Your Game is None of Your Business | Randall Robbins
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Delivered at Casual Connect USA 2016. How can you validate if your game is worth playing before you write a single line of code? How can you get people to sign up to play your game before a demo is even ready? How many units do you need to ship in order to pay for the initial development of your next game? How many signups do you need this month? The purpose of this talk is to take a step back and view the “Business” as being your product, not the game.
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Your Game is None of Your Business | Randall Robbins
- 3. “Every Game Developer deserves to be successful”
- 5. Intro :: Why We’re Here • About Austin Game Dev • Austin, TX – One of the capitals of Indy Game Development • Large Game Development Community • Talented Game Developers and Artists making great games
- 6. Intro :: Why We’re Here • Issue • Not as much understanding of how to go from “Game” to “Sellable Product” • Scope of Issue • Not just an Austin issue … it’s a Global issue
- 7. Intro :: Why We’re Here • New way of thinking • Mindset: Making a game is like starting a startup • Need different tools, strategies, and tactics for Business • The game might be the product, but YOU are the business “Your game is none of your business”
- 8. Contents • Solution • Lean Canvas • Strategy • Experiments • Next Steps • Q&A
- 10. Navigating without a Map • Talented game dev pours heart and soul into game “Everyone will love it” “Should do well” • Sends social blast out to everyone • Releases on Steam or App Store … results are less than ideal
- 11. What If • Knew the game filled a need for players? • Found and got feedback from early adopters? • Grew presence during development? • Knew how many units to sell to cover costs? • Used metrics to gauge traction before launch?
- 12. “Every Game Developer deserves to be successful” BUSINESS PLAN
- 13. Business / Lean / MVP Canvas Business Model Canvas Alex Osterwalder MVP Canvas Amy Jo Kim Lean Canvas Ash Maurya
- 14. Lean Canvas
- 15. Ash Maurya
- 16. Case Study Blue-Volcano “Roto Color Runners”
- 17. Lean Canvas :: Customer Target buyers / players • Who needs your game? Ideal Personas / Early Adopters • Demographics • Willing to play unfinished game, get builds; give feedback
- 18. Lean Canvas :: Problem What problems / key assumptions are you trying to solve? • “No good [X] games on [Y] platform.” Existing Alternatives • Analogs: What games are people currently buying to fill need?
- 19. Lean Canvas :: Unique Value Proposition [UVP] Why is your game • Different or Worth buying? • Solving a problem over other alternatives? Finished Story Benefit • What + How + Why
- 20. Lean Canvas :: Solution This is your game Start with “Pitch Doc” • Book: Game Design [2nd Edition] Bob Bates Get validation before beginning development
- 21. “Game Design” [2nd Edition] – Bob Bates
- 22. Lean Canvas :: Channels Inbound & Outbound • How are you positioning your game in the market? Channel Cost / Benefit • Which generates the most TRACTION? • Which provides the most VALUE?
- 23. Lean Canvas :: Cost Structure Money Going Out List your Fixed Costs • Rent, Bills, Utilities, Hosting Fees List your Variable Costs • Software, Hardware, Conferences, Business Cards
- 24. Lean Canvas :: Revenue Structure Money Coming In List Sources of Revenue • Game Purchases • Add-Ons, Expansions, Micro-transactions • Merchandise • YouTube / Twitch
- 25. Lean Canvas :: Key Metrics Your metrics that matter Dave McClure’s Pirate Metrics • Acquisition • Activation • Retention • Referral • Revenue
- 26. Lean Canvas :: Key Metrics Your metrics that matter Dave McClure’s Pirate Metrics • Acquisition • Activation • Retention • Referral • Revenue
- 27. Lean Canvas :: Unfair Advantage What aspects of your game cannot be easily replicated or copied? Why should customers believe in you? • Expert Game Dev? • History of releases?
- 29. Navigating without a Map • Talented game dev nearly completes game in isolation • Shows game to family and friends • Gets very little Action-Oriented feedback • Still has to do a lot of rework • Finishes game and releases on Steam or App Store … results are less than ideal
- 30. What If • Validated game idea before development? • Knew the game was worth playing based on feedback before the game was finished? • Had quantifiable evidence of traction? • Sold copies of the game before release? • Confident going into launch?
- 31. “Every Game Developer deserves to be successful” STRATEGY
- 32. Strategy
- 33. Strategy 3 Phases of Game Creation • Idea :: Game :: Product Questions • Do I have a Game worth creating? • Do I have a Game that resonates with a sufficient market? • Do I have a Product that is sellable and can meet Financial Goal?
- 34. Strategy 1st Step: Determine Initial Overall MSC for Product • MSC = Minimum Success Criteria Example • Initial Overall MSC for Product is to reach $100K in sales in 1 year • Plan is to sell game for $10 on Steam • Need to sell 10,000 copies of game within a year
- 35. Strategy 2nd Step: Break down MSC across each Business Phase Sales Trials Outreach Product 10K 100K 1M Game 1K 10K 100K Idea 100 1K 10K
- 36. Strategy 3rd Step: Determine Strategy & MSC for each Phase • Strategy will be different for each phase: Idea | Game | Product • Goal is to test and validate your Strategy • Important to LEARN if you ARE or are NOT on the right path
- 37. Strategy Plan :: Background High Level • What led you here? • What are you trying to accomplish? • Why?
