Introduction to brainCloud - Sept 2014

Sept 17, 2014Game Developer Introby bitHeads

Backend in a box.

Background

Only one in ten mobile games succeed.

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High Conversion

High Volume

$Success

High Spend

Background

Mathematically, the formula is simple.

Background

In practice, it requires a lot of design and meta-‐systems to achieve.

Multiplatform Multiplayer

Free-‐to-‐playSocial

In-‐app

Promotions

Cross-‐play

Game-‐as-‐a-‐service

Competition

Background

Which in turn require tons of back-‐end technology and tools.

Multiplatform Multiplayer

Free-‐to-‐play Social

In-‐app

Promotions

Cross-‐play

Game-‐as-‐a-‐service

Competition

Matchmaking

LeaderboardsAchievements

Quests

Notifications

Pricing Controls

Cloud Data

Design toolsTurn-‐basedClan-‐style

iOSAndroid

Windows

Virtual Currencies

Analytics

Store Integration

Background

The big guys have spent years and millions of dollars building these systems.

49* of the 50 Top Grossing games in the iOS App Store

incorporate cloud-tech to enhance gameplay and monetization.

* based on data from August 29th, 2014

It’s time to level the playing field.

Enter brainCloud.

brainCloud is a ready-‐made, cloud-‐based backend for game development.

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Using brainCloud, developers can access pre-‐built features to jumpstart building the most popular free-‐to-‐play game types, without having to reinvent the wheel.

brainCloud is…

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Rich gaming back-‐end -‐ multiplayer, cloud data, leaderboards, in-‐app purchases and much more

Extendable via custom cloud code

Native libraries for iOS, Android, Windows and more

Unity, Cocos2d-‐x and Unreal engine integration

Easy-‐to-‐use development portal

Advanced promotional tools to maximize your monetization

Affordable usage-‐based pricing

Any Engine, Any Platform…

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brainCloud supports Unity, Cocos2d-‐x and Unreal -‐ with native libraries for iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry and more!

And Any Game Type

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Architecture

We have built a secure, reliable and super-‐scalable architecture — so you don’t have to.

Key APIs

And pre-‐built all the key APIs that you’ll need.

Key APIs

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User/Global Statistics

User/Global Entities

Shared Data

Custom Files

Store everything about the player’s game experience -‐ no matter how simple, or how complex.

Cloud Data

Key APIs

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Turn-‐based

Offline (﴾Clash-‐style)﴿

Challenges

Matchmaking

Support for both turn-‐by-‐turn and one-‐way offline (﴾clash-‐style)﴿ multiplayer, with matchmaking.

Multiplayer

Key APIs

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Simple Achievements

Auto Achievements

Achievement sync

Award achievements automatically based on player stats -‐ and even synchronize them with GameCenter and Facebook!

Achievements

Key APIs

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Social

Global

Tournaments

Pacers

Global and Social Leaderboards, with support for weekly Tournaments with rewards!

Leaderboards

Key APIs

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Virtual Currencies

Server-‐based verification

Pricing controls

Platform integrations -‐ iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry, Facebook and Steam

Server-‐side validation for In-‐App Purchases, with rich support for product pricing and virtual currency management.

Monetization

Key APIs

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Programmatic

Automated

Segmented

Support for iOS, Android*, Facebook and more*

Reach out to your players, no matter what their device.

Notifications

Key APIs

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Javascript

Extension points

Schedulable

brainCloud doesn’t do exactly what you need? Extend it!

Cloud Code

Tools

brainCloud is more than an API. It’s a toolset to aid in all aspects of the product lifecycle!

Design

Development

Test +Support

ProductManagement

Tools

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Define the metagame(﴾stats to collect; milestones, quests and rewards; achievement triggers; xp levels; virtual currency types)﴿

Tune metagame and rewards

Add new milestones, quests and achievements -‐ without code!

Design and iterate the key meta-‐data for your game.

Design

Tools

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Native libraries

API Explorer

View/debug player data

View/debug global data

View/debug multiplayer

View server logs / exceptions

View API performance

API Reference + Examples + Tutorials

The tools to support your developers.Development

Tools

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View/edit user data

View/edit currencies

Flag players for follow-‐up

The tools to support your testers & support team.

Testing & Support

Tools

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Cross-‐platform analytics!

Centralized pricing across all platforms

Targeted notifications!

Scheduled and targeted promotions!

Advanced tools to better manage and monetize your game!

