The document discusses the strategies and principles for developing successful free-to-play (f2p) games on platforms like Steam and consoles, highlighting the importance of understanding the gaming market and optimizing monetization models. It emphasizes the necessity of a strong first-time user experience to engage players and build long-term retention, alongside the significance of live operations and ongoing community interaction. Key metrics for measuring success include player retention, engagement, and conversion rates, essential for maximizing revenue in the competitive gaming landscape.

1. The Keys To Making Successful F2P
Games On Steam and Consoles

2. 2
Who Are We?
Adrian Crook is an award-winning game design consultant with over 20
years’ experience in the social, mobile, and core games sectors. He has
produced and designed over three dozen products across platforms
ranging from early Nintendo and Sega Genesis to PlayStation 1,
PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox 360, Wii, Facebook, iOS and Android, and Online.
His products have won numerous awards, including “Game of the Year.”
Managing Director
Adrian Crook
Maxime Villeneuve is an experienced Game Economy Designer and
Product Manager, specialized in Free-To-Play economy optimization.
With AC+A, he has helped numerous AAA studios including Rovio and
FreshPlanet improve their Freemium games revenue by optimizing
monetization and player on-boarding.
Senior Design Associate
Maxime Villeneuve
OUR CLIENTS

3. 3
FREE-TO-PLAY GAMES ARE GENERATING MORE MONEY THAN PREMIUM SALES.
There are many reasons to opt for the Free-To-Play monetization model.
Why Free-To-Play?
RANK TITLE GENRE PUBLISHER REVENUE
1 League of Legends MOBA
Riot Games/
Tencent
$2.1B
2 Dungeon Fighter Online RPG Nexon/Tencent $1.6B
3 CrossFire Shooter Nexon/Tencent $1.4B
4 World of Tanks Shooter Wargaming $471M
5 Data 2 MOBA
Valve
Corporation
$406M
6 Roblox Virtual World
Roblox
Corporation
$310M
7 MapleStory RPG Nexon $279M
8 Hearthstone CCG
Activision
Blizzard
$217M
9 Blade & Soul RPG
NCsoft/
Tencent
$178M
10 FIFA Online 3 Sports
Nexon/Tencent
$163M
TOP FREE-TO-PLAY PC GAMES BY REVENUE, 2017
RANK TITLE PUBLISHER REVENUE
1
PlayerUnknown’s
Battlegrounds
Bluehole $714M
2 Overwatch Activision Blizzard $382M
3
Counter-Strike: Global
Offensive
Valve Corporation $341M
4 Destiny 2 Activision Blizzard $218M
5 Grand Theft Auto V Rockstar Games $118M
6 Battlefiled 1 Electronic Arts $113M
7 Minecraft Microsoft Studios $92M
8 Guild Wars 2 NCsoft $87M
9 Divinity: Original Sin 2 Larian Studios $85M
10
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six:
Siege
Ubisoft
$67M
TOP PREMIUM PC GAMES BY REVENUE, 2017

4. 4
With over 8,000,000 Steam Players and as the most-played F2P game on PS4, Brawlhalla
is a good example of indie F2P success, due to a number of clever design choices
It is not just the big AAA productions that can succeed.
Why Free-To-Play?
» Easy onboarding and controls
» Social Play
» Multiple Monetization Axis
» Characters – (one-time purchase or à la carte)
» Customization items (store and gacha)
» eSport potential
» No Pay-to-Win
» Laddered level
» Ease of access, no grind, yet mastery is difficult
» Strong retention tools
» New content update regularly (characters, skins)
» Season-based ladders
» Weekly special events

5. 5
1) Know your market
2) Master the fundamentals of the Freemium monetization model
3) Make the most of the platform
4) Don’t forget Live Ops.
5) …
6) Profit
It isn’t rocket science… It might be even more complex.
The keys to building a successful F2P game

6. 6
» Millions of players, most mid-core and hard-core, are active daily on Steam and Consoles.
» They spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to fuel their passion each year.
» They are connected in strong communities, play with their friends and share their interest
through multiple medias with others.
» They are game-savvy. Most of them are experienced players who will readily understand the best
(and worst) way to progress in a game.
» Unlike mobile players, they play for extended amount of times but with fewer session per day.
» They have access to thousands of very high production value titles and the time to play them.
Incredibly large community of game enthusiasts
Know your Market

7. 7
Not simply adding power-ups or replays on a proven model
Freemium Business Model
FTUE
Make a strong, lasting
first impression. The
first few minutes of
play are make-or-
break situations
critical to the success
of your game.
ENGAGEMENT
Build around a solid core
and progression loop
driving players to be
active for a very long
time through content
and aspirations
management.
MONETIZATION
Support multiple systems
to provide players
additional perceived
value for their game
experience.

