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HOW CREATIVE AGENCIES ARE GETTING INVOLVED IN THE MOBILE HIT BUSINESS - Paul Croft
Creative agencies are increasingly getting involved in the mobile games business by helping develop new hit games. The document discusses how agencies can utilize their expertise in areas like branding, marketing, and user experience design to contribute to the development and success of mobile games. It also provides contact information for Paul Croft of Mediatonic, who argues that agencies are well-positioned to collaborate with developers on new mobile games.
HOW CREATIVE AGENCIES ARE GETTING INVOLVED IN THE MOBILE HIT BUSINESS - Paul Croft
- 1. MEDIATONIC TM HOW CREATIVEAGENCIES ARE GETTING INVOLVED IN THE MOBILE HIT BUSINESS Paul Croft PG Connects | January 2015 All Rights Reserved
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- 5. MEDIATONIC TM Credit: EricBenjamin Seufert, MobileDevMemo.com
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- 14. MEDIATONIC TM THANKS FORLISTENING! Paul Croft Email: paul.croft@mediatonic.co.uk Twitter: @bouncinglemon All Rights Reserved
Editor's Notes
- #3 Agency success stories – we’ve all seen them in the press We’ve had some fantastic and ground-breaking games produced in Britain which we should celebrate If you’re an agency, a successful game can generate on-going royalty streams for your business and remove your dependency on work for hire However, it’s a high risk business, and it’s important to look to the future, rather than what’s happening in the present, for a higher chance of success.
- #4 The market can only accommodate a slim number of breakout hits a year Competition is already fierce on mobile and it will continue to grow over the coming year. #As an agency, you have a higher cost base than an indie developer – it costs more to make products
- #5 Agencies tend to excel on the creative side, and are so excellent at building awareness and creative content But making money from that content is a big challenge. Each game you create is a bit like a start-up – it costs money to get off the ground, money to run and bring in customers, and you’re looking to get money out of it. Approach it like you would starting a new business and consider your plan carefully.
- #6 At the moment the top of the app store chart is very stagnant. 7 of the top 10 games at the end of 2014 were in the top 10 in 2013 There has been very little change between this year and the last. Given the top players have revenues to spend millions each month to secure their position, it’s important to consider how you will compete. The UK has a heritage of rich creativity, which serves as an excellent starting point for disruption and success.
- #7 If you’re an agency with a higher cost base with an indie developer, how can you get involved? At a basic level, there is straight Work for Hire, but that’s bread and butter for typical agencies so I don’t intend time on it. Besides the fact that WFH is not condusive to successful free to play titles as incentives between client and agency are misaligned. It’s important to look to the future instead of copying what is happening right now. Be disruptive to succeed, offset your risk so you can have multiple chances of success.
- #8 There are several different strategies and routes to success for agencies in the mobile space. Predicting success is always impossible, particularly in games. Publishers and investors often take 10 bets with the hope that one or two will take off and pay for the rest. You should plan for multiple failures. However, with the right strategy, you can increase your chances of success.
- #9 Opportunity 1: Niche Freemium Titles Avoid casual games which are super competitive, it’s very hard to make a business case work with low ARPU & high UA cost. You need to have a game with deep revenue streams and high retention. High ARPU is key as you’re targeting a low number of players. Don’t create something that’s reliant on content if possible as you will run our (eg, 200hrs+) Quite a large, untapped niches at the moment and a rich vein to mine. Eg, alternative sports, trains, simulation, etc; Look at other markets for inspiration.
- #10 Opportunity 2: Portable Premium games 90% of app store revenue last year was generated from F2P games, and in 2015 I anticipate it will be higher. However, there is a space for high quality, creative premium titles if they are done right and fit the platform well. This route is lower risk, but lower reward, with the maximum revenues topping out relatively low compared to a F2P title. Keep development costs and low as possible and plan to spread to as many platform as possible (eg, PC, Vita) to offset your risk and earn supplementary revenue. On mobile, piracy rates on Android are high for premium games, so you can anticipate generating the majority of revenues on iOs.
- #11 Opportunity 3: Use a brand or IP A classic sign of a maturing market. Essentially, this is giving you two things; it decreases your user acquisition cost and it increases the loyalty of customers coming into your app. Due to fierce competition and rising UA cost, we’ll see more and more licensed product entering the app store over the coming year. It’s important that the game idea fits the IP. If it’s freemium, ideally it should be condusive to a high ARPU. Unless you have an incredible IP, it’s a challenge to compete in the casual space. Consider how your IP works worldwide in addition to the UK, particularly in key markets like the US.
- #12 Opportunity 4: Share Risk and Rewards Through getting smart about WFH and striking creative business deals, you can spread your bets across potentially several titles. Looking for joint investment, partner support and revenue shares can benefit your business in the long term. Can open up new markets or opportunities to your business. Partners may have brand, UA or specialities that you cannot compete with. Publishing a mobile game can be an expensive endeavour. Through creative biz dev and finding smart partners, you can focus on your strengths.
- #13 Opportunity 5: Look outside the UK Explore what’s happening in other territories and markets as it can often be a pre-cursor to what will happen in the UK. In the East for example, their F2P heritage goes back considerably further than the UK, so it is one indicator as to where our market is moving. It’s becoming harder to compete, so any insight or advantage you can gain is key.
- #14 Over 2015, the mobile space is going to become harder and harder to compete. Be careful what you risk. Consider your commercials and strategy carefully. Stay Creative. Look to the future. Good luck and thanks for listening.