Sustainable Free-To-Play

Building Games That Lastin the Age of Abandon

Anatoly RopotovCEO, Game Insight

@tolik | fb.com/ropotov

• Every industry and generation needs a list of “sins & virtues”

• We need to start respecting the life-cycle of products

• It’s a start, let’s open a dialogue

Intro

These 6 things will make your game stick. I could’ve never thought of #3.

• Delight them: daily/weekly/monthly, seasonal, sensational!

• Communicate! Changelogs? Push Messages? In-game news hub? Community? Retargeting?

• Open Roadmap: Deliver and Provide Proof

#1: Kindness Update Often

• Trust. Brand. That’s what you lose when you shut down the game

• Why would you abandon your players?

• “Sunsetting” should be painless

#2: PatienceDo not “shut down”

games! Ever.

• Even with increased penetration of 4G/LTE… The horror of data plans!

• The metro, daily commute, planes - players will be playing something else!

• And once the servers go down*… *not suitable to all game types

#3: TemperanceLet them play

offline!

• Transparency inside product operations is crucial

• Product Performance, App Store Reviews, Customer Support, Facebook, Twitter, In-Game Public Chat - feel the vibe!

• Every team member should feel the consequences

#4: DiligenceListen & Act!

• Everyone loves that if you have a great IP

• Easier to retarget your audience

#5: KindnessSequels & Spin-offs

• Transferring the progress should be easy!

• New & alternative platforms

• Localizations & new regions

#6: Sloth: Cross-platform, multi-platform

An afterthought…?6 mobile games came to Facebook from mobile

Questions?

Anatoly RopotovCEO, Game Insight

@tolik | fb.com/ropotov