Delivered at Casual Connect Europe 2016 Have you ever seen an amazing product become stagnant? A great game followed by rubbish sequels? Ever worked on something for 6+ months only to see "meh" reviews and poor metrics? Misunderstanding your customer is the shortest route to self-destruction, and it's becoming easier in a more mature market. Over the years, we've experienced amazing success and periods of crisis and self-reflection. I will share some techniques we've developed that help us maintain focus, stay in touch with the players and convert feedback into design and business decisions.

1. INTO THE DARKNESS
FIGURING OUT WHAT THEY ACTUALLY WANT
Vladimir Funtikov | CEO

2. THE NECESSARY INTRO SLIDE
 Founded in 2010 in Tallinn, Estonia
 Team of ~100
 30+ titles
 270+ million downloads incl. 30+ with 3rd-party games
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3. WHY (F2P) GAME DEVELOPMENT SUCKS
 We are not solving a SPECIFIC problem by designing a game.
 We are building works of art that are expected to function like businesses.
 We don’t know what the players want.
 Players don’t know what they want.
 We actually need to know what they WILL want X months from now.
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4. STEP 1: SANITY CHECK
 Prerequisite: have people in the team play different games, talk about it,
be proud of it.
 Internal playtest / concept evaluation – does it look/sound fun?
 Do you imagine anyone playing it for 2 years?
 Do you imagine anyone spending $10’000 in IAP?
 Do you imagine anyone recommending it to 3 friends?
 Due diligence: what’s the competition like (performance, brand power, SWOT)
 Brands don’t save from mediocrity.
 Due diligence: is it a clone?
 Does the original have critical flaws that this game will fix?
 Is it so much better than don’t want to play the original anymore, ever?
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5. LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR
(AKA “THINGS THAT DON’T LOOK LIKE A BIG DEAL BUT WILL RUIN OUR LIFE”)
What we think
 There are technological
challenges that we will surely
figure out with so much time on
our hands.
 This IP is not a great fit, but it’s
really hot right now, so we’ll make
it work.
 Our artist is not crazy about the
concept, but he will adjust.
 We will introduce this audience to
a completely new genre/theme.
 We’ve don’t know if it will
monetize well, but we’ll dissect a
successful rival and copy their
tactics.
What it means
 Game will launch late, look like
crap, run slow, cost a fortune to
maintain, and you will never fix
this s#!t.
 Game will fail and you will forever
blame yourself for destroying a
perfectly good IP.
 Our artist will keep doing what he
likes and the product will have to
adjust.
 Audience will introduce us to the
meaning of product/market misfit.
 Even the makers of the
successful rival don’t really know
why it’s monetizing so well.
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6. STEP 2: EXTERNAL PLAYTESTING
 Focus group = target audience (age, gender, nationality, hobbies)
 30-60 minutes worth of gameplay in demo (more hardcore = more time)
 Goals > data
 60% preparation, 30% analysis, 10% playtest
 Emotions + gameplay footage + questionnaires
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7. STEP 2: EXTERNAL PLAYTESTING
 Typical questions after 5/30 mins:
 Would you like to continue playing (why/why not)?
 What’s the goal of the game?
 How do you like the controls/UI?
 Typical questions after the test:
 Would you like to continue playing (why/why not)?
 What’s the goal of the game?
 [Very Specific Question re: one of the key mechanics in open and closed form]
 Would you recommend it to your friends?
 What you loved? What you hated?
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8. STEP 3: SOFT-LAUNCH Q&A
 Q: Where do you soft-launch?
A: In the target market.
 Q: iTunes, Play, or That Awesome New Platform That Will Soon Be Huge?
A: Play, because it’s easier.
 Q: How much gameplay there needs to be?
A: As much as it takes to convert the player we design for.
 Q: Plans for UA?
A: Push, cross-promo or targeted depending on what we need to test most.
 Q: Metrics to look out for?
A: ARPU, short-term retention, session length/frequency, conversion, review score.
 Q: How long does it take?
A: As long as it takes.
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9. PERFORMANCE CAN IMPROVE A LOT
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Net sales, EUR
Net profit, EUR

10. IF YOU HAVE THE TIME AND THE MONEY
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Net sales, EUR
Net profit, EUR
Launch

11. STEP 4: THREE (5, 10) YEARS AFTER
 Set measurable, realistic goals, define timeframes
 Benchmark the KPIs and choose what you need to improve
 D1>=50% D7>=25% D28>=12% (mind the source!)
 ARPU > CPI @ X installs/day
 Conversion to installs
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12. A WORD ON CONVERSION
 Conversion vs file size:
 <= 50 MB – 19%
 >50 MB – 13%
(sample of 14 games, 200k~6000k page views, 20~350 MB)
 Conversion vs review score
 No correlation if score is between 3.9 and 4.6 (although it might influence the number of
page views).
 FYI, “rate us” = +0.2~0.3★
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13. ONE MORE WORD ON CONVERSION
 Google Play Experiments = free and fun way to make more money
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14. ONE MORE WORD ON CONVERSION
 Google Play Experiments = free and fun way to make more money
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11,174 6,774

15. A WORD ON CONVERSION
 Conversion vs file size:
 <= 50 MB – 19%
 >50 MB – 13%
(sample of 14 games, 200k~6000k page views, 20~350 MB)
 Conversion vs review score
 No correlation if score is between 3.9★ and 4.6★ (although it might influence the number of
page views).
 FYI, “rate us” = +0.2~0.3★
 A/B test everything. Have an experiment roadmap. Formulate theories, record
outcomes.
 Don’t forget to make sure you’re working with data from similar sources
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16. STEP 4: THREE (5, 10) YEARS AFTER
 Set measurable, realistic goals, define timeframes
 Benchmark the KPIs and choose what you need to improve
 D1>=50% D7>=25% D28>=12% (mind the source!)
 ARPU > CPI @ X installs/day
 Conversion to installs
 Prioritization is the most important job
 Maintain your backlog
 Keep it in front of the elite players, incorporate their feedback
 Rank based on expected impact on acquisition/retention/ARPU and difficulty
 Pick one epic feature, throw in new content, add something for the fans, fill the rest with
fixes
 Define expectations, measure KPIs before and after
 Review results, review goals, define new objectives, rinse and repeat
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17. VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
 Players are alarm bells, not visionaries
 Process comments and emails daily , use dedicated software (Helpshif, Zendesk)
& APIs
 Have customer support play games and attend team meetings
 Have a protocol for communication between customer support and dev team
 Identify elite players ($ spent, time in game, social influence), talk to them in
private
 The larger the group, the lower its IQ
 They are important – let them know
 Validate ideas, don’t ask for guidance
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18. GL&HF!
Vladimir Funtikov vladimir@creative-mobile.com
VladF_cm
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