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26 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR
GAME
IN 26 MINUTES!
Nicholas Lovell
GAMESbrief
14th November 2011
Nicholas Lovell, GAMESbrief • Author, How to Publish a Game,
GAMESbrief Unplugged
• Director, GAMESbrief
• Clients include Atari, Channel 4,
Channelflip, Firefly, IPC, nDreams,
Rebellion and Square Enix
• @nicholaslovell / @gamesbrief
Subscribe to the blog
AN ADMISSION
I should be promoting this:
26 IDEAS
1 Feed the funnel
oTo build a successful games
business, you must feed the
funnel
oPotential customers arrive
at the top. In the middle,
you convert them to
payers.
oAt the bottom, they
become long-term, high-
spending customers.
2 ARM yourself
oA successful online game
must Acquire users, Retain
them (usually overlooked!),
and Monetise them.
oAll three aspects must be in
harmony.
oYou need all three to build
a successful long-term
business.
3 Make it free AND expensive
oGiving your content away for free is a marketing
opportunity.
oYou have to find your revenue opportunity.
oDraw customers along the curve by offering them
things they truly value.
PRICE
Demand
Revenue opportunity
Marketing opportunity
4 You’re making TV
oA film director can open his
movie slowly. Punters have
paid $10 and are unlikely to
leave in the first 10 minutes.
oA TV director has, maybe,
10 seconds to grab me or –
zap! – I’m gone.
oMake TV, not film!
5 Tutorials don’t have to suck
oFrom the moment I start
playing your game, my
departure is only a click
away.
oSomeone who has spent
$40 will put up with a dull
tutorial. Free games don’t
have that luxury!
oIf your tutorial sucks, I’m out
of here. Make it fun, lively
and rewarding!
6 Acquisition lasts longer than you think
o The Acquisition process doesn’t end when I click
“install”!
o20 million people every month take a look at Cityville –
and never return!
oYou haven’t got a customer until they spend 20
minutes playing. Make sure those first 20 minutes are
your best stuff!
7 How hard can it be?
oYou want people to
share updates with their
friends, so give them a
good reason.
oPlayers won’t share a
level-up, but they’ll share
something that made
them laugh.
oFrontierville made its
status updates smutty.
They got a 20% uplift in
sharing.
8 Avoid the leaky bucket
oAcquiring customers is both
hard and expensive.
oOnce you get them, focus
on retention to keep them.
oDon’t worry about getting
new customers until you
can satisfy the ones you’ve
got!
9 Acquisition is fractal
oThink of ARM across your ecosystem, not just for a single game.
oOne game might be great at viral acquisition, but rubbish at retention.
oScotland’s T-Enterprise acquires customers by launching satirical games based on current affairs.
10 Time is of the essence
oTime is the main asset in
most connected games,
not currency
oTimed events mean players
make an appointment to
return to the game.
oMake this into the core of
your retention strategy.
11 Open those loops
oHumans hate leaving
started tasks unfinished.
oEnsure players always have
multiple tasks underway.
oHarvesting, missions, quests,
collections, training – the
possibilities are endless.
12 Keep the loops open
oAt all times, give your
players lots to do.
oShort term tasks keep
players engaged moment
by moment.
oLonger term tasks drive
retention, bringing players
back to the game several
times a day or over weeks.
00d:00h:03m
00d:00h:30m
00d:03h:00m
03d:00h:00m
13 You’ve started so you’ll finish
oAt all times, give your players lots to do.
oShort term tasks keep players engaged moment by
moment.
oLonger term tasks drive retention, bringing players
back to the game several times a day or over weeks.
14 The player will see you now
oLet me decide when I want to come back to your game.
oOffer a range of timed actions. Can I come back in 2 hours, or am I away for a weekend, and need a 3-day action?
oFarmville’s crops allow me to promise to come back at a time of my own choosing.
15 Spare the rod
oIf the game TOLD me to come back and I didn’t, a punishment feels unfair.
oIf I promised to return and didn’t, a punishment feels harsh but fair.
oPunish for broken promises, not for failing to follow orders. (Your game shouldn’t be giving me orders anyway!)
16 The rule of 0-1-100
oEveryone can play for free
– that’s $0.
oMake it really, really easy to
spend $1.
oMake it possible for
someone who really loves
your game to spend $100
per month.
17 Free means free
oIt’s okay for people to play
the game for free. It should
be fun to play, for free,
forever.
oA demo or trial is a totally
different emotional
experience to a game
that’s free forever.
oYou aren’t giving
freeloaders your game
demo. You’re giving them
your game!
18 Free means free
oIf you want me to buy
prestige items, I need to
know that others will see
them!
oIf you’re sitting at home on
your own, do you wear
your finest clothes – or slob
out in jeans and T-shirt?
oFew people would buy a
Ferrari if nobody was there
to look at it!
19 Make it a no-brainer
oThe first dollar I spend is the
most valuable to you – it
creates a buying
behaviour.
oTiny Tower lifts are a cheap
“no-brainer” first purchase.
oStronghold Kingdoms gives
me ongoing bonuses in
return for spending ANY
money in the game.
20 Get to $100 the slow way
oIt’s easier for most people
to spend $1 a hundred
times than to spend $100
once.
oCreate cheap items that
players get into the habit of
buying regularly.
oRegular spenders of small
amounts can be whales
too!
21 Consumables for fun and profit
oThe ideal consumable item
doesn’t affect gameplay
massively, can be sold over
and over, and costs
nothing to make
oTower Bux. Pocket Frogs
potions. Stronghold
Kingdoms trading cards.
Farmville unwithers.
oFind something the
consumer wants –
repeatedly!
22 High rollers want to spend. Let ‘em
oHow to get to $100 a month? One way is to sell
something very expensive.
oGlu Mobile’s Gun Bros offers a gun for $500.
oBigpoint Dark Orbit has a hugely expensive
spaceship; EVE Online charges $70 for a monocle.
23 Be generous
oBe happy to give things to
your players for free.
oTheir goodwill and
affection is your strongest
asset.
oGive away your best game
content and embrace the
freeloaders.
24 To the power of ten
25 Add friction
oGame design is about
taking friction out.
oFreemium design is about
adding friction.
oGOOD freemium design is
about finding a balance –
just enough friction to
encourage some players to
pay, without ruining it for
the rest of us.
26 Pre-register for the book
ohttp://www.gamesbrief.com/52-game-idea-bombs/
o THANK YOU FOR LISTENING
