The Android Alternative:Road to 100 Million Players

Vladimir FuntikovCo-founder, Creative Mobile

Creative Mobile Independent developer and publisher Founded in 2010 by 3 guys with €10 000 >100 million organic Android game downloads Team grown from 3 to >80 Best known for racing games:

Drag Racing, DR: Bike Edition, DR: 4x4, <?>

Why Android In 2010:

New market, weak competition Familiar technology Tide will lift all boats

In 2013: Scale! 1bn devices, 1.5m daily activations [1] Competition

[1] Larry Page, https://plus.google.com/+LarryPage/posts/QVbFayWxfrm

Problem: launching a product No money (connections, traffic, brand, …)

Problem: launching a product No money (connections, traffic, brand, …)

Solution A: Prepare PowerPoint slide deck Search for publishers/investors/editors … PROFIT

Problem: launching a product No money (connections, traffic, brand, …)

Solution A: Prepare PowerPoint slide deck Search for publishers/investors/editors … PROFIT

Solution B: Smart self-publishing and marketing!

Free marketing tools You only have a few days, so make them count Title that sells:

Easy to understand and remember Keywords help A/B test

Icon that sells: Make multiple Compare to competition A/B test CTR of winners

Stunning first screenshot and description SEO

Ranking high (and long) Google Play ranking algorithm:

Downloads over the last X days Number (and/or ratio) of active installs Over 9000 other things (don’t bother)

Retention Push notifications (to the right user) Relevant updates Don’t annoy the player Social and competitive (+GP Game Services) Endless gameplay

Ranking high (and long) Understand the platform

Optimize (<20 MB, smooth content delivery) Support older OS versions, old and new devices, all screens Respect tablets! Beta-test (there WILL be bugs)

Understand the use case Even tablets are only part-time gaming devices

Case study: Drag Racing2011 2012

Case study: Drag Racing >2 year in Top 50 games Successful update:

Next steps Players are valuable, games are media properties Players can …

Bring revenue via IAP Watch ads and interact with brands (up to 2x revenue!) Form communities (social networks, forums) Play your other games

Cross-promotion FTW! Case study: Drag Racing: Bike Edition $0 marketing spend -> Top 5 grossing (US) & 20M downloads

The end! vladimir@creative-mobile.com @creativemCEO

Bonus track: Real Racing 3 vs. Hill Climb Racing

Real Racing 3 (EA + Firemonkeys)

Established franchise (2 critically acclaimed titles) High-end visuals and physics. High expectations (players & management) Budget: $150 000 000*

* This is in fact the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, in kilometres. I’ve no idea what the budget was for RR3 :)

Hill Climb Racing (Fingersoft)

Who? What? Where?

Budget:

Google Play – Racing (US) now a few months ago

Google Play rank history – RR3

Google Play rank history - HCR

HCR success factors Simple gameplay, smooth learning curve Short sessions, sense of achievement Works on (almost) every device Continuous development

..sounds familiar?

Drag Racing success factors Simple gameplay, short sessions Android 1.5+ 50+ updates … 2 years in top 50 games >80M downloads