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COMMUNITY AS A SERVICE
A NEW PARADIGM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
• The Community as a Service Opportunity
– What’s missing in Games as a Service (GaaS) model?
– The New Paradigm: Community as a Service (CaaS)
– The Major Components of Community as a Service
• The Impact of Community as a Service Activities
– Examine impact on player acquisition, retention, engagement
– Case studies measure concrete results: Portal 2, ARMA II,
League of Legends, Blacklight: Retribution, and Lost Saga
• Raptr’s Community as a Service Solutions
2
WHAT IS COMMUNITY AS A SERVICE?
3
A NEW PARADIGM FOR GAMES AS A SERVICE
The Games as a Service era is marked by the rise of digital games and
content services. Games are treated as services that include new
downloadable content, micropayments, virtual goods, and more.
Game companies’ approach to Games as a Service tends to be purely
transactional (monetization-centric), focusing on selling additional digital
content to users, clamping down on piracy, and iterating on metrics to
squeeze more revenue out of each user.
Raptr believes that this is an incomplete definition of what is changing in
games and a flawed approach. Raptr believes that the real shift is from
commodity to community and that the real focus should be on the
lifecycle of the player.
A new approach, one that is relational and community-centric, is
required to cultivate a framework that is both beneficial to the player and
the business.
We call this new paradigm “Community as a Service”
4
COMMUNITY AS A SERVICE
• A game’s launch is not the end, but rather the beginning of an opportunity
to establish a real, trusted relationship with the players and player
communities
• Activities that serve the player lifecycle generally fall into three main areas
– Tools that enable players to create content using the game
– Content and activities to keep users engaged with the game even
when they aren’t playing
– Identifying and rewarding loyal players
• Community as a Service also addresses building and serving robust
player communities
– Power of communities dedicated to games
– Power of communities across games
– The power of a community platform
5
• Raptr set out to determine whether community initiatives were actually
beneficial to both the player and the game maker with respect to:
– New user acquisition
– Deeper engagement
– Retention
• What impact do community activities have on daily active usage?
– How well do these activities retain daily active users over time?
– Is there a difference in the level of engagement?
• Do community activities help attract new users & bring back lapsed players?
• We used Raptr’s data from Portal 2, ARMA II, League of Legends, Blacklight:
Retribution, and Lost Saga to illustrate the impact of community activities
6
THE IMPACT OF COMMUNITY AS A SERVICE:WE POSED THE QUESTIONS
THE IMPACT OF COMMUNITY AS A SERVICE ACTIVITIES
7
TOOLS THAT ENABLE USERS TO CREATE CONTENT USING THE GAME
• Community-created content includes tools that enable users to:
• Create new content such as maps, items, mods, and more and
share it with the community
• Capture in-game screenshots and videos for the community to see
• Stream live video
• Spectator mode
8
CASE STUDY: PORTAL 2 MAP CREATOR
• Published by Valve in April 2011, Portal 2
is a single-player, puzzle-oriented
platformer
• Portal 2 was a great game that had low
replayability after first play-through
• May 2012 – Valve released a tool that
enabled players to create their own maps
and share them
• The following slides examine the impact
those tools had on Portal 2’s numbers
9
35,000 user-generated levels
were created, which were
downloaded 1.3 million times
during the first week after the
launch of mod tools
4/1 4/8 4/15 4/22 4/29 5/6 5/13 5/20 5/27 6/3 6/10 6/17 6/24
DA
U
DAILY ACTIVE USERS FOR PORTAL 2