8. 8
» All platforms are saturated with games, including Steam. Players have the ability (and will) switch
from one game to another in no time.
» Core and Hardcore players may have negative impression towards Free-To-Play games.
» Unlike in premium games, players have no initial money commitment so investment is near-zero
– ANY excuse to quit is a good one at this stage, and players rarely stick around to see if things
will improve
» Half of your players won’t come back after one day. With a bad First-Time User experience, this
will be even less.
Like speed-dating, you have 5 minutes to impress.
First-Time User Experience
These are the reasons why you need a strong FTUE.

9. 9
» Efficiently teach the base game mechanics and controls (obviously)
– but also the basics of the game economy (how can I get better in the game).
» Be dynamic and “epic” while staying true to the actual game’s experience.
» Create a STRONG long-term aspiration (what is my goal in the game?)
» Create multiple short and mid-term goals (Why will I come back tomorrow?)
» Create a positive experience with at least one monetization system (I won a great unit in the gacha!)
» End the player’s session with a pinch point – Lack of resource, wait for progress, out of lives…
The player should be longing for more.
The keys to succeed in your early seduction
First-Time User Experience
Once the player is interested enough in the game, it is time to
take your relationship to the next level.

10. 10
» It takes a long time to generate profits from a single F2P player, as conversion rates are low and
transactions are typically small.
» You need players to stay active for as long as possible to extract the most of your revenues.
» Engaged players keep the game afloat, indireclty help to improve retention and engagement of
others players, increase virality, and have a better chance to convert.
» Like relationships, you need to spice things up, keep the player’s interest by bringing new things
to the table, instead of letting the routine drive the other away.
» While Premium Games are mostly finite products, Free-To-Play games are living, evolving
products which will grow over time – and should do so based on your players’ experiences.
Live analytics and player feedback are critical to making live ops decisions.
Lasting relationships for long-term profits
Engagement

11. 11
» One of the major viral Steam successes and considered one of the most addictive game ever made.
» Although the gameplay is fairly limited, the game manages to build unparalleled engagement by
focusing on key points:
» A large (growing) number of aspirations and progression axis.
Building addiction – Clicker Heroes
Engagement
» Social play through clans and daily raids
» A strong long-learning, min-maxing metagame.
Collection
» Heroes
» Relics…
Progression
» Damage – Monsters – Boss
» Hero level ups and upgrades…
» Constant progression reset
(with limited improvement)
Achievements

12. 12
» Building engagement is possible ONLY if you have a good
core and progression loop. If you have an enjoyable game
with a balanced economy, players will stick around.
» Players will be more engaged the more their needs are
fulfilled by your game.
Building engagement
Engagement
SELF-
ACTUALIZATION
Achieving one’s full
potential, including
creative activities
ESTEEM NEEDS
Prestige and feeling of
accomplishment
BELONGINGNESS AND LOVE NEEDS
Intimate relationships, friends
SAFETY NEEDS
Security, safety
PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS
Food, water, warmth, rest
Feeling of endlessness and stability
Acknowledging a player’s physiological needs
Finding new friends, playing with friends, clans, flirting…
Achievements, badges, rankings, vanity, progression and epicness.
Become a meaningful actor of the game’s community.
Contribute to the game’s growth. Produce content.

