Farming & Fishermen: The Future of Free-to-Play | Aaron Loeb
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Delivered at Casual Connect USA 2016. Kabam’s Aaron Loeb will examine the future of social gameplay and the evolving definition of fun on devices. He will encourage attendees to celebrate the incoming era of globally-connected games that have democratized fun. He will share practical lessons learned by Kabam in reaching a global audience. As devices become more powerful and more ubiquitous, Loeb will share some of Kabam's thinking on the future of mobile gaming.
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Farming & Fishermen: The Future of Free-to-Play | Aaron Loeb
- 1. Farming & Fishermen: The Future of Free-to-Play Aaron Loeb President, Studios and Live Services Kabam
- 15. PHOTO - FILIPINO FISHERMAN
- 17. PHOTO - IMAGE OF OIL DERRICK
- 19. PHOTO - IMAGE OF IDYLLIC FARM
- 23. X X
- 26. PHOTO – MARVEL CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS
Editor's Notes
- There’s this reputation in our industry that by making free-to-play games we’re doing something impure That somehow what we’re doing doesn’t have the artistic merit What’s worse, you get comments like these . . .
- Aaron reads each quote aloud as they appear The general perception has been that we’re tricking people out of money or taking advantage of gamers And here’s the thing - we created this problem by how many of us approached free-to-play in its early days
- Aaron talks about “Phase 1” of Free-to-Play Historically games were deemed to have a set amount of earnings potential Gaming companies would try to extract that money as quickly as possible There were a lot of ways to do this – and it’s not unfair to say that many of them weren’t great for game players But what is important is that we’ve moved beyond these tactics And yes, this perception still lingers that free-to-play is bad But the best free to play games out there – the ones consistently sitting at the top of the charts and that keep people coming back for years don’t take advantage of people, they nurture connections In fact, I’d argue that the spread of mobile (and yes, that includes mobile gaming) is one of the best things that has happened for modern society
- The thing about mobile, and free-to-play specifically, is that it’s democratized entertainment in a way that’s truly remarkable This slide is a perfect representation of how truly global mobile has become Aaron tells story about pyramids and souvenir booth (mobile game knit cap, Angry Birds, etc.) The free-to-play game has become a universal language, and it’s proliferated more so than almost any other platform
- Here’s what that proliferation looks like on a global scale Mobile has grown at a tremendous rate, and now dominates how we interact with one another To put this in further perspective – More people have access to 3G than running water
- Aaron discusses the Somaliland photo his wife she posted online Immediately receives comments from locals on mobile phones, etc. This is country that has been almost destroyed by war and struggle, but everyone has the smart phone Discuss skip technology (how many areas of the world skipped home computers and went straight to smart phones for access to the internet) This proliferation offers a tremendous opportunity – to bring joy to almost anywhere on the planet through great games
- Free to play has become the dominate mode, bigger than console, and for good reason Democracy of fun and creativity Creates the chance for anyone, anywhere to participate – all around the world The barrier to entry is extremely low To play, all you need is a mobile phone and access to a cell phone tower For a console game there are all sorts of things that set a high barrier for entry – high deft v, $400 console, $60 game, high-speed internet access, etc.
- The reason free-to-play works is it allows everyone to participate in the game at the level they are comfortable/able to I know many of you are familiar with this graph, but just in case . . . Aaron gives brief explanation Great games don’t require money to play – only time
- So today I challenge you to shift focus from the question we used to ask – “how do we make a pre-determined amount of money as fast as possible?” to a new one – “how do we keep people playing for longer?” When you ask that question, you have to truly put yourself in the shoes of the players and decide what they find valuable and exciting about your games To create truly engaging games, you need to understand your audience and LOVE the medium You can’t be a game-maker anymore unless you’re in it with them all the time Once you understand the gamer, it’s easier to create games (and maintain them) in ways that will be truly exciting and engaging
- Here’s a chart I love – it breaks down the complete spectrum of free-to-play players – from the most intense and dedicated on the left, to the most casual on the right Aaron Explain the basics of this Small number play 12-16 hours a day, HUGE number plays 20 minutes per day, etc.
- What this means is that your players break down into two distinct groups – the 1 Percent and the 99 Percent Peer groups start to emerge within the chart – if you play a ton of per day, they interact with much more with the other people who play the same amount Discuss the different problems that arise for both groups and how they voice those concerns to Kabam We have a lot of interaction with our high volume players, and let me tell you that they’re not what you’re lead to believe And the way they interact is fascinating to watch. For big spenders, the casual gamers and high volume players are extremely important because they all interact in alliances to meet game challenges
- This is what people still think of when they picture gamers who play for 14 hours a day and drop lots of money to advance their characters It’s a cliché as old as video games, and one that’s not accurate
- What we know from our work at Kabam is that these people are just as likely to look like this guy In fact, he’s an approximation of one of our favorite high volume players Aaron talks about the Filipino fisherman on Mike Verdu’s alliance This is the perfect example of how free-to-play is democratizing the gaming world For anyone that looks down on you for creating free-to-play games, just remind them that their $60 console game was never going to be played by a fisherman in Philippines We’re seeing all sorts of players leading alliances and making connections, and they come from every walk of life imaginable
- Aaron talks through a diverse group of a few examples of other high volume players Kabam interacts with – military soldiers, etc.
- Drilling in the real world is fundamentally unsustainable You extract a limited resource as quickly as you can until it runs out The side effects of this are NOT good You get spills, hurt the environment, etc. Drilling for money from your gameplay community is the same thing “Extracting money” is an incredibly dangerous proposition We’ve done this with games in the past and those games die quickly This is what’s created the negative impression of Free-to-play in the first place
- Let’s go back to the free-to-play Phase 1 model for monetization As I mentioned, we used to set that target number and then ask ourselves – “how do we extract all the money right away?” This is what I call the drilling approach
- So where do we go from here? What’s the “better” way to develop and nurture games? Instead of “extracting” money and attention from gamers, we need to treat free-to-play more like your friendly neighborhood organic, fully sustainable farm What I call the “farming approach” is about carefully nurturing and cultivating a game and the community that springs up around it Make it last over time Update it regularly Foster connections Tend to players and their interactions
- What this does, is it extends out financial viability of games infinitely You can have a smaller game that doesn’t reach blockbuster status but continue to thrive because we farming vs. drilling
- So how do you practically go about doing that?
- Here are a few strategic pillars we use at Kabam: Make Games You Love Technical Excellence Time is Equal to Payment Foster Long-Term Connections Keep Giving Players Something New
- Aaron explains this slide to audience
- Aaron discusses learnings from Kabam’s release of Kingdoms of Middle Earth
- Aaron discusses Castle Age and Underworld Empire with focus on strategic pillars
- Aaron discusses Marvel: Contest of Champions with focus on strategic pillars
- Any Questions?