On Annuity Design - Pocket Gamer San Francisco 2017

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How  to  Design  AnnuitiesTed Verani, VP of Business DevelopmentPocket Gamer Connects, San Francisco

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Scientific  Revenue  is  a  machine-­‐‑learning  based  dynamic  pricing  platform  for  in-­‐‑app  purchases

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The  magic  of  selling  the  same  thing  at  different  price  points

How  much  is  the  large  human  bridle  worth?

The  difference  goes  straight  to  the  bottom  line.  

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Background

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Typical  Game

• Your  conversion  is  between  .5%  and  3%• ¼  to  ½  of  your  purchasers  buy  something  in  the  first  two  days• Somewhere  between  ! "⁄ and  $ "⁄ of  your  players  don’t  visit  

the  coin  store  at  all.  

• You  have  a  lot  of  people  who  will  never  purchase,  but  who  will  play  the  game  for  a  extended  period  of  time• Some  of  them  have  money!

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Classifying  Players

Long  Term  Players

Purchasers

First  Day  Purchasers

Impulse  Purchasers  (“unplanned  purchases”)

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How  do  we  reach  players  that  don’t  buy  on  impulse?  

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Inspiration

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More  Inspiration:  Daily  Login  Rewards

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What  is  an  Annuity?  

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http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/WilliamGrosso/20170612/297723/How_to_Design_an_Annuity.php

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Example:    “Gold  Pass”  in  Nitro  Nation  

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How  to  design  an  Annuity  

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KEY  GOAL:  Little  or  No  Cannibalization

• Annuities  should  NOT  replace  regular  IAP  spend• Done  properly,  they  cause  grinders  to  become  spenders• Done  properly,  they  often  increase  demand  for  goods  and  

currency  (teaser  /  taste  model)

• Add  people  to  the  conversion  pool  and  to  the  long-­‐‑term  retention  pool

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The  Simplest  Annuity  That  Actually  Works

• First,  implement  a  daily  reward  system  based  on  currency• Make  sure  it  works,  and  brings  people  back• Make  sure  it  doesn’t  cannibalize  revenue

• On  a  selective  basis,  offer  to  double  the  daily  login  reward for  fixed  price  to  people  who  have  high  engagement  and  are  unlikely  to  buy  anything

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How  to  Design  (more  complex)  Annuities

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Things  You  Must  Know  About  Your  Game

• Lifetime  Spending  Caps• Is  it  possible  to  “Buy  the  game”

• Difficulty  of  Obtaining  Currency  • If  easy  to  get  by  playing  then  hard  to  charge    

• Minimum  Values• Daily  Login  Bonuses• Easily  earned  currency  amounts  (typical  daily  earn)

• Maximum  Values• Average  daily  spend• Typical  “medium  end”  purchase  • Annuities  shouldn’t  cover  your  spend  

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Design  Considerations  for  Annuity

1. DurationNeeds  to  be  long  enough  to  delay  most  of  the  reward

2. Confirmation  Need  to  click  something  to  get  the  reward  

3. Deliverables  Virtual  currency  is  a  safe  and  easy  option  

4. Delivery  Schedules  Deliver  the  same  amount  of  currency  every  day  

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Design  Considerations  for  Annuity  (cont)

5. Discount  Level  Should  be  substantial  discount  from  what  would  pay  in  store

6. Availability  Make  it  available  intermittently  on  randomized  schedule  

7. StackabilityDo  not  let  people  purchase  or  receive  multiple  annuities  simultaneously

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Pulling  it  together  …..

Things  you  already  know….    (min  and  max  value)  • For  general  players,  annuity  should  be  193  coins• Make  it  200  because  the  difference  is  small  and  200  is  

psychologically  more  friendly  

What  is  the  cost?    • You  know  it  is  200  coins  x  28  days(Duration),  which  is  5600  

coins  in  total  • Take  the  Black  Friday  Exchange  Rate,  which  is  $.004  for  

single  coin  • Then,  the  annuity  cost  is  5600  x  $.004  =  $22.40  • Which  is  $19.99  once  you  make  it  psychologically  friendly  

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The  Monetisation Design  Library• On  How  to  Design  an  Annuity  

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/WilliamGrosso/20170612/297723/How_to_Design_an_Annuity.php• On  Future  of  IAP  Monetization  

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/WilliamGrosso/20170510/297722/The_Future_of_IAP_Monetization_in_Mobile_Games.php

• On  Pay  to  Win  Strategies.  http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/WilliamGrosso/20161102/284598/Looking_at_Pay_to_Win.php

• On  Daily  Login  Bonuses.  http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/WilliamGrosso/20160613/274759/The_Science__Craft_of_Designing_Daily_Rewards__and_Why_FTP_Games_Need_Them.php

• On  Annuities.http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/IsaacKnowles/20160512/272484/Want_to_Increase_Your_FreetoPlay_Game_Revenue__Retention_Experiment_With_Virtual_Currency_Annuities.php

• Our  IAP  Survey.http://www.pocketgamer.biz/data-­‐‑and-­‐‑research/63436/scientific-­‐‑revenue-­‐‑survey/  and  http://www.scientificrevenue.com/iap-­‐‑survey/

• On  Feeder  Apps.  http://www.scientificrevenue.com/blog-­‐‑posts/how-­‐‑to-­‐‑turn-­‐‑free-­‐‑viral-­‐‑apps-­‐‑into-­‐‑feeder-­‐‑apps-­‐‑that-­‐‑actually-­‐‑make-­‐‑money/

• On  Powerup Design.http://www.scientificrevenue.com/blog-­‐‑posts/rescues-­‐‑buffs-­‐‑skips-­‐‑how-­‐‑to-­‐‑design-­‐‑mobile-­‐‑game-­‐‑power-­‐‑ups-­‐‑for-­‐‑optimal-­‐‑iap/

• On  Payment  Wall  Design.http://www.scientificrevenue.com/blog-­‐‑posts/how-­‐‑to-­‐‑design-­‐‑an-­‐‑in-­‐‑app-­‐‑purchase-­‐‑paywall-­‐‑that-­‐‑earns-­‐‑you-­‐‑money-­‐‑without-­‐‑annoying-­‐‑your-­‐‑players/  

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Continuing  the  Conversation

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Thank  You  Ted Verani, VP of Business Developmentted@scientificrevenue.com