13. 13
» Monetization should be built as part of the game’s progression loop from the early draft
of the product.
» Free-To-Play monetization is only as effective as the game’s engagement.
» Only a very small (<2%) amount of players will ever pay.
» Multiple monetization axis significantly increases conversion and global revenues. Mix
and match lasting, permanent bonuses (for conversion/small spenders) and
consumable/instant bonuses for big spenders.
» All transactions should be optimized to reduce friction as much as possible to trigger
impulse buying.
Making dollars out of free game time
Monetization

14. 14
Players will spend on things they
find valuable. The game economy
must be built to create the
perception of value on the buyable
items while creating strong
positive feedback whenever
money is spent in-game. Players
will spend on things that appeal to
them and take advantage of their
inner desires.
Recently, the most successful
monetization methods have
been gambling and removing
time-based restrictions.
The 7 deadly sins of gaming
Monetization
ANGER
Retaliation/Hardcore PvP
(indirect), Revenge
choices (RPG/CYOA)
PRIDE
Leaderboards (PvP), Retries,
Power-ups (Succeed in
beating a level)
GLUTTONY
Auto-Complete, Auto-
Open…, Remove
progression limit,
Double up bonus (VIP
subscriptions…), Play
more characters/classes
ENVY
Character customization,
Vanity Items
AVARICE
Protect resources from
loss (shield, continue…),
Gambling (gachas, etc),
Increase inventory size
SLOTH
Skip Grinding (In-game
store)
LUST
Sexy outfits, Romance
(RPG/CYOA), Gifts

15. 15
Building on the success of Overwatch’s Loot Boxes, Heroes of the Storm take it to
another level and is an astounding example for the following reasons:
Outstanding Gacha Implementation – Heroes of the Storm (2.0)
Monetization - Gambling
» Strong opening feedback
» Jackpot Effect (Legendary skins and heroes)
» Interesting Rares/mid range drops
• Multiple types of drops
• Vanity
» Gameplay (Heroes)
» Second soft currency (shards) reduces the impact
of redundancy, provides value every pull
» Players are reminded of the value of drops by a
multi-currency store.
» They can buy something using shards, soft, or
premium currency.

16. 16
» Monetizing game time is typically one of the most successful methods for Free-To-Play games.
» Limiting game time (through an energy system) is an obsolete solution – you want players to
play as much as possible.
• This is especially true for Consoles and Steam players. Unlike mobile players who can
access the game multiple times per day for short sessions, they spend more time on a
single session. You want to grab as much of this playtime as possible.
• Steam and Consoles generate extra virality through exposition the more you play – all
your friends can see what you play and when.
» Instead of limiting play time, you want to limit progression. Clash Royale is one of the most
successful examples of this: You can play as much as you want and you get potential rewards
instantly, however you need to wait to access it, triggering impulse buying (the urge of
opening that gift).
Time is money, friend
Monetization - Time

17. 17
Let It Die is a rogue-like action game (very similar to Dark Souls). Doing a Free-To-Play rogue-like is
extremely risky, since it relies on hard fun and insane difficulty, and could be tagged as Pay-To-Win.
Going against the current in Free-To-Play (Let It Die)
Monetization
However, with Let It Die, GrassHopper Studios managed to pull it
off and create a coherent product for multiple reasons:
» The game offers a large amount of premium currency for
playing and daily rewards. If a player ever loses progress, it is
because he has chosen to spend their currency elsewhere.
» The player has the choice when dying – Spend soft currency
and lose only gear, lose everything (unless he defeats his
zombified body), spend hard currency and keep his progress
AND gear. Offering choices is a clever way to diminish the
pay-to-win impression, as it yields the control to the player.
» The game made losing (dying) a part of its core mechanic,
tied to its monetization and progression loop.
» Tapping into similar experiences of players (Rogue-likes,
Dark Souls), players will expect to die and won’t associate it
with unfair friction.

18. 18
» Do not try to coerce players or trick them into spending by adding pain to the game. Steam
and console players are experienced gamers with a good understanding of typical game’s difficulties
and mechanics and they will negatively react to an unfair system. Instead, offer them goods that are
valuable to them.
» A disabled button is a missed monetization opportunity. If a resource is missing or an action is
currently impossible, most often than not it should be possible to buy it and the player should be
directed through the purchase flow.
» Using premium currency for in-game transactions both reduces the back and forth with the
payment processor (bumping the player out of the game) and hides the real price of in-app purchases.
» Know your player and their spending behaviour. Surprisingly, high-spending players (whales) do
not typically buy large resource packages or spend a huge amount of money at a time. Instead, they
tend to buy consumable, limited-action packages frequently. Dolphins or smaller spenders will
typically spend more on lasting/permanent bonuses (which are also the principal conversion point of
most F2P games). A good F2P monetization should have both – lasting and instant purchases to
maximize revenues.
The keys to good monetization
Monetization

19. 19
Engaged hardcore player base - Warframe
Taking advantage of the platform
» Launched in 2013.
» Limited initial success, gating progress through
monetization.
» Following player’s feedback, gated progression was
removed. Monetization was shifted to other systems –
crafting, diversity (more warframe slots), and in-game
store.
» Update had significant positive impact on player’s
reception.
» Huge player-driven presence of Twitch has made the
game a viral and commercial success.
Key takeaways
» Listen to your player base » Create value, not hard limits
» A strong game community on powerful platforms (PC, consoles) can create a lot of virality through game streaming.