- 38. Strategy Plan :: Current Condition Regarding Business • What phase is your game currently in? • Quantitative Stats: • Sales / Pre-Orders • Mail Sign-Ups • Early Adopters
- 39. Strategy Plan :: Analysis Assumptions holding you and your game back • Wrong target players? • Not enough retention / referrals? How does your game stack up to other games? Root Cause Analysis
- 40. Strategy Plan :: Goal Specific to Current Phase • What is the Specific Measurable Outcome? • How long will this Strategy be tested? Example: 1000 Trials in 4 Months
- 41. Strategy Plan :: Implementation Outline for achieving goal • How are you going to get feedback and reach valuable milestones? Determine plan for • What you will build • Who you will reach • What you will learn and how it will be measured
- 42. Strategy Plan :: Follow-On Plans If this Strategy works, then What Comes Next? What makes the most sense for your game and business? • Expand Market? • Add Revenue Streams?
- 45. Navigating without a Map • Talented game dev doesn’t test the product • How many people playing the game • How long people play before dropping out • How many people pre-purchasing the game • Sounds out social blast and releases on Steam or App Store … results are less than ideal
- 46. What If • Knew – based on qualitative and quantitative results • Right target audience and early adopters? • Best channels for exposing game to market? • Correct pricing for game? • Game was ready to sell? • Exactly what to do next?
- 47. “Every Game Developer deserves to be successful” EXPERIMENTS
- 48. Experiments
- 49. Experiments Lean Canvas & Strategy Sheet are Tools USE the Tools by running Experiments • Go out: Validate your assumptions • Prove Right or Wrong • Eliminate Wasteful Development
- 50. Experiments Run 1-2 Week Experiments • Address the Following Questions • Are we targeting the right people? • Does our game provide enough unique value? • Is the price we’re asking for too little? • Does our game address a significant enough need? • Are we using the right channels?
- 51. Experiment Report :: Background High-level goal: Should relate to strategy What are we going to test, and Why?
- 52. Experiment Report :: Falsifiable Hypotheses Formula Specific action will drive expected measurable outcome in determined amount of time What is the guess? • By doing X, Y should happen in Z time
- 53. Experiment Report :: Details What will you build? How do you intend to measure the output? What resources will you need to run the test?
- 54. Experiment Report :: Results Summary Document your results: • Was the outcome expected or unexpected? • What was the ACTUAL outcome of the Specific Action?
- 55. Experiment Report :: Validated Learning What did you learn? Interpret the results: • Didn’t get what you anticipated? Why? • What is the impact? Learning is THE KEY part of running experiments
- 56. Experiment Report :: Next Action What experiment makes the most sense to run after this?
- 58. Experiments :: Moving Through Phases After running experiments through strategy period: • Did you hit strategy goals? Why or why not? • Do you have enough to move onto next phase? • Yes: New strategy for new phase • No: New strategy with new goal meant to get to next business development phase
- 60. What If • Business Plan • Found and got feedback from early adopters? • Knew how many units to sell to cover costs? • Strategy • Validated game idea before development? • Experiments • Best channels for exposing game to market? • Exactly what to do next?
- 61. Take Action! • Create Initial Canvas • Create Initial Strategy • Start Forming and Running Experiments
- 62. “Every Game Developer … WILL be successful”
- 64. Randall Robbins, CAPM, CSM • rrobbins@greyvulture.com • www.greyvulture.com • @grey_vulture
Editor's Notes
- Randall: Current: Ops Mgr eyeQ ProjMgr Austin games 2+ years IGDA-Austin VP Jan 2015, Recently started Grey Vulture: Biz & Prod resources for game devs
- Story Austin, TX – One of the capitals of Indy Game Development What we’ve been seeing: Talented Game Developers and Artists making great games Limited to No business plan Limited to No strategy Limited to No launch plan, etc
- Story Austin, TX – One of the capitals of Indy Game Development What we’ve been seeing: Talented Game Developers and Artists making great games Limited to No business plan Limited to No strategy Limited to No launch plan, etc
- Story Austin, TX – One of the capitals of Indy Game Development What we’ve been seeing: Talented Game Developers and Artists making great games Limited to No business plan Limited to No strategy Limited to No launch plan, etc
- Contents Intro Background Why We’re Here Goals Solution Lean Canvas Strategy Phases Experiments Next Steps Q&A
- Solution
- Contents Intro Background Why We’re Here Goals Solution Lean Canvas Strategy Phases Experiments Next Steps Q&A
- Business Plan Contents Intro Background Why We’re Here Goals Solution Lean Canvas Strategy Phases Experiments Next Steps Q&A
- Alex Osterwalder created other Business Model Canvas Has been adapted by other professionals: Lean Canvas by Ash Maurya MVP Canvas by Amy Jo Kim
- Focus on Lean Canvas – Ash Maurya Customer, Problem, UVP, Solution, Channels, Cost, Revenue, Metrics, Unfair advantage
- For example data, we’ll be using “Roto Color Runners” as a case study Developed by Brendan Votano – Director of Blue Volcano
- Diffusion of Innovation Theory Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, Laggards -Early Majority won’t buy until someone (early adopters) try it first
- Competitors: what was their marketing/advertising & launch strategy? (blogs, podcasts, steam page, etc) What worked? / What should you think about doing? What didn’t work? / What should you avoid? Antilogs: similar games that didn’t do well; why?
