To self-publish or not to self-publish, that is the question. The mobile F2P space is more competitive than ever. Millions of existing apps already in the app stores, thousands of new games launching each week and the costs of user acquisition keeps increasing. Should developers partner with a publisher or launch the game on their own? This presentation will explore the case of self-publishing versus working with a publisher. We will explore the pros and cons for each one, questions the developer should be asking themselves and their potential publishing partner. Moreover, it will cover best practices for self-publishing, common mistakes to avoid to maximize your success. This will include best practices for improving retention, IAP monetization, ad monetization and virality.

1. TO SELF-PUBLISH OR NOT TO SELF-PUBLISH?
AN INDIE SURVIVAL GUIDE TO SELF-PUBLISHING IN THE MOBILE F2P WORLD
David P. Chiu
DC Games Consulting LLC
SF Game Dev Meetup

2. WHO AM I?
DC Games Consulting LLC
• ~15 years in games industry
• Intel in Gaming Developer Relations & Business Development, US Gaming Marketing &
Campaign Strategy
• Head of Business Development and Developer Relations at Kongregate
• Vice President of R2 Games USA
• Worked on hit games such as Clicker Heroes, Politicats, Game of Thrones Ascent
• Currently Senior Creator Relations Lead at Manticore Games
& Founder of DC Games Consulting LLC

3. MOBILE LANDSCAPE
DC Games Consulting LLC

4. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE IN MOBILE GAMES
DC Games Consulting LLC
• F2P is the dominant business model
• Usually only 1 paid game in the iOS Top 150 Grossing
• Incumbents tend to dominate the charts
• Mobile marketplace mature and saturated
• Much more hit-driven

5. • Minor feature: 10k to 100k+ installs
• Medium feature: 100k-300k+ installs
• Major feature: 300k to 1M+ installs
***For F2P games, not
paid
APP STORE FEATURES ARE INCREDIBLY POWERFUL

6. # of Apps 3.10M
Approx. # of apps each week ~3k-9k
# of Games 780k
Approx. # of games each week ~1k-3k
Promo slots of new games 15-20
APP STORE FEATURES ARE HARD TO GET
DC Games Consulting LLC

7. SELF-PUBLISH VS. PUBLISHER?
DC Games Consulting LLC

8. • Publishers can help by allowing you to focus on the game development while they handle publishing
• Publishers can provide the following:
• Marketing creatives (icon, screenshots, ads, videos, keywords and do A/B tests)
• User acquisition
• App store relations and featuring
• PR and media outreach
• F2P expertise and analytics
• Customer service and community management
• Functional QA Testing
• Localization and localization QA
• Development funding or royalty advances
• Marketing guarantees
• IP licensing
IS A PUBLISHER RIGHT FOR ME?
DC Games Consulting LLC

9. Evaluate the publisher:
• Are goals and interests aligned?
• Putting some skin behind the game?
• Potential for long term partnership?
• Track record of success?
• Repeat deals with developers?
• Who will be working on your game?
• 1st party and 3rd party games?
• Audience and portfolio fit?
IS A PUBLISHER RIGHT FOR ME?
DC Games Consulting LLC

10. Evaluate your game and team:
• Goals for the game and studio?
• Does your team understand F2P?
• Do you have the key talent for a F2P game dev and UA?
• Do you have enough capital for dev and UA?
• Do you plan on doing UA for your game?
SELF-PUBLISH?
DC Games Consulting LLC

11. SELF-PUBLISHING VS. PUBLISHER
Self-Publishing Publisher
Pros ⮚ 100% net revenue and control
⮚ Complements or augments your
capabilities/ resources
Cons ⮚ Need appropriate team/ resources
⮚ Revenue share
⮚ More chefs in the kitchen
DC Games Consulting LLC

12. SELF-PUBLISHING BEST PRACTICES
DC Games Consulting LLC

13. SOFT LAUNCH
DC Games Consulting LLC
Choose soft launch countries and roll-out schedule
1. Southeast Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, etc)
• Cheap CPIs ($0.20-$1) 🡪 can get large # of installs quickly
• Stability and compatibility testing
• Not for A/B testing or estimating metrics
2. Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, etc)
• Player resemble US/CA/AUS players
• Relatively lower CPI
• A/B test features
• A/B test marketing/ app store creatives
3. Canada, Australia and New Zealand
• Resemble US players the most
• Expensive CPIs

14. SOFT LAUNCH CHECKLIST
DC Games Consulting LLC
• A/B test and optimize in-game features and tutorial/ FTUE
• Test in-game analytics and app attribution platforms
• A/B test marketing creatives
• A/B test app store page:
• Icon
• App Name
• Subtitle
• Video(s)
• Screenshots
• Copy
• App icons and app store pages can have a huge impact on downloads!