20. 20
Steam Workshop – User-generated content for unlimited lifetime
Taking advantage of the platform
» Competitive Free-To-Play games are hard to
balance, due to the risk of becoming Pay-To-Win.
» One of the possible strategies is to focus sales on
customization, skins and vanity items.
» This can become extremely expensive for a
development studio.
» Through Steam Workshop, a game can tap into
their community to create additional content to
extend the game’s library and collectible items,
making the game last.
» Team Fortress 2 is one of the best examples of
this, being one of the top-grossing games on
Steam even after a decade due to the player-
made Hats.

21. 21
For Free-To-Play games, release is not the end of the product.
Don’t forget Live Ops
» Free-To-Play games take a long time to break even.
» Additional costs are added after the product’s release: User Acquisition, Data Analysis/Product
Management, Customer Relation Services, Servers.
» Additionally, the game requires a large playerbase, which can take months to build, to generate
substantial revenues.
COSTS REVENUES
PREMIUM GAME
COSTS REVENUES
FREEMIUM GAME

22. 22
Early release and Soft Launch
Don’t forget Live Ops
» Early Release on Steam is a great way to get valuable balancing and content feedback from
interested players.
» Early Release is a stronger tool than Soft Launch on mobile because of the maturity of the
platform. Players will likely pay to have early access, giving you more breathing room to
optimize the game before global launch.
» This provides you with insight from dedicated,
knowledgeable players who will be very engaged
and active for weeks or months.
» Don’t forget to reward these players with a
premium package once the game is released
for free.

23. 23
Gather and use data to make the most of your product
Don’t forget Live Ops
» Metrics are a strong tool to
measure your game success
and for optimization.
» Multiple tools exist to track your
metrics. However, what is
important is to make sure you
log the data correctly and have
all the hooks to track your
game’s economy embedded in
your code.
» Benchmarks vary immensely
depending on game genre and
overall strategy. In the end, the
only metric that matters is the
LTV – LifeTime Value of players.
RETENTION
» 1 Day : 40% + (50 is great, 60 is incredible)
» 7 Days : 20+ (25 great, 30 incredible)
» 30 Days : 5+ (10 great, 15 incredible)
STICKINESS (DAU/MAU) - one of the best measures
for user engagement.
» Minimum should be 25%, aim for 30 or more.
CONVERSION RATE: 1.5-2.5%
ARPPU: Depends on game genre. Roughly $25-$35
ARPDAU: $0.20 or more
TIME SPENT PER DAY: 45 minutes or more.
Key Metrics and Benchmarks

24. 24
» Building Free-To-Play games for Steam and Consoles allows you to tap in a potentially
lucrative niche of experienced, paying players.
» However, they are likely to be much more critical and reactive to bad monetization and
onboarding, as they are used to paying fixed prices for a product of (relatively known)
quality. Offering added value in monetization is critical.
» A large number of players will not stay past the first day, unless you can create a compelling
first time user experience leaving the player wanting for more. To make any money out of a
free-to-play game, you need to hook the player for weeks, if not months, to make him
convert and spend a large amount of money.
» Monetizing time in Steam and Console F2P games needs to be done carefully, taking into
account the fact that sessions are played differently than on mobile or web platforms and
that players have a good perception of a game’s worth. Creating a strong value for in-app
purchases and a fair economy is critical.
» Steam’s strongest assets for F2P development are its community/sharing/ease of streaming
videos (which can dramatically increase virality) and the possibility of integrating user-
generated content to extend the game’s life significantly.
Summary

25. 25
We are always accepting new mobile social design and
development clients.
Get in touch!
Email
adrian@adriancrook.com
Online
adriancrook.com
Twitter
@adriancrook
Skype
adrian.crook