Localization Challenges in Jawaker

Dubai World Game Summit30 Nov 2010

Fouad MardiniCo-founder/Developer

Social Card Gaming

Targeting MENA

Statistics

400,000+ Users

Statistics

~2,000 Concurrent Players at Peak

Statistics

12,000,000 Hands Played a Month

“Name of the Game”

Jawaker is the Arabic plural of Joker

Not this Joker

But rather this Joker

Don’t judge a book by its cover

– American Proverb

Nissan Moco

Spanish speaking world

Jawaker’s Premium Membership Branding

Flirted with many names

(Gold, Plus, etc...)

Jawaker Basha

Product Perception

Competitions very popular especially during Ramadan

Users LOVE the idea

Even organizing and managing their own through Facebook

kingoftrx Facebook Page !"#$%

Product Monetization

Virtual Goods

Falafel

Arageel

Mint Tea

In addition to Ramadan only goods (Ataief, etc.)

Unique Advertising Model

Zain Campaign5% CTR

Google Chrome Campaign (CPA)

Campaign Renewed

Payment Headaches

Reluctance to use credit cards

Payments through SMSBig Hassle

Bad Cash Flow

Western Union Money Transfer

Product Relevance

Localized Game Rules

Street Rules

Employee dedicated to getting rules

Suit Names

Customized Audio Content

Other Challenges

Players easily offended verbally

Contact Info Requests to “Deal with

them”

Chat Filtration and Banning Players

Zero Tolerance

Technical Issues

Arabic RTL

Android still messes it up

Thank You