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Stealing Farmville's thunder one player at a time. 1 down, 80 million to go.
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David Barnes
Zombie Farm iPhone Game Adds Social Features, Shoots Up Top Grossing Chart
Zombie Farm (Social Update) —Zombie Farm is another older, and popular app that also received a significant update. Currently ranked at #12, the game, which allows users to build a farm and grow their own army of zombies, is now social. Updated July 28th, Zombie Farm lets users connect and play with their friends viaFacebook, email or username. Beyond visiting one another’s farms, players can now send gifts, receive daily rewards, and even engage in a game of “zombie tag” with their friends’ zombies. Monetizing through in-app purchases, Zombie Farm is developed by California-based studio, The Playforge, told us they have more than 20 million players for Zombie Farm.
Adding social features to an already successful game (with enough players for social to make sense) pushed this free to play hit to new heights.
Posted
by David Barnes
If only 1 in 400 of your downloaders make an In App purchase you're still better off with freemium
Flurry has just released some staggering statistics that confirm that this is true. In particular, they say that the average transaction value for an iOS or Android purchase is $14.
I’ll repeat that: average IAP spend on iOS and Android is $14.
That’s 14x the revenue that most developers get with a Lite + Premium strategy, and is based on an analysis of how 3.5 million consumers spend their money in games.
if you are still making games where the maximum revenue you can make from a single customer is $0.99 (or even $1.99), I’d stop right now. You are wasting your time and effort.
via gamesbrief.com
Let's work some maths here. Yesterday I posted that going free from 99c can increase downloads by about 35x.
If you have a 99c game, every download gets you 99c and no more. Say it gets 10,000 downloads. Let's round the gross revenue up to $10k.
Make it free and your downloads increase 35x. You can now expect 350,000 downloads. You only need about 3 cents revenue per download to make the same money.
Now we know the average purchase is $14. This means that if you get only one in app purchase for every 400 downloads you're better off if you were offering your game for 99 cents: you'll have 875 purchases totalling on average $14 each.
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by David Barnes
75% of revenue is In App for top grossing iOS games. 65% of top grossing iOS games are freemium.
The key to this growth is the freemium business model. Flurry says "games drive 75% of revenue generated among the top 100 grossing iOS apps, of which 65% were generated from freemium games".
New business models are driving smartphones to $1 billion of revenue in the US alone. Although that is still a long way from the $10 billion of retail revenue from AAA games in the US, it’s a great performance.
I find the emergence of these new, successful business models tremendously exciting. I look forward to seeing what new changes are just around the corner.
via gamesbrief.com
This is the reality: freemium is the best path to revenue for game developers.
Anybody else surprised though that iOS & Android combined is still only 10% of AAA?
Consider other platforms: smartphones are not the be all and end all.
Posted
by David Barnes
Can YOU make a living with a Facebook game?
We know that big Facebook games are making big money for big companies. But can you make a living with a single Facebook game.
That all depends on how expensive your tastes are. How much income per month do you need to make a living?
Below you'll find some examples of the sort of games pulling in the kind of DAUs you'll need to support various lifestyles -- starting from just slightly less lavish than my own, and ending just slightly less deprived than the lifestyle I allow my wife.
Bear in mind that we're looking DAUs and income for ONE GAME here. Many developers will have several games on the go -- often simply a reskinning of the same code for a different audience ("hey we already built rail tycoon. why not make road tycoon?")
The links to AppData take you to the relevant page of the Game leaderboard to find other games with similar DAU.
50,000 DAU -- about $30,000 revenue per month
160 games have this many DAU or more.
See more: Appdata link.
30,000 DAU -- about $18,000 revenue per month
215 games have this many DAU or more
See more: Appdata link.
20,000 DAU -- about $12,000 revenue per month
270 games have this many DAU or more
See more: Appdata link.
10,000 DAU -- about $6,000 revenue per month
About 360 games have this many DAU or more.
See more: Appdata link.
If you check out the type of game that gets DAUs at various levels, you'll see that the quality varies WILDLY.
If you're an indie game developer, how does this make you feel about competing on Facebook? Better? Worse? Or baffled?
