The document provides a 20-point list of things that successful game developers do beyond making games. It begins with an introduction to the author and his background. The main list includes recommendations such as prototyping quickly, ensuring the first 15 minutes of a game are engaging, preparing for business aspects early, gathering industry research, embracing analytics, and getting out of the trenches to network. Throughout are examples and the author's own experiences to illustrate each point.

2. 20 Things Successful
Game Developers Do
Beyond Making
Games
(And Why They Are Worth Every Bit of Effort)
http://www.slideshare.net/VGVisionary

3. Table of contents
• Who is this guy!?
• Where does this talk come from?
• Steps 1 - 20
• Summary
• Questions

4. Who am I?
This is a talk by
Vlad Micu
Now Head of Studio at
Critical Force Entertainment
Used to be the PR Manager of
Grambleworld.com
Did production, game design and creative direction for
arkavis Siam co. ltd. in Thailand
Wrote for many other international outlets including
Gamesauce.org, TechInAsia.com,
PocketGamer.biz, Control Magazine,
Gamer.nl, XBLAFans.com, Casual Connect
Magazine and many more.
@vgvisionary

5. Partners & Clients

6. Where does this all come from?
• 600+ developers
interviewed
• Personal start-up
experience
• Advising multiple
international studios
• Reading a BUTTLOAD on
the interwebz

7. Arcade Online Multiplayer Tank FPS
• Image of different tanks/skins
‘Soft-Launched’ on Android

8. Installs
Total organic installs: 240.000+ since Dec 18th
Average rating: 4.02/5.00 stars
Installs per day +/- 7000 (for the past 3 days)

9. Interrupt me any time
• Ask questions
• Comment
• Disagree, please
do!

10. Bad News

11. Good News

12. #1 Prototyping is king
• Failing fast
• Build the core
gameplay
• Kill your darlings
• Repeat x 100

13. My own first publishing deal
(2009)

14. The Numbers
• 12.000 euros budget.
– 3 members got paid to
made a new prototype
• 1 team member got a fulltime job.
• Pulse was later
developed for 100k by an
external developer.
• Pulse flopped with only
1000 sales on iOS.

15. Even the big boys do it!
www.globalgamejam.org

16. #2 The first 0-15 minutes count the
MOST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM

17. Examples

18. Where are all my players going?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM

19. #3 Your game is popular before
it’s finished
• YouTubers
• Press
• Key influencers in the
industry
http://www.freelives.net/broforce-game
• Events

20. Stories

21. #peepeepeepee
My Hero

22. #4 Have the Look
“One of the hardest parts of the job when trying to get
people to look at games is having something that is
interesting to look at. Just in the fact that we did a very
dramatic change, which was perceived to be late in
development, everybody was looking.”
– Steve Gibson, VP of Marketing at Gearbox about Borderlands

23. It really helps, trust us

24. #5 Test your game with strangers
• At a train station
• In any queue
• As a pick-up line!
• At a school/university

25. #6 Apply for indie festivals and
competitions
• To volunteer
• To showcase
• Or even speak

26. Example
www.promoterapp.com/calendar
www.gameconfs.com

27. Coming soon: App Farm
http://www.socialityrocks.com/

28. #7 Become a must-have

29. Or at least a ‘must-try’…

30. #8 Be prepared for business
• Assets on your mobile
• Elevator pitch
• Investor deck
• Soft-launch numbers 
Check Kadri’s awesome talk here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXRverBntZc

31. #9 Where’s your investor deck?

32. #10 Be smart about
EVERYTHING
• Interns/friends are
awesome!
• Integrate processes
that work for you.
• Use that lovely
Minimal Effective
Dose (MED)
approach.

