1. The mobile games market has grown significantly since 2008, driven by milestones like the release of app stores and introduction of in-app purchases. 2. Successful mobile game publishers have evolved from a focus on launching games to providing ongoing services and partnering with developers. This includes assistance with marketing, user acquisition, monetization, and ongoing support. 3. When choosing development partners, mobile game publishers like Rovio evaluate metrics like retention, monetization, and cost of user acquisition to identify games with potential. Ensuring the terms of the publishing contract appropriately allocate revenue and costs is also important for incentivizing ongoing support.

2. 1. STATE OF PUBLISHING
2. EVALUATE GAMES &
DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS

3. PUBLISHING SERVICES,
NOT PRODUCTS

4. A QUICK
MARKET RECAP

5. 0
10000
20000
30000
40000
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Global mobile
spending (M$)
IN-APP
PURCHASES
ALLOWED
IPAD
RELEASESAPP STORE
& ANDROID
MARKET
MILESTONES IN MOBILE SPENDING

6. 0
10000
20000
30000
40000
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Global mobile
spending (M$)
1.0
2.0
3.0
MILESTONES IN PUBLISHING

7. 1.0
I’LL THROW SOME
GAMES OUT THERE,
GET A BUNCH OF
FEATURING AND
EVENTUALLY MAKE…
“ONE. MILLION.
DOLLARS.”
DR. EVIL

8. Then the gold rush really kicked off…

9. “I’M A ONE MAN ARMY AND CAN TAKE
ON THE INDUSTRY
ALONE WITH SOME HEAVY UA
ARTILLERY.”
2.0 RAMBO

10. AND NOW?
IT’S A REALLY CROWDED PLACE.
< $ 10,000
AVG REVENUE
< $ 1,000
MEDIAN REVENUE
Source: Rovio Estimate 2015
1000
IOS
GAMES
PER DAY
IN 2015

11. “..I COULD USE SOME HELP IN
VISIBILITY, DISTRIBUTION AND
OPTIMIZING MY FTUE.”
3.0 THE DYNAMIC DUO
“BROTHER, UNITED WE HAVE A FAR
BETTER CHANCE OF ACQUIRING,
RETAINING AND MONETIZING.”

12. THE MOBILE
GAMES
PUBLISHER OF
2016 IS NO
LONGER JUST A
PUBLISHER.
THE
PUBLISHER
HAS BECOME A
PARTNER.
WHAT DOES
THIS MEAN
IN PRACTISE?

13. OLD WORLD
NEW WORLD
RETAIN MONETIZE APPEAL REACH
F2P
DEVELOPER PUBLISHER
“GAME AS A SERVICE” = PARTNERSHIP

14. WHAT’S THE POINT?
LAUNCH
LAUNCH
X
X OLD MODEL
NEW MODEL
PUBLISHER
PARTNER

15. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT WHAT
YOU’RE GETTING OUT OF THIS
PARTNERSHIP?

16. ROVIO PUBLISHING
OFFERING FOR
PARTNERS
MARKETING
USER ACQUISITION AND CROSS PROMOTION
CHANNEL MARKETING
MATERIAL & CAMPAIGNS
DESIGN &
OPTIMIZATION
DEDICATED PRODUCERS & ART DIRECTOR
UX / MONETIZATION DESIGN ASSISTANCE
NATIVE ADS & IN HOUSE AD SALES TEAM
PUBLISHING SERVICES
QA / LOCALIZATION
DEV FUNDING
CUSTOMER SUPPORT

17. SO HOW DOES ROVIO DECIDE WHICH
GAMES TO PUBLISH?

19. ROVIO PULL NUMEROUS DATA SOURCES & WE
KNOW:
- EVERY GAME IN SOFT LAUNCH
- A REV/DL ESTIMATE FOR EVERY GAME
- THE CPI COST FOR THAT GENRE
- HOW LONG THE GAME HAS BEEN IN SOFT
LAUNCH.

20. ONCE WE FIND GAMES WE THINK COULD RESONATE
WITH OUR USERBASE WE MAKE CONTACT WITH THE
DEVELOPER TO SEE IF THEY ARE INTERESTED IN A
PUBLISHING PARTNER AND VALIDATE THEIR DATA.
EXAMPLE MINIMUM SPEC PUZZLE GAME METRICS:
RETENTION: DAY1 = 40%, DAY7 = 20%, DAY30 = 10%
MONETISATION: ARPDAU = €0.08

21. IF YOU GUYS ARE SO
SMART, WHY HAVEN’T YOU
PUBLISHED A ROVIO STARS
TITLE SINCE EARLY 2015?

22. THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY, ALTHOUGH THE DEVELOPERS
COULD WELL HAVE NOT BEEN INTERESTED IN A PARTNER
REGARDLESS......

23. HOW ROVIO CHOOSES ITS EXTERNAL
DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS

25. FIND ME A KICK ASS
PUZZLE GAME DEVELOPER,
WHO WILL MAKE US BANK
ON AN AB PUZZLE TITLE

28. FINAL THOUGHT:
THE MOST IMPORTANT TERM IN A PUBLISHING
CONTRACT

29. “Net Revenue” shall mean gross revenue actually received
by “the Publisher” from the game less paid user acquisition
expense (done by “the Publisher”) and other approved
media buy expenses.
Example: Net Revenue = Gross Revenue - (Paid UA +
Media Buy Expenses)

30. Example: 50/50 publishing deal that the publisher can’t
deduct UA costs:
LTV of the game = $3 dollars, the CPI for that genre is
$2.50
The publisher will always refuse to buy under the above
circumstances because the LTV they actually see is only
$1.50 not $3.00 because the cannot deduct paid user
acquisition i.e. They have no incentive to continue
building your F2P title at an operation lost for them.

31. Publishing Services not Products. - Jere Mäkiniemi @ Rovio