The presentation covered the principles of product management for free-to-play games. Games have taken a live product mentality in the last few years, and PM's need to be able to combine design, data, and marketing to drive important KPI's. Bullet points: - What the important revenue and retention KPIs for games are - How to decide what new features to add to gaming products - What a successful A/B testing looks like in the gaming space - Ad supported games - Case studies: examples of successful feature releases in the gaming industry

1. Product Management for Free-to-Play Games with AC/A’s
Senior Product Manager
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7. Peter Knudson
Tonight’s Speaker

8. Reach, Revenue, & Retention
The 3 R’s of PMing Free-To-Play Games
By Peter Knudson
Product Manager

9. Overview of a Gaming PM
Learn about the high level responsibiliities and thought process of a
gaming product manager
The 3 R’s of Gaming Success
Understand the basics of reach, revenue, and retention, and why they
are important.
Go Through Examples of Games
See some key examples of gaming features, when relevant
Presentation Agenda
What Will You Learn?

10. Peter Knudson
Game Designer / Product Manager
Shipped 10+ Game Products
Casual Connect Main Stage

11. Game Genres
Mobile Platforms – iOS / Android
Casua
l
Cor
e

12. Game Genres
Mobile Platforms – Others
League of Legends FarmVill
e

13. • No Cost to Entry = Easily scalable user base
• Creating a habit of play daily = Caps Player Progression
• Limited resources: leading to eventual purchase
Free-to-Play Formula
How does a free game make money?

14. • Reach: Growing players.
• Retention: Creating habits.
• Revenue: Managing the economy.
Free-to-Play Formula
How does a free game make money?

15. • Difficult Prioritization: Which of the 3Rs should we
improve?
• Maximizing LTV: Games as a live-operation service
• Extremely Cross-Functional: Many different roles to
work with.
The Role of a Gaming PM
What makes PM different at a game studio?

16. The Makeup of a Game Studio
What are the different functions across gaming studios?
• Engineers
• Artists/Animators
• Game Design
• Producers

17. The 3 R’s of Gaming Product Management

18. • What is it: Building features that grow and audience for the
game
• What to Track: Installs, DAU, connected social, viral sends,
organic/inorganic
• What impacts it: Featuring, chart position, ASO, word of
mouth, social, paid acquisition
Reach
Growing the Game

19. Reach
Growing the Game
Word of Mouth Viral Send 1st Party Featuring

20. • What it is: Number installs on D0 come back on DX.
• What to track: FTUE completion rate, daily/weekly churn,
level completion, sessions/day
• What impacts it? Player understanding of the core loop,
adequate difficulty tuning, progression incentives, and long-
term metagames
Retention
Sustaining the Player Base

21. • Early Retention: Ensuring the Player Understands the Core
Loop through the FTUE
• Mid-Term Retention: Enough incentives to come back to play
each day, making small progress each step
• Long-Term Retention: Social/Competitive Features &
Replayability
Retention
Sustaining the Player Base

22. When evaluating a new game, users are subconsciously trying to figure
out the answers to these questions:
In this game I… (Core Loop)
In order to… (Progression)
Which lets me … (Medium Term Goals)
So that I can… (Long Term Aspiration)
Retention
Sustaining the Player Base

23. In this game I… Use Energy to Perform
Actions
In order to… Complete Quests & Level Up
Which lets me … Unlock New Locations
and Cities
So that I can… Become an A List Celebrity
Retention
Sustaining the Player Base

24. Retention
Sustaining the Player Base
Clash of Clans 2011

25. Revenue
Monetizing the Player Base
• What it is: Revenue from IAP or Ads in games.
• What to track: Transactions, new and repeat buyer
conversion, premium currency in the economy, payer DAU
• What impacts it? Difficulty or the levels or competition, new
digital items or character to buy, limited timed events

26. Revenue
Monetizing the Player Base
DAU
Running Low on Currency
Out of Lives
Visit the Buy Page
Conversion:
- Transaction Size
- Repeat Conversion

27. Revenue
Monetizing the Player Base

28. Revenue
Monetizing the Player Base

29. Gaming PM Toolbox
Things you can use to build features
• Top Grossing Chart: Easy tracking of successful games
• App Store Reviews: Player feedback
• A/B Testing: Pricing, difficulty, feature rollouts
• Analytics: All decisions made on data

30. Conclusion
• Grow: Build games that can scale easily
• Retain: Educate users, progress them slowly, and build for
the elder player.
• Monetization: Ensure that there are good reasons to spend
in the game.

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