HOW I WORKED THIS OUT: Apparently, you can expect between 20 and 30 dollars per thousand daily users on Facebook. So say that for every thousand DAU, you get $20 per day. That's $600 per thousand DAUs every month. After that, it's simple multiplication.
Posted
by David Barnes
How Ngmoco Rules Free to Play Games
This presentation from Ngmoco -- creators of recent iPhone hit We Rule -- on their strategic shift from premium to free to play "Facebook-style" games is just brilliant. Massive thanks to SF Rock for posting it.
Here are highlights, with some comments from me. And there's a link to the full slide deck at the bottom.
With a paid app, you get a burst of revenue when you reach a peak in the chart; then it dies off quickly. With a free-to-play app you continue to earn long after your chart peak. Total earning volume is much higher for the same level of downloads.
With free-to-play games you can launch much earlier. Ngmoco creates an "MVP" (minimum viable product) in 3 to 9 months, launches, and then continuously updates the game through its lifecycle.
Note that the minimum viable product for them is "something that can get to the top of the free charts on the iPhone". If you're aiming to build a loyal, smaller audience over time then your MVP will probably be far more minimal than theirs. What's your minimum viable product? How can you make it even simpler?
A flow chart for free-to-play game design...
And a text explanation in case its too small.
See all the slides on SF Rock, including:- A break down of their revenue sources
- Information on Ngmoco's business model and growth plans
- The benefits to them of the free to play model
Posted
by David Barnes
Describe Your Game Better! Hook More Players! Make More Money!
It's sell time!
Make your game a success by giving it a kick ass description!
When you release a game you need to describe it -- on the App Store, on Facebook, on your own site. Get the description right and you can expect to see a lot more players. Get it wrong, and people who'd probably LOVE your game will never even get to try it.
Can you improve your game describing skills? Read on and find out!
First of all, successful game descriptions follow a particular structure: one sentence to sum up the game; up to five sentences describing it; the "snapper" that closes the deal and hooks the player; and a list of features the persuade the uncertain.
Let's look at each of these in turn.
One Sentence to Sum Up the Game
This sentence needs to be sharp as a knife. It's purpose is to get people who will like the game to read on, and get rid of people who won't. You have to get the main "game fun" across in just one sentence.
Try to establish the key goal of the game, the theme of the game, and the main mechanic. You don't need many words to do this. Here's the one sentence description for Dynomite by PopCap:
"It's prehistoric egg blasting fun!"
Theme -- dinosaurs. Key goal -- destroy eggs somehow. Mechanic -- unclear, but involves blasting so there's probably explosions. Oh, and it's fun by the way. A brilliant one sentence summary that tells the player a lot in only 5 words.
The one sentence summary absolutely needs to end with an exclamation point. And it needs to earn that exclamation point too.
How can you sum up your game in just a few words?
Up To Five Sentences Giving a Fuller Description
This is where you tell your reader what it'll be like to play the game. Dynomite needs only one sentence here:
Use your slingshot to match three or more dino eggs of the same color... and watch them explode!
Notice that this doesn't describe the game. Instead, it describes what the player does. Use your slingshot. Match three or more. Watch them explode.
This is a crucial difference. Look at any of the top games on the App Store or Facebook or anywhere else. The game description text doesn't describe the game, it describes what the player does when they play.
Most games can use about 3 sentences here. Some need more. Some fewer.
Tell the player what they get to DO in your game, in about 3 short sentences.
The Snapper -- A Challenge or Call to Action
The snapper makes a brazen appeal to the reader to just play the game already. In Dynomite:
Can you blast all the eggs before Mama Brontosaurus tramples your game?
A challenge is just one way to do this. Another popular method is even more brazen. Look at Farmville's snapper:
Come and see what everyone is hootin' and hollerin' about.
Play the game to find out why other people are playing the game. Bejewelled uses a similar technique:
Bejeweled is the first and only puzzle game since Tetris to be inducted into Computer Gaming World's Hall of Fame. Play it yourself to find out why!
There are loads of ways to do this.
What's the one thing you can say that's going to compel the player to take action and play / buy / download your damn game?