Product Management

Highlighted Feature

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Define key target segments

Design promotions for each segment

Turn it on!

Measure the results!

brainCloud’s promotional tools are designed to increase your monetization by allowing you to focus on reaching the right players at the right time!

Automated Promotions!

Highlighted Feature

Dividing your player base into segments allows you to better target your promotions.

Example classifications based on Emily Greer’s (Kongregate) talk at Casual Connect 2012.

Play once, then bounce

Percentage of players

Non-‐repeats Repeats Regs Committed

Play 2-‐9 times

Play 10-‐49 times

Play 50+ times

37% 40% 12% 11%0% 3% 13% 84%

Percentage of Revenue

Highlighted Feature

Define promotions to monetize players and move them upstream.

Play once, then bounce

Non-‐repeats Repeats Regs Committed

Play 2-‐9 times

Play 10-‐49 times

Play 50+ times

Ignore Push them into Regs

Push them to Committed

Don’t let them leave!

Highlighted Feature

Promotion Example: Repeats

Repeats

Play 2-‐9 times Special offer on a bundle with

enough currency to get them their ship, and have enough currency left

over to push them past 10 plays.

Push them into Regs

GoalSegment

Definition

Played >1 & <9, “brig” unlocked

Natural pinch-‐point in the game, where they’ve unlocked a new ship,

but cannot afford it.

Promotion Definition

New player flash sale!

Highlighted Feature

Promotion Example: Committed

Committed

Play 50+ times Super sale on an offer large enough

to get them recommitted again.

Keep them from leaving

GoalSegment

Definition

Played >50, haven’t played

in >3 days

Most committed players play every day… if you start to see gaps in

activity, it’s a sign they’re thinking of leaving

Promotion Definition

Veteran Sale!

Highlighted Feature

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In summary, setting up, iterating and evolving your Automated Promotions will maximize the monetization of your game.

No-‐brainer Pricing

brainCloud pricing philosophy -‐ we only charge you for the server capacity that you use.

brainCloud costing is based on API requests.

The more you load our servers, the more you pay -‐

how shockingly logical!

We give you the tools to measure and predict your API

usage -‐ so that you can optimize your utilization -‐ lowering your

cost per DAU.

For estimated pricing based on DAU, we use a conversion of:

1 Player Session = ~33.33333 Requests

Using this ratio:

1000 DAU (﴾daily)﴿ = 1M monthly API calls

No-‐brainer Pricing

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Tier API Calls / month DAU * Cost / month Early Adopter!

(until 2016) Per M API +

Tier 0 - 100** $0 $0 $0

Tier 1 2M 2K $49 $25 $35.00

Tier 2 5M 5K $149 $125 $35.00

Tier 3 10M 10K $299 $250 $34.00

Tier 4 25M 25K $799 $700 $33.00

Tier 5 50M 50K $1,599 $1,450 $32.00

Tier 6 100M 100K $2,999 $2,700 $31.00

Tier 7 250M 250K $7,399 $6,900 $30.00

Tier 8 500M 500K $13,999 $13,000 $28.00

Tier 9 1B 1M $24,999 $23,000 $26.00

* Based on 33.33333 API calls per DAU. ** Limited to 100DAU during development (Free!)

Sign up in 2014 -‐ get

Early Adopter Pricing until 2016!

brainCloud in review…

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In Conclusion…

brainCloud in review…

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The features you need to drive engagement.

brainCloud has the richestfeature set of any gaming back-‐end.

MultiplayerCloud Data

PaymentsPricing

Notifications

Leaderboards

AchievementsPlayer XP

Virtual Currencies

Matchmaking

Identity

FacebookPacers

Tournaments

Multiplatform

Social

brainCloud in review…

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Without limitation.If you need something extra -‐ add it -‐ using our advanced

cloud code system!

brainCloud in review…

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Increase Revenues.Greater engagement, together with targeted pricing and promotions,

will maximize your revenues.

brainCloud in review…

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Lower CostsBuy, don’t build.

brainCloud will save you months of development and hundreds

of thousands of dollars.

brainCloud in review…

The brainCloud Equation.

more RevenueGreater engagement,

across more platforms, with automated promotions.

+ lower Costs

Save development time, and server deployment and management costs.

=Success!

Sign up now!Sign up, and level the playing field now!

It couldn’t be simpler -‐ just go to http://getbraincloud.com and register today!

Remember -‐ sign up before Dec 31st, 2014 to get Early Adopter Pricing until 2016!