15. BEST PRACTICES FOR IMPROVING RETENTION
DC Games Consulting LLC

16. IMPROVING RETENTION
Early retention:
• Daily log-in rewards
• Quest system
• Appointment Mechanic
• Daily Events/ Challenges

17. DAILY REWARDS/ DAILY QUESTS
• Daily (chance for) reward for logging into game
• Increasing rewards each day
• Resets if player misses a day
• Biggest prize is usually hard currency

18. QUEST SYSTEMS
• Provides player guidance without a
boring tutorial
• Nudge them towards desired behaviors
• Reward with hard currency or item(s)
• Typically 3 quests at a time

19. • Get players to come back to the game regularly to check-in, engage, watch ads, etc.
• Free Chest, Mini-Game, Spin + Retrigger Ad Bonus/Awards
APPOINTMENT MECHANIC

20. NOTIFICATIONS
• Don’t ask to opt in at app
launch
• Ask later in the first or second
session of the game
• Tie to appointment mechanic
• Offer an incentive to do so
• Free chest every 4 hours
• Spin prize wheel every 4 hours

21. IMPROVING RETENTION
Mid and Late Stage Retention:
• Achievements with rewards
• Multiplayer features (PvP, co-op, clans, clan battles, clan
perks, chat)
• Leaderboards (single player, PvP, event-based)
• Limited Time Events
• Seasonal Events
• Features and items specifically geared towards elder players
that are unlocked later on

22. LIMITED TIME EVENTS IN ADCAP INCREASES
IAP AND AD MONETIZATION
Source: Kongregate, AdVenture
Capitalist

23. LEADERBOARDS AND EVENTS
• In addition to Event Loot Boxes, Office Space also has an Event Corp Leaderboard with tiered prizes
• Drives engagement, competition and purchasing

24. BEST PRACTICES FOR IMPROVING MONETIZATION
DC Games Consulting LLC

25. SHOP UI
• Have all hard currency packages visible in one screen
• Easier for comparing packages
• Clearly call out bonuses for bigger packages
• Call out Most Popular and Best Deal packages

26. SHOP UI
• Midcore/hardcore games have more complex economies
• Breakdown shop into separate screens
• Separate screens for each currency, bundles, consumables, etc.

27. MINIMIZE FRICTION → INCREASE CONVERSION AND ARPPU

28. MONETIZATION:
SHOP TUTORIAL
• Seed players with some hard currency at the
beginning
• Lead them to the shop
• Guide them thru a “free” introductory purchase
• Player gets a taste of the benefits of buying (like free
samples at Costco)

29. 1) Hard currency unlocked 2) Show players where they can spend them
Almost a Hero

30. 3) Introduce to shop with free introductory purchase
Almost a Hero

31. INCREASE BUYER CONVERSION WITH FIRST TIME BUYER BUNDLES
• Encourage player to make first purchase with a very attractive offer
Item or bonus for first purchaseOne-time first time buyer bundle

32. A/B TEST!
▪ During soft launch, conduct A/B tests
to determine:
▪ Shop UI
▪ Optimal pricing tiers
▪ First Time Buyer Packages and
Time Limited/ Event Bundles
▪ When to introduce
▪ Placement
▪ Price
▪ What’s in the bundle
▪ Expiration

33. GAMIFYING THE BUYING EXPERIENCE
• With a Chinese MMO-style Buyers VIP system
• Players earn points for spending within the game
• Which can unlock tiers with different rewards or perks
• Modelled after airlines, hotel and casino VIP systems
• Risk: may make you look greedy and the game P2W
• This is more for games with deep, complex economies

34. AD MONETIZATION
DC Games Consulting LLC
• Ads offer an opportunity to monetize the ~95% of players that will never buy
• Add rewarded video to increase your LTV
• Not disruptive and player choose to engage for rewards
• Good for high retaining casual games with low monetization
• Rewarded videos can generate 50-70%+ for some top grossing games (esp. idle clickers)
• Integrate mediation platform and multiple ad networks

35. QUESTIONS?
DC Games Consulting LLC
David P. Chiu
DC Games Consulting LLC
david.p.chiu@gmail.com

36. https://www.manticoregames.com/careers/
● Backend & Core Engineers
● Head of Analytics
● Head of Go To Market
● Director of Marketing & Branding
● Software Engineer
● Product Manager
● Head of Live Ops
● Senior Digital Content Producer
● Tech Evangelist
● Tech Writer
● And many other roles in Analytics, Art, Creator Relations, Engineering, Marketing and Production!