806% INCREASE IN DAILY ACTIVE USERS
10
• 806% increase in DAU (Daily Active Users) the day after the mod
tools were released
• Even a month later, there were still 40% more people playing the
game daily compared to before
Date - 2012
DAU - WEEKAFTER LAUNCH
DAU - MONTHAFTER LAUNCH
Mod tools launch -
User generated
content
2218% INCREASE IN NEW USERS
11
4/22 4/29 5/6 5/13 5/20 5/27 6/3 6/10
Tota
l Ne
w U
sers
DAILY NEW USER ACQUISITION FOR PORTAL 2
• 2218% increase in new users (people playing for the first time) the day after
• These new users represented 18% of all active players (DAU) the day
after release
• Even a month later, Portal 2 was attracting 28% more new users than before
Mod tools launch -
User generated
content
Date - 2012
WEEKAFTER LAUNCH
MONTHAFTER LAUNCH
1113% INCREASE IN BRINGING BACK LAPSED PLAYERS
12
4/22 4/29 5/6 5/13 5/20 5/27 6/3 6/10
Tota
l Ret
urn
ing
Use
rs
RETURNING USERS FOR PORTAL 2
• The day after the release of mod tools saw a 1113% increase in lapsed
Portal 2 players coming back to play the game (those who hadn’t played in
more than two weeks)
• This represents 46% of all DAUs the day after its release
• A month later, there were still 15% more returning players than before
Date - 2012
WEEKAFTER LAUNCH
MONTHAFTER LAUNCH
Mod tools launch -
User generated
content
36% INCREASE IN AVERAGE PLAYTIME PER USER
• Average daily playtime per user increased 36% from 1.4 hrs to 1.9 hrs per day
• A week later, people were still playing 29% longer per day than before
• A month later, average playtime remained 17% higher
13
DAILY PLAYTIME PER USER FOR PORTAL 2
Ho
urs
Pe
r D
ay
Date - 2012
WEEKAFTER LAUNCH
MONTHAFTER LAUNCH
*Chart from Raptr’s analytics dashboard
Mod tools launch -
User generated
content
USER-GENERATED CONTENT CONCLUSIONS
• Valve’s approach to Community as a Service was to give gamers tools to
create their own Portal 2 maps and share them with each other
• Although the release of mod tools was expected to extend the life of the
game for existing players, the actual impact was far greater:
• 23x increase in new user acquisitions
• 11x increase in bringing back players who had lapsed
• 36% increase in average playtime per user by 36% from 1.4 to 1.9
hours a day
14
STANDALONE MOD CASE STUDY: DAYZ
• Developed by Bohemia Interactive and
released in May 2009, ARMA II is a first-
person military shooter
• ARMA II was not a particularly successful
game, with flat activity numbers since release
• One of the designers at Bohemia Interactive
decided to create a zombie-themed mod of
ARMA II as a proof of concept for a game he
wanted to create
• The following slides examine the impact the
mod -- which was released only half finished
and with no marketing -- had on ARMA II’s
numbers
15
Within a month after launch of the
DayZ mod, sales for ARMA II
spiked 400%, to 300,000 units.
Within four months, over 1 million
gamers had played the DayZ mod.
4/1 4/15 4/29 5/13 5/27 6/10 6/24 7/8 7/22 8/5
Tota
l Use
rs
DAILY ACTIVE USERS FOR ARMA II
847% INCREASE IN DAU WITHIN MONTH ONE
• A week after the DayZ mod’s release (and with no marketing support), ARMA
II’s DAUs increased by 36%
• A month after release, it was up by 847%
16
Date - 2012
DayZ
alpha
launch
Sale
DAU – WEEKAFTER LAUNCH
DAU – MONTHAFTER LAUNCH
4/1 4/15 4/29 5/13 5/27 6/10 6/24 7/8 7/22 8/5
Tota
l New
Use
rs
DAILY NEW USER ACQUISITION FOR ARMA II
1343% NEW PLAYERS IN A MONTH
• The DayZ mod brought in 106% more new players in a week…
• Then climbed by 1343% in a month
– The new players made up 15% of all DAU during this period
17
DayZ
alpha
launch
Sale
Date - 2012
WEEKAFTER LAUNCH
MONTHAFTER LAUNCH
RE-ENGAGEMENT UP 101% WITHIN A MONTH
• ARMA II got back a lot of players (who had not played in two weeks)
with DayZ; the first week increased returning users by 20% and
reached 101% in a month
18
4/1 4/15 4/29 5/13 5/27 6/10 6/24 7/8 7/22 8/5
Tota
l Ret