- Tagline “Blow away the dead and escape the apocalypse before your friends turn on you”
- “Blow away the dead and escape the apocalypse before your friends turn on you”
- High Concept, Genre, Gameplay, Features, Setting, Story, Target Audience, Hardware Platform, Estimated Schedule and Budget, Competitive Analysis, Team, Summary
- Facebook, twitter, instagram? Meetups? Hackathons, game jams, conferences / conventions, expos, forms, email; forums; twitch Inbound & Outbound How are you reaching out to customers? How can potential customers find you? How are you positioning your game in the market? Cost and benefit to each channel; which is generating more traction? Which provides the most value? How value defined? Cost / Benefit Which channel : Generates the most TRACTION? Provides the most VALUE?
- Money Going Out List your Fixed Costs Rent Bills Utilities Hosting Fees Money Going Out List your Variable Costs Software Hardware (games, etc) Conferences Business Cards
- Acquisition How many people are finding your game Define: Viewed? Website? Downloaded? Activation How many people actually playing game? Retention How long are people playing? Why / Why not? Define how long people should be playing Referral Are people telling others about your game? What is the mechanism for people to tell others about your game? How make easy? Revenue How many customers are buying game? How many viewers are watching play sessions?
- Acquisition How many people are finding your game Define: Viewed? Website? Downloaded? Activation How many people actually playing game? Retention How long are people playing? Why / Why not? Define how long people should be playing Referral Are people telling others about your game? What is the mechanism for people to tell others about your game? How make easy? Revenue How many customers are buying game? How many viewers are watching play sessions?
- Standouts: Customer: people who like to create and share content; have bought Rez; get involved with electronic music community Problem / UVP: no electronic music games that allows players to create and share Cost: led to creation of spreadsheet to track expenses – including conferences Revenue: led to lots of questions; cost per #features; add-ons
- Strategy Contents Intro Background Why We’re Here Goals Solution Lean Canvas Strategy Phases Experiments Next Steps Q&A
- Strategy Validation Plan by Ash Maurya
- Root Cause Analysis 5 Whys Developed by Sakichi Toyoda Each level of “Why” presents a potential item to tackle
- Implementation Outline coarse game-plan for achieving goal Determine plan for who you’re going to reach, what you want to learn, how you’re going to measure what you learn, and what you’re going to build How are you going to get exposure for your game What is the Implementation timeline details What specific valuable milestones do you need to hit, and how are you going to hit them? How are you going to rollout your game?
- Standouts: Game existed; goal to validate idea and market Analysis: Root Causes for not spending ideal amt time on business side Led to discussion and ideas on how best take advantage of conferences and festivals Forms, message, specific demos, message, etc
- Standouts: This generated a lot of discussion Roadmap of festivals, when to have vertical slice, collecting data If successful, then when to have early access, potential kickstarter, potential release
- Contents Intro Background Why We’re Here Goals Solution Lean Canvas Strategy Phases Experiments Next Steps Q&A
- Experiments Contents Intro Background Why We’re Here Goals Solution Lean Canvas Strategy Phases Experiments Next Steps Q&A
- Experiment Report by Ash Maurya
- Tools: Just because you downloaded Unity doesn’t make you a game developer. Just because you create a canvas and strategy doesn’t mean you have a business; you have to use the tools
- Tools: Just because you downloaded Unity doesn’t make you a game developer. Just because you create a canvas and strategy doesn’t mean you have a business; you have to use the tools
- Experiment Report [Ash Maurya] What tests are we going to run? Which tests potentially provide the most valuable info? Estimate the outcome; doesn’t have to be precise; goal=learn Each experiment should run 1 or 2 weeks; depending on how productive the team is, multip exper can run at same time 2-stages Report; good name; time boxed
- Standouts: Testing pricing: cost per feature Specific quantifiable goals: #new subscribers, followers, customers Influences what will be built for CC – including capturing analytics Not done: to be completed after CC; objectively look at results data to learn
- Ideal worth making Game worth playing Product worth buying
- Next Steps
- Business Plan Knew the game filled a need for players? Found and got feedback from early adopters? Grew presence during development? Knew how many units to sell to cover costs? Used metrics to gauge traction before launch? Strategy Validated game idea before development? Knew the game was worth playing based on feedback before the game was finished? Had quantifiable evidence of traction? Sold copies of the game before release? Confident going into launch? - Experiments Knew – based on qualitative and quantitative results Right target audience and early adopters? Best channels for exposing game to market? Correct pricing for game? Game was ready to sell? Exactly what to do next?