Peter Fodor (CEO at AppAgent - mobile marketing agency) covers the basics of soft launch and several unique aspects of marketing player vs player games on mobile.
Do not create too many worlds, maps, game modes, etc. You need to keep people either in the gameplay or in the waiting lobby because you need liquidity: enough concurrent players in one game.
Many game developers open servers in each time zone one by one to manage issues, and many match players only if they are in the same time zone.
You can use time zones differences in your favor by combining cheaper traffic (e.g. Malaysia, Philippines) with higher quality but more expensive traffic (e.g. Australia, New Zealand) to create liquidity (i.e. having enough active players). Then, segment your players to analyze monetization based on their country.
Bots are very important in the initial experience: you can use them in the onboarding to let players win, which is massive to improve D1 retention.
The quality of bots directly correlates with the marketing budget. If your bots are great, you don't need as much marketing budget to get started. If a game is too complex, you will need more marketing budget to compensate.
Live ops can allow you to get the number of players you need at a given time to be able to measure your KPIs.
Do not create too many worlds, maps, game modes, etc. You need to keep people either in the gameplay or in the waiting lobby because you need liquidity: enough concurrent players in one game.
Many game developers open servers in each time zone one by one to manage issues, and many match players only if they are in the same time zone.
You can use time zones differences in your favor by combining cheaper traffic (e.g. Malaysia, Philippines) with higher quality but more expensive traffic (e.g. Australia, New Zealand) to create liquidity (i.e. having enough active players). Then, segment your players to analyze monetization based on their country.
Bots are very important in the initial experience: you can use them in the onboarding to let players win, which is massive to improve D1 retention.
The quality of bots directly correlates with the marketing budget. If your bots are great, you don't need as much marketing budget to get started. If a game is too complex, you will need more marketing budget to compensate.
Live ops can allow you to get the number of players you need at a given time to be able to measure your KPIs.
Do not create too many worlds, maps, game modes, etc. You need to keep people either in the gameplay or in the waiting lobby because you need liquidity: enough concurrent players in one game.
Many game developers open servers in each time zone one by one to manage issues, and many match players only if they are in the same time zone.
You can use time zones differences in your favor by combining cheaper traffic (e.g. Malaysia, Philippines) with higher quality but more expensive traffic (e.g. Australia, New Zealand) to create liquidity (i.e. having enough active players). Then, segment your players to analyze monetization based on their country.
Bots are very important in the initial experience: you can use them in the onboarding to let players win, which is massive to improve D1 retention.
The quality of bots directly correlates with the marketing budget. If your bots are great, you don't need as much marketing budget to get started. If a game is too complex, you will need more marketing budget to compensate.
Live ops can allow you to get the number of players you need at a given time to be able to measure your KPIs.
Notes for this resource are currently being transferred and will be available soon.
7 out of 10 games in the top charts are multiplayer. Liquidity is the single biggest difference between single player game and multiplayer game.
Retention in multiplayer games is made by the PvP experience.
Marketing multiplayer games is easier to do once you pass this "death valley".
Avoid fragmenting the audience
[💎@04:48] Do not create too many worlds, maps, game modes, etc. You need to keep people either in the gameplay or in the waiting lobby because you need liquidity: enough concurrent players in one game.
Everything but the Quick Match mode is locked
Being mindful of timezone
[💎@06:15] Many game developers open servers in each time zone one by one to manage issues, and many match players only if they are in the same time zone.
[💎@06:36] You can use time zones differences in your favor by combining cheaper traffic (e.g. Malaysia, Philippines) with higher quality but more expensive traffic (e.g. Australia, New Zealand) to create liquidity (i.e. having enough active players). Then, segment your players to analyze monetization based on their country.
In Europe, you can combine players from the Nordics with Poland and Romania. Or in the Americas with Canadians and Brazilians.
Liquidity is especially complicated when you need more than 1 on 1 gameplay (e.g. 4 x 4 or even something like Fortnite). That's why a lot of developers use bots, with 2 major approaches:
[💎@09:50] Bots are very important in the initial experience: you can use them in the onboarding to let players win, which is massive to improve D1 retention.
Everyone across the board is using bots for first-time user experience but the transition to playing with real users is critical (difference in level). You need to be transparent or fine-tune the transition.
[💎@11:05] The quality of bots directly correlates with the marketing budget. If your bots are great, you don't need as much marketing budget to get started. If a game is too complex, you will need more marketing budget to compensate.
