Teut Weidemann, F2P Expert

Raising Conversion & ARPPU

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

Transcript

1. By Teut Weidemann F2P Expert & Consulting
2. Working on Games since the 1980’s Yes that’s 30 years Worked on over 100 titles on most platforms I was Graphic Artist, Programmer, Designer, Development Director, CTO, CEO Successful exit with my game company in 2000 Frequent keynote speaker at worldwide conferences Freelance Consultant as Online Games & Monetization Expert for 10 years
3. MY CLIENTS
4. MY CLIENTS
5. Tricky? Not really
6. Source: Appsflyer
7. Source: Appsflyer
10.  Puzzle & Dragons: >50% in Japan  Gree & Dena claim >10%  Asia < Western markets  Casual < Mid Core < Core  Many top 10 games have CR > 7%  Daily conversion suck due to weekday fluctuations  Weekly ok as trend parameter  28 day actually best as it removes monthly oddities Daily? Monthly? Lifetime?
11. Players only pay when they play Integrate Monetization seamless Only selling Power makes real money
12. Tough news for casual games with ❤️ systems  That’s why they have such a low conversion (!) This means your session length needs to be in the user hands  Let players play as long as they like!  Tough news for content driven games! That’s why most successful f2p titles are more and more like MMO’s
13. Do not integrate monetization systems just for the sake of it  i.e. Lucky Wheel  i.e. Daily Login Currency should be a natural part of your game:  User gets currencies by game play  paying only raises speed of that gain  i.e. indirectly or directly saves time  Requires deep economy though
14. Users do not buy fluff. They want “power” in return Does not necessarily mean strong items Can be an acceleration to those items Purchasing something must convert into a “good feeling” Note that for PvP games selling power can be problematic Unless you know how to design PvP and still selling power  Tiered based systems work  Symmetric systems work
15. They usually aren’t like you think they are
16. I like to save time I like to customize I like to progress fast Skipping grind is great I only buy the optimum Giving is fun for me
17. I like to spend every month I spend just to honor the devs I usually only buy starters I spend when I need it I buy once and never again I just buy offers
18. 1. Every payer has different motivations 2. And is at a different progression point in your game 3. And has different interests 4. And has different spending values You need to offer something for all Otherwise you lose revenue
19. Make a matrix of items for:  Low, medium and high budgets  Early, mid and end game  Payer tastes (Bartle type, Nick Yee or 7Sins)
20. Starter Packs serve most payers and even non payers  Purchasable once per account  Should have incredible value  x3 – x6 or more  Payers buy those first  Some non payers buy them too  Honoring payers buy these  Make sure you got two: low and medium price value (inc. ARPPU)  Do NOT time limit these!* Summoners War starter packs
21. Retention Events based on game activities  Motivate players to play all aspects of the game during the event  Great Rewards by activity  Not monetized, i.e. you can’t accelerate  Monetize indirectly as more activity = more online time = more conversion & spending Summoners War sample Event
22. Events with direct monetization  Usually has own currency  Grindable by game activities  Spendable in Event shop  People with less time can purchase this currency directly, saving time  Increases CR by 1%+  Inceases Avg. Revenue by 25%+ Settlers Online Xmas Shop
23. If you run too many Events  They lose their bonus  As usually they serve as distraction from normal game routine  Too many events mean they become routine as well – losing their special gains  Guide for custom events:  Minor event weekly  Major event monthly  Special Event quarterly Summoners War 3rd Aniv. Event Calendar
24. If you are too greedy you lose long term revenue
25. Whale Hunting Games :  Rely on a few payers  Fickle business if they leave?  Expensive UA as whales are rare = Risky business Most long living f2p games have a good mix of 50/50 revenue coming from 10%/90% of payers
26.  Low Conversion <2%  Very high ARPPU  High risk  Very marketing driven  Not many payers = unstable business  Good Conversion >5%  Good ARPPU  Low risk, long lifetime  Good viral effects  Many payers = eternal business
27.  Low Conversion <2%  Very high ARPPU  High risk  Very marketing driven  Not many payers = unstable business  Good Conversion  Good ARPPU  Low risk, long lifetime  Good viral effects  Many payers = eternal business
28. If you look up their definition of ARPPU its confusing
29. Source: Game Analytics Much better: - Median - Trend - separated by performance
30. Source: Game Analytics  By Genre  Note how different ARPPU is between genres  Note that ARPPU is lower here due to taking all games into account  That’s another reason why “average” across many games suck
31.  Always use uneven number of packs  As many new payers opt for the middle  Don’t do cheap packs <$4.99  It lowers ARPPU!  Use “Most Popular”, not “Best seller”  Use Anchor points  Read Dan Ariely!! Sources: http://danariely.com/ https://deltadna.com/blog/what-the-best-games- know-about-analytics-that-the-rest-dont/ 6 Offers, where is the middle?
32.  Use currency packs as baseline  Rotate limited offers weekly which are baseline + extras  Offers should address payer interests  Offers should be mid price of your baseline packs  Result: each unique offer available once a week per month
33.  It has been proven it ruins item value perception  It costs revenue in the long run  Economists: If you’re competing on price, feel free to give discounts (but you aren’t in f2p games!) However, if you’re competing on quality, you should avoid discounting (so that you deemphasize price). Instead, remain focused on the attributes and quality of your product. Source: http://www.nickkolenda.com/psychological- pricing-strategies/
35. Chests: adds cards What if I have many? Causes diminishing returns Or forces expansions Gold: upgrades power of cards Major money sink Increased costs raises bar beyond personal spending limits And then? Nothing … Causing diminishing returns of End game payers Early Game Mid Game End Game (Hearthstone has too)
36.  Expensive way for frequent updates  Causes even more diminishing returns over time  Increases client size  Never ever can be removed  Causes balancing chaos in the end
37. Scrolls: adds monsters At some point you have too many XP + ”food” monsters upgrade monsters End game: triple nested random rune system is never ending sink Currency “Mana” as base maintenance costs
38. Gacha Systems work best when they are the core of the games main items:  In Clash Royale they are the main source of cards  In Summoners War they are the main source of monsters  In Hearthstone they are the main source of cards  In Onmyoji they are the main source of Shikigami All these games offer alternate sources of the Gacha content! Adding Gacha on top of other systems does not work well Purely relying on Gacha doesn’t work You need progression + end game on top
39. One time expensive permanents Price increase by purchase frequency Price increase by time saved Rentals Skins*, ** Blocking content Dynamic pricing per user
40. My blog: iTeutYouSo.com @Teut teut986@gmail.com Wartune Lifetime ARPPU by Monthly Cohort