urn
ing
Use
rs
DAILY RETURNING USERS FOR ARMA II
DayZ
alpha
launch
Date - 2012
WEEKAFTER LAUNCH
MONTHAFTER LAUNCH
PLAYERS SPENT 38% MORE TIME IN THE GAME
• The mod made people play longer each day; average playtime increased by 36%
from 2.2 hours per day to 3 hours per day
• The next week, players played 23% more than before
• In a month, average playtime remained 50% above prelaunch
19
DayZ
alpha
launch
WEEKAFTER LAUNCH
MONTHAFTER LAUNCH
DAILY PLAYTIME PER USER FOR ARMA II
Ho
urs
Pe
r D
ay
Date - 2012
*Chart from Raptr’s analytics dashboard
KEEPING USERS ENGAGED EVEN WHEN THEY AREN’T PLAYING
• Community engagement activities and tools that encourage content
consumption and discussion when gamers aren’t playing can drive
gamers back to a game to play more, and they can help new players
discover a game. For example:
• Systems to surface the best content (screenshots, videos, live
streams)
• Enabling developers to be part of the conversation with the
community rather than above it
• eSports events to drive water-cooler talk and aspirational behavior
20
POWER OF FEEDING THE COMMUNITY: LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
• Published by Riot Games in Oct 2009, League of
Legends is a very successful F2P (free-to-play)
Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game
• LoL has steady growth that is typical of a (very)
successful F2P game, growing its community over
time
• Riot has taken a community services approach from
early on:
– The Tribunal that empowers players with
moderation tools
– Spectator Mode allows users to watch others play
– eSports provide drive, challenge, and meaning
21
Launch
of The
Tribunal
New
Feature
Spectator
Mode
eSport -
Season 2
Start
eSport -
Season 1
Ends
7.6% MONTHLY USER GROWTH
22
• League of Legends grows its user base an average of 7.6% each
month
• Raptr observes significant growth spurts in DAU with each new e-sport
event and the launch of Spectator Mode in particular
2011 2012Date
DAILY ACTIVE USERS FOR LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
Ho
urs
Pe
r D
ay
*Chart from Raptr’s analytics dashboard
ESPORT EVENTS DRIVE SPIKES IN PLAYER ACTIVITY
• The MLG Providence finals and Dreamhack competition resulted in a bump in DAU
between 3% and 10%
• Overall playtime increased between 3% to 8% the following week
• After popular eSports events, new player rates jump to 10% and returning players
spiked 12%
League of Legends Season One finals drew 241,000 peak concurrent online viewers
and more than 3.6 million hours of video were consumed
ENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY IN DISCUSSIONS INCREASES ENGAGEMENT
• Blacklight: Retribution’s developers engaged the Raptr community through a Q&A
session
– 1600 questions asked and 60,000 page views during session
• The week after, daily players increased by 10%, playtime increased by 19%
Social sharing by Raptr players: 100,000 Facebook and Twitter posts during the promo month
24
Dev Q&A
Session With
Community
To
tal U
se
rs
Date - 2012
DAILY ACTIVE USERS FOR BLACKLIGHT: RETRIBUTION
DEVELOPER Q&A SESSION IMPACT
*Chart from Raptr’s analytics dashboard
IDENTIFYING AND REWARDING LOYAL PLAYERS
• It’s critical to know and identify who players are, where they came
from, and what their habits and behaviors are, as it relates to the game
• The relationship with the player strengthens when players can
progress from newbie to advanced through a series of reward tiers
• Giving players something to strive toward keeps them engaged
25
LOYALTY PROGRAMS CASE STUDY
• Published by OGPlanet in North America
in November 2009, Lost Saga is a casual,
free-to-play, 3D fighting game
• OGPlanet wanted to drive new interest in
Lost Saga and increase engagement of its
active players
• Launched a loyalty program with Raptr
Rewards to reward players’ activity
• The Raptr Rewards program helped
increased daily playtime per Raptr user by