The Feature List
The App Store has its own section where you list features as a set of bullet points. Treat this as a benefit list not a feature list.
For every feature you list, make it really obvious why it'll make the game more fun. If you can't figure out how to make the feature sound fun then don't bother to mention it.
Keep throwing in game-friendly words and phrases like "exciting", "addictive", "challenging" and so on. Words that will sell the game.
For each feature you want to list, how does it make the game better for players?
Game Copy Writing Tips
- Sell! Nobody is really interested in a description of your game. People are there because they want you to persuade them to buy / play it. Use the opportunity to sell your game directly to the player.
- Avoid "[title] is a..." in your description. It's boring and is more suited to an encyclopaedia than a sales pitch for a game.
- Be sparing with techy and gamer words. They probably don't mean as much to the reader as they do to you, and they carry no emotion for most people. MMO, RPG, persistent browser game -- these words don't mean much to most people, and will rarely close a sale.
- Do use "genre appropriate" words. Action games should include words like "action-packed", "fast-paced", "thrilling". HOGs should include words like "discover", "find", "uncover", "unlock", "mysteries". And so on.
- Every single thing you say must be a good reason to play. If you've put in a sentence or phrase that doesn't give the player a reason to play, take it out.
- Start sentences with VERBS. Starting sentences with a verb puts the player into the action. "Fight your way to the top!" is better than, "A game where you must fight your way to the top" -- and much better than "get to the top by fighting". Serve up big, action packed verbs at the start of sentences.
- Say "you" and "your" a lot. Never "the player". After all, you're talking to people who you want to BE players. Right?
- Say "the" not "an". "It's the addictive puzzle game where you have to unblock the sewer" is better than "Pooper Scooper is an addictive puzzle game where the player has to unblock a sewer".
- Don't waste words. There are lots of phrases that you just don't need, because the context makes it obvious. Phrases like "is a game", "the backstory is", and so on. We don't need to be told this.
- Suspend disbelief. We know that there isn't really an intergalactic war going on. We know that we won't really be piloting a faster than light star ship. But it's more fun and more compelling if the game description lets us forget reality and experience the game. That's another reason for leaving out "is a game" and "the backstory is" type phrases.
- Keep sentences short. More than 20 words is really pushing it. Much less is best.
Case Study
Here's the opening sentence for Solitaire Siege by Bad Bumble...
Solitaire Siege is an action based solitaire (Pyramid) style game where the player gets to use Grenades, Flame Throwers, Rocket Launchers, Snipers and even Air Strikes to help them clear the table of cards.
This describes the game, but it doesn't sell the game. Let's:
- Get rid of "Siege Solitaire is an" and replace it with "it's".
- Break it into 2 shorter sentences.
- Use "the" instead of "an", use "you" instead of "the player".
- Ditch the wasted words -- particularly "gets to"
- Find more powerful verbs than "use"
New opening sentence...
It's the action-packed solitaire game where you fight against the nastiest playing cards you've ever seen!
And the left-over becomes the first part of the fuller description...
Hurl grenades, fire rocket launchers, and call in air strikes to help clear your cards in this thrilling take on pyramid solitaire!
For homework, rewrite the next section of the description into the remainder of the full description, and the snapper:
It’s a fun, quick game that will make you want to play it over and over again and with it been on the iPhone, you will be able to play it where ever you are.
The basic background story to the game is that an evil general is secretly creating an army of clones to take over the world and it’s your job to stop him by any means possible. You will travel from the deepest forests, to hot, dusty deserts, to the cold snow covered lands and even to hidden underground bases in your quest for the general.
Post your answer in the comments. Or even better, give your own game descriptions an overhaul and tell us how you get on.
This post is long but I think it's about the most useful thing on this blog so far. If you agree please retweet, link, and fall down on your knees before me (but no funny stuff).
Posted
by David Barnes
Zeebo's Low Cost Console Opens a New Frontier for Religious Games
Zeebo, the games console for heathens and papists.
Christian games are a great niche for indie developers. Christian games can make money even if they are fairly low quality, selling to Sunday Schools, families, and other religious institutions.