Example with numbers:
Example:
And that's with a low CPI (averaging CPIs across different tiers)
Influencers during the soft launch work well because:
LiveOps to boost engagement:
[💎@18:03] Live ops can allow you to get the number of players you need at a given time to be able to measure your KPIs.
A lot of marketers struggle to communicate the PvP aspect of your game. You need to be really clear in your ad creatives that the game is multiplayer, real time etc.
7 out of 10 games in the top charts are multiplayer. Liquidity is the single biggest difference between single player game and multiplayer game.
Retention in multiplayer games is made by the PvP experience.
Marketing multiplayer games is easier to do once you pass this "death valley".
Avoid fragmenting the audience
[💎@04:48] Do not create too many worlds, maps, game modes, etc. You need to keep people either in the gameplay or in the waiting lobby because you need liquidity: enough concurrent players in one game.
Everything but the Quick Match mode is locked
Being mindful of timezone
[💎@06:15] Many game developers open servers in each time zone one by one to manage issues, and many match players only if they are in the same time zone.
[💎@06:36] You can use time zones differences in your favor by combining cheaper traffic (e.g. Malaysia, Philippines) with higher quality but more expensive traffic (e.g. Australia, New Zealand) to create liquidity (i.e. having enough active players). Then, segment your players to analyze monetization based on their country.
In Europe, you can combine players from the Nordics with Poland and Romania. Or in the Americas with Canadians and Brazilians.
Liquidity is especially complicated when you need more than 1 on 1 gameplay (e.g. 4 x 4 or even something like Fortnite). That's why a lot of developers use bots, with 2 major approaches:
[💎@09:50] Bots are very important in the initial experience: you can use them in the onboarding to let players win, which is massive to improve D1 retention.
Everyone across the board is using bots for first-time user experience but the transition to playing with real users is critical (difference in level). You need to be transparent or fine-tune the transition.
[💎@11:05] The quality of bots directly correlates with the marketing budget. If your bots are great, you don't need as much marketing budget to get started. If a game is too complex, you will need more marketing budget to compensate.
Example with numbers:
Example:
And that's with a low CPI (averaging CPIs across different tiers)
Influencers during the soft launch work well because:
LiveOps to boost engagement:
[💎@18:03] Live ops can allow you to get the number of players you need at a given time to be able to measure your KPIs.
A lot of marketers struggle to communicate the PvP aspect of your game. You need to be really clear in your ad creatives that the game is multiplayer, real time etc.
7 out of 10 games in the top charts are multiplayer. Liquidity is the single biggest difference between single player game and multiplayer game.
Retention in multiplayer games is made by the PvP experience.
Marketing multiplayer games is easier to do once you pass this "death valley".
Avoid fragmenting the audience
[💎@04:48] Do not create too many worlds, maps, game modes, etc. You need to keep people either in the gameplay or in the waiting lobby because you need liquidity: enough concurrent players in one game.
Everything but the Quick Match mode is locked
Being mindful of timezone
[💎@06:15] Many game developers open servers in each time zone one by one to manage issues, and many match players only if they are in the same time zone.
[💎@06:36] You can use time zones differences in your favor by combining cheaper traffic (e.g. Malaysia, Philippines) with higher quality but more expensive traffic (e.g. Australia, New Zealand) to create liquidity (i.e. having enough active players). Then, segment your players to analyze monetization based on their country.
In Europe, you can combine players from the Nordics with Poland and Romania. Or in the Americas with Canadians and Brazilians.
Liquidity is especially complicated when you need more than 1 on 1 gameplay (e.g. 4 x 4 or even something like Fortnite). That's why a lot of developers use bots, with 2 major approaches:
[💎@09:50] Bots are very important in the initial experience: you can use them in the onboarding to let players win, which is massive to improve D1 retention.
Everyone across the board is using bots for first-time user experience but the transition to playing with real users is critical (difference in level). You need to be transparent or fine-tune the transition.
[💎@11:05] The quality of bots directly correlates with the marketing budget. If your bots are great, you don't need as much marketing budget to get started. If a game is too complex, you will need more marketing budget to compensate.
Example with numbers:
Example:
And that's with a low CPI (averaging CPIs across different tiers)
Influencers during the soft launch work well because:
LiveOps to boost engagement:
[💎@18:03] Live ops can allow you to get the number of players you need at a given time to be able to measure your KPIs.
A lot of marketers struggle to communicate the PvP aspect of your game. You need to be really clear in your ad creatives that the game is multiplayer, real time etc.