97%
26
3/20 4/3 4/17 5/1 5/15 5/29 6/12 6/26 7/10 7/24 8/7
New
Returning
LOYALTY PROGRAMS ATTRACT NEW PLAYERS
• Raptr Rewards drove a 400% increase in new players and 180% increase in
returning players on day one of the program
• A month after, new users continued to rise 200% and returning users 124%
Social sharing by Raptr players: 30,000 Facebook and Twitter posts during the promo
27
To
tal N
ew
An
d
Re
turn
ing
Us
ers
Raptr
Rewards
Initiated
WEEKAFTER LAUNCH
MONTHAFTER LAUNCH
Raptr
Bundle
Initiated
NEW USERS AND RETURNING USERS FOR LOST SAGA
Date - 2012
97% INCREASE IN DAILY ENGAGEMENT
• Lost Saga offered multiple rewards to Raptr gamers based on ranks
• Daily playtime per player increased by 97%, from 2.7 to 5.3 hours
• Weekly playtime per player up 185%, from 7 to 20 hours
28
Raptr
Rewards
Initiated
PLAYTIME PER DAY FOR LOST SAGA USERS
Ho
urs
Pe
r D
ay
Date - 2012
WEEK
MONTH
AFTER LAUNCH
AFTER LAUNCH
*Chart from Raptr’s analytics dashboard
LOYALTY PROGRAM CONCLUSIONS
• Multiple tiers of rewards for Lost Saga were offered to Raptr members
based on their ranks
• Designed to incentivize players to progress from newbie to advanced,
giving players something to strive toward
• The results:
• 400% increase in new user registrations
• 180% increase in bringing back players who had lapsed
• 97% increase in average daily playtime per user from 2.7 to 5.3
hours a day
• 185% increase in average weekly playtime from 7 hours to 20
hours a week
29
METHODOLOGY
• This analysis was prepared by extrapolating actual gameplay data from
more than 14 million Raptr members
• We used Raptr’s data from Portal 2, ARMA II, League of Legends,
Blacklight: Retribution, and Lost Saga to illustrate the impact of community
activities
• This analysis evaluated the results of specific initiatives over increments of
time (1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months):
– The impact on daily active users (DAU), broken down by existing users,
new users, and returning users
– The impact on daily playtime per user
– The long-term impact of sustained community engagement activities
30
All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
RAPTR’S COMMUNITY AS A SERVICE SOLUTIONS
31
RAPTR’S COMMUNITY AS A SERVICE PLATFORM
• Raptr’s Community: 14 million (and counting) players across games,
devices, and genres. Raptr keeps players engaged inside and outside of the
game and provides a place where game makers can engage with current and
potential players
• Raptr’s Community Platform is a suite of features designed to provide
Community as a Service solutions so publishers can attract and more deeply
engage gamers
– Raptr’s Desktop App provides tools to enable players to stay in the
game and create community content such as screenshots and videos
– Raptr’s web platform allow publishers to directly engage with their fan
base when they aren’t playing their game
– Raptr’s Reward Program creates loyal players, giving gamers
something to strive for as they progress from new user to loyal customer
– Raptr’s Analytics Dashboard helps publishers identify and understand
the habits and behaviors of their players & players of competitors’ games
32
ABOUT RAPTR
• Raptr is the leading community for gamers with over 14 million users that
rewards gamers for playing and engaging with their games. Gamers use Raptr
to track their gameplay, build their gaming rep to see how they stack up against
friends, and earn rewards just for playing games on console and PC.
Created in 2007 by a world-class team led by CEO and founder Dennis Fong
(co-founder of Xfire, Lithium, and Gamers.com), Raptr has raised more than $27
million in funding from investors Accel Partners, Founder’s Fund, DAG Ventures,
and Tenaya Capital. For more information visit http://raptr.com.
• For more information about Raptr’s upcoming Community Platform, please
contact [email protected].
33
