEXT STEPS
27. N E X T S T E P S Take advantage of Competitive Gaming as a developer WHAT CAN YOU D O N O W ? Be a part of Twitch Watch and play games on Twitch Empower your community Help your community organize their own tournaments. Help your streamers create competitions to engage with their fanbase (via your game)
28. THANK YOU! Mike Hines Twitter - @MikeFHines Facebook - /MikeFHines Learn more about GameOn: http://developer.amazon.com/gameon