Because the United States and other English speaking countries have traditionally been the biggest video game market, religious games tend to be Christian, protestant, and evangelical.
But that's going to change as video gaming becomes more global. And I reckon there's going to be tons of profitable niches in Muslim games, Hindu games, and Catholic games as video gaming gains more ground in non-Protestant but deeply religious countries.
Zeebo is a low cost games console and computer platform that plugs into a cheap TV. It's targeted particularly at the following countries:
- Brazil -- Catholic
- Mexico -- Catholic
- India -- Hindu
- China -- Officialy atheist with quite a bit of Buddhism and Taoism
Islam is the biggest religion in the world. But while Googling [Christian Video Game] nets 42 million results, [Muslim Video Game] brings in only 3 million. [Hindu Video Game] brings in only 800 thousand.
Hinduism is a religion just made for video games...
If you follow one of these religions it's well worth thinking about how to teach aspects of them through a game, because this is going to be a growing area as video gaming arrives in emerging markets.
Posted
by David Barnes
Are You a Marketing Bum? (via @gamesbrief)
Posted
by David Barnes
Breathing Life Back into the Coin-Op: OMGPOP Launches a Virtual Coins Version of Missile Command
As the player reaches new levels, more than just missiles attack you (odd looking spaceships, for example). Obviously, if the missiles hit you, you lose health, and in higher difficulties this can happen extremely fast. To mitigate this, players can use the OMGPOP Coins to instantly reload all of their missiles (otherwise, the game gradually reloads one missile every second or two), nuke everything on screen, or heal yourself to full. These each cost 20, 500, and 1000 coins respectively.
Of course, we're talking virtual coins here -- not real dollars. You can buy them or earn them. But this makes "free to play" games just like the old coin ops -- where you could "continue" by popping in another 50p. And if you'd just got further then you'd ever got before, then you'd keep pumping them in until your pockets were empty.
Posted
by David Barnes
How Indie Facebook Game Devs Can Succeed by AIMING LOW
The big takeaway for me from Gamasutra's "In the Shadow of Farmville" article is that succeeding with an independent social game is all about aiming low. Here are 8 key ways to aim low as an Indie Facebook Game developer, all taken from the article:
- Low development time. The MouseHunt beta was launched to 40 friends around 2 weeks after the concept was developed.
- Low investment. If you take on external investment, you need to succeed big and fast. But unless the external investment means you can grow your game as fast as Zynga, you'll fail. It's better to have no external investment than not enough. GameLayers raised $2 million. It wasn't enough for them to win the war against Zynga, but it was enough to mean they had to die trying.
- Low break even point. This is a result of low investment and fast development time -- you don't need much income to break even. Build your game so that you can still make enough money to grow with only a few thousand daily active users.
- Low complexity. MouseHunt was a wild success. MythMonger takes a similar mechanic and makes it more complicated. It doesn't work anything like as well. And I bet it has higher dev time, higher investment, and a higher break even point too. D'oh!
- Low expected audience. MouseHunt didn't even try for mass appeal. They came up with a game concept that they thought most people would consider stupid. Fortunately, the big game studios agreed with them -- it was a stupid idea. Even more fortunately, quite a lot of people enjoy playing their stupid game. GameLayers suffered because their concept proved really popular -- and competitors were able to invest more and implement the concept better.
- Low expectations. There are many, many opportunities for social gaming "lifestyle businesses". But only a few opportunities to grow into a serious game studio. Build a great lifestyle business! Big businesses are lifestyle businesses too -- it's just that the lifestyle you get is more stressful.
- Low player commitment. Build games that require little action on the part of the player, but that reward casual interactions every so often.
- Low churn. The most important metric for a small social game dev is retention. If you can keep the players you've got then you can eventually grow your player base and revenues through tweaks. Focus early on on keeping the few players you have -- make the game "sticky" without relying on having loads of friends playing.
Read the full article: In The Shadow Of FarmVille: How Small Studios Can Succeed In Facebook Development.
If you liked this post, please say "thank you" by retweeting, linking, or adding an interesting comment. Cheers!
Posted
by David Barnes