33. 20/80 rule
www.lifehacker.com

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#11 Gather info
FREE-TO-PLAY & FREEMIUM DEVELOPMENT
Ethical F2P Game Design - LINK
Successfully Migrating to F2P LINK
The ghosts of development past – Free to Play Tips for 2013 LINK
A comprehensive free-to-play game model: revenue, DAU, virality and
retention LINK
Driving free-to-play revenue: Increase conversion rate or increase ARPPU?
LINK
Developer Roundtable: Triple-A, Free-to-Play LINK
The freemium monetization curve is continuous LINK
Is piracy a freemium strategy? LINK
New Study Investigates If Free is the Right Price for Mobile LINK
The Ethics and psychology of the ‘freemium’ model LINK
The Hidden Cost of AB Testing LINK
Alternative Financing Schemes for Mobile Gaming Companies LINK
Dear Indie Mobile Game Developer LINK
The Pyramid of free-to-play game design LINK
Mobile Indies and Three Steps Ahead LINK
USER ACQUISITION
How to define reasonable KPIs for mobile games - LINK
Interpreting the new users drop-off chart - LINK
Three examples of misguided trips to the Top 10 Downloaded Chart - LINK
ANALYTICS
Game Analytics 101 - LINK
Intro to User Analytics - LINK
Getting started with analytics 4: Reading (Part 1) - LINK
The 10 Commandments of Mobile App Analytics - LLINK
Guide to Mobile App Analytics - LINK
Trevor McCalmont's Blog - 5 Common Pitfalls for Mobile Game Analytics LINK
Soft launch product development using the Minimum Viable Metrics - LINK
The Game Life Cycle & Game Analytics: What metrics matter when? - LINK
Top 5 Performance Indicators for Mobile Analytics - Trilibis Mobile Blog LINK
Data-driven design vs. Data-prejudiced design LINK
Analytics is not a cost center LINK
Minimum Viable Metrics for Mobile LINK
Big Data in Mobile Gaming: Optimizing the User Experience LINK
Quantitative Literacy an Interview with Wharton Professor Dr Peter Fader
LINK
Guide to Mobile App Analytics LINK
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DEVELOPMENT
Refining Diablo III LINK
Starcraft 2 as E-SPORT LINK
6 Reasons why Pet Rescue Saga isn't the next Candy Crush Saga LINK
Android Fragmentation Visualized LINK
Gunghos Stock Price Rollercoaster and Hit driven valuations LINK
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TanyaShort/20131010/201752/50_Easy_Steps_to_Ind
ie_Success.php
REVENUE
Mobile gaming revenues are shifting to tablets...and to Asia LINK
iOS vs Android - Revenue Wars Infographic LINK
Six Ways to Maximize App Revenue LINK
Maximize Ad Revenue and Maintain User Retention in Mobile Games LINK
RETENTION
Why the retention profile is more useful than the churn metric in freemium LINK
Retention rates and their impact on lifetime customer value LINK
Three Promotions to Get You Through the Holidays LINK
Improving player engagement, retention and monetization - check out what we’ve got in
store LINK
VIRALITY
Better way to monetize your app and drive deeper engagement LINK
http://ufert.se/user-acquisition/mobile-virality/explaining-tinders-curiously-viral-growth/
USER-ACQUISITION
Emerging Strategies to User Acquisition: Video from Casual Connect Panel LINK
Two misconceptions about paid user acquisition LINK
Infographic: Want your new game to land in the US Top 10? You have 72 hours to
spend $56,000 LINK
User Acquisition Divid Android iOS growing - LINK

35. #12 (Do market) research
• SWOT analysis
• Competitors
• Devs with similar
backgrounds (and
what they’ve done)

36. Our own example
• We were the ONLY pitch with market research

37. Examples
http://grambleworld.com/blog/gramble-tips-ultimate-mobile-game-postmortem-list/

38. #13 Pitch to everyone
• Blow people away
• You know the market
• Show the core gameplay
• An AWESOME video
helps (example)

39. #14 Measure or Die
http://www.gameanalytics.com/

40. #15 We share everything
• Insights and numbers
• Valuable contacts
• Opportunities and jobs
• Even a place to stay

41. Especially our mistakes

42. #16 Partnerships get us further

43. Examples

44. #17 We become better people

45. #18 Embrace the power of
timing

46. Examples
•Resogun on PS4 (Housemarque)
• Company of Tanks on Android (Critical Force Ent.)

47. #19 Learn to love YouTubers

48. #20 Get out of the trenches
Like you’re down now, but more often ;)

49. Bonus: Quantify your work
My numbers (2007-2013)

50. Career in numbers (2007-2013)
• 21 talks given (next one being in Lviv, Ukraine on January 25th).
• 232 articles written from September 2007 – today.
• 3 website staff managed filled with talented young writers for Gamesauce.org,
Windowsphonefans.com and PSNFans.com
• 1 super-talented development team managed (for arkavis Siam Co. ltd.)
• 10 videogames that I’ve been credited on (only three have been released till this day).
• 30 countries visited in the first 27 years of my life. 9 countries that I’ve lived in.
• 60 video items made with 85.253 views (16324 of which were for Control Magazine).
•500+ people interviewed as an industry journalist (most of them game developers).
•4500+ business cards handed out
•8621 contacts in my Gmail (categorized thanks to Smartr).
• 1200+ hours spent playing League of Legends between summer 2011 and today spread over
my 2x EUW, 1x US and 1x Thai account.
• 1917 friends on Facebook (of which 1016 are Game Industry-related). I’ve spoken at least 5
minutes to 99% of them.
• 2000+ LinkedIn connections I have no clue what to do with.
• 97+ press badges collected
• 3 months per year spent traveling or abroad on average (4.5 months in 2013)

51. Bonus #2: Watch my own lectures!
www.youtube.com/vgvisionary

52. #imlonely
Contact me
• @vgvisionary
• Mail me at v.micu@vgvisionary.com
• Lectures: www.slideshare.net/VGVisionary

53. Thanks!
Questions?