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#Case study
How Voodoo identifies hundreds of hit titles with GameAnalytics
Topping the charts Speaking at Casual Connect Europe in London, CEO Alexandre Yazdi said that Voodoo was on track to reach 6 billion downloads for its games in 2022. In fact, as of 2020, Voodoo games have now been downloaded more than 1 billion times. “The Voodoo process is less of a secret and more of a mindset, a way of working.” Alexandre Yazdi, Voodoo CEO Where it all began Voodoo started as a small team developing and releasing their own creations, and they weren’t immediately successful. What initially began as a failed attempt to bring the titles Bool and Quiz Run to market set in motion an epic journey as a publisher focusing on honing game retention, UA, and monetization optimization. The first chart-topper of Voodoo as a publisher was Paper.io, which became their first major hit back in...
#Game Deconstructions
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite – How Gameplay And Features Compare To Competition
Editor’s Note: this post was originally published by Erno Kiiski, Chief Game Analyst – US at GameRefinery. In his job, he’s played and analyzed hundreds of titles on a feature level, giving him a strong sense of the current western mobile game market. So, without further ado, we’ll let him take the lead. The AR/Location-based game market was pretty much born with the release of PokĂ©mon GO back in the summer of 2016. Some games had made use of the technology before, but everything jumped to a whole new level when everyone across the world was chasing PokĂ©mons. It was a phenomenon with visibility unmatched by any other mobile game thus far. Now GameRefinery has a follow up from Niantic in the form of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. But how does it fit in with Niantics own PokĂ©mon GO and...
#Game Mechanics
Using Music As A Core Mechanic: Insights from Amanotes
Just like gaming, music in itself is its own career and specialty. And unless you’ve studied both gaming and music in your life, then combining the two together can be seen as a massive challenge. So for this post, we’ve spoken to music gaming industry specialists, Amanotes, about the key steps and top tips developers should know when making their own music games. (This will be the first of a series – watch this space for our next blog on music in gaming). If you want to skip to a specific section, feel free to do so here: Why use music as a core mechanic? Different ways you can use music as a core mechanic Things to keep in mind when making your game Useful resources Now that introductions are out the way, we’ll let Amanotes take the mic. Why...
#Game Deconstructions
Prototype Phases For A Hit Casual Game – Purple Diver
Here at Voodoo Games we recently launched Purple Diver, which we developed with Viatcheslav Tarasov (the developer behind Ragdoll Archer, Truck Traffic Control, and Snake Loves numbers). And we’re pleased to say it quickly jumped to the top of the charts, now having around 15M downloads worldwide. So in this post, we’re going to talk you through how the game came into being and what we learned from making it. (If you’re new to hyper-casual games, make sure to check out our 3 snackability tips for making hit games). Why we love Purple Diver For us, one of the best things about Purple Diver is its monetization potential – in a game like this we can show a lot of ads. We know this can be irritating for some players, but we think the nature of the game and the...
#Game Deconstructions
Top 5 Indie Games Released in July
Last month was one of the biggest months this year for indie gaming releases on all platforms. With the larger AAA titles coming out towards the end of 2019, July was prime time for indie game launches. It’s been an absolute joy to play all of these games. But for this post, I’ve cherry-picked my top 5 favorite indie games released in July, and gone into detail about exactly why they’re so special. We have puzzle platformers, cute rhythm games, stunning exploration games, and more to share with you. So without further ado, let’s dig in. 1. Total Party Kill Developer: Jussi Simpanen Launch date: July 3rd, 2019 Price: Free, with in-app purchases Available on: iOS, Android, PC In short, Total Party Kill is a puzzle platformer that gives you three different characters to control. A swordsman that can hit...
#Ads & Monetization
How Esports Can Help Your Mobile Game Make Money
This post was originally written by Brian Mahoney, Director of Game Design at Skillz. You can read it here. Picture this – your mobile game is doing well. You have really high player engagement, and your retention is looking strong. All in all, your game is bringing in a steady stream of money, so you’re happy. However, you start to see a drop in your acquisition strategy. And on top of that, you need to keep making iterations and changes to your game to avoid losing your most highly-engaged players (the ones who expect more and more content). So, what do you do? This scenario is all too familiar amongst some of the mid-to-larger sized gaming studios. One of the biggest challenges developers face today (which I’m sure all of you can agree with) is competing in a market where...
#Guides
A Game Developer’s Guide To Google Stadia
Google has recently dropped some new juicy info. We now know a little bit more about what this platform will bring to the world of gaming. So in this blog post, we try our best to answer some of those all-important questions: Does Stadia have what it takes to really shake up the gaming industry? What do we know so far? And what does this mean for mobile game developers? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-BbW6zAjL0 So, what do we know so far? Since March 2019 (when they first announced Google Stadia), a lot of us have been left in the dark into what is to come with this new service. Thankfully, there’s been a few updates since: Google Stadia will only be available on the Google Pixel Sorry Apple (and pretty much every other mobile provider), but Google has announced that they plan on...
#Marketing & Publishing
How To Position Your Game to Social Media Influencers (Part One)
Influencers are increasingly holding sway over the performance of titles on any given week, and players these days can’t get enough of their zany content. And it’s not surprising that titles like Apex Legends and Brawl Stars owe a large part of their appeal to well-executed influencer strategies. With that in mind, how can developers not only find social media influencers, but also position their game so they’ll be lining up to review it? So in this post, influencer-experts, Matchmade, let you in on some of the best-kept secrets in how to entice influencers (especially the ones on YouTube and Twitch) to help you make a success of your new release. First things first – the fundamentals Before you start reaching out to influencers, we recommend you to hash out your expectations and goals for your influencer marketing strategy. Having...
#ASO
Finding Our Hyper-Casual Niche – Lessons From Platonic Games
In June 2019, GameAnalytics hosted a mobile gaming event to talk about casual gaming, which we called ‘The Arcade (R)Evolution: Making Hit Casual Games‘. Valeria Castro of Platonic games somewhat stole the show with her presentation – speaking with wit and passion about how to find a niche in the world of hyper-casual gaming. If you couldn’t make our last event, don’t worry. Here’s Valeria to fill you in on what you missed (and here’s the video of her talk): We’re Platonic Games – a 10-person dev team from Madrid. You might know us if you’ve ever played Kawaii Kitchen, Happy Hop or Sailor Cats. As you can probably guess from those titles, we make super-cute, hyper-casual games. And there’s one question we get asked a lot. Can we actually compete against the big developers? In reality, no. We can’t....
#Game Deconstructions
PvP Modes in Casual Games – Disney, Harry Potter, Board Kings & Love Nikki
Editor’s Note: this post was originally published by Wilhelm Voutilainen, Senior Game Analyst at GameRefinery. As a Senior Analyst, Wilhelm knows the ins and outs of game feature data in western markets, specifically on PvP games. PvP is often the key feature that defines mid-core games. For example, in shooters, RPGs, and strategy games, one of the most addictive elements is built around the possibility to show off who has the best aim, most cunning strategies, and strongest characters. But when you think about casual games, PvP is probably not the first feature that comes to mind. Considering this traditional view, could PvP be effectively implemented into lighter games such as casual Match3s, adventure, and customization games? In this blog post, our friends at GameRefinery take a closer look at PvP-mode examples in casual games of various types to shed more...
#Marketing & Publishing
Hyper-casual in a Hyper-competitive Market – Voodoo
In this talk, our audience learned just what exactly is Voodoo’s development approach, what their publishing agreement is, and what metrics they care about. You’ll learn from start to finish, the journey of a viral hit (looking specifically at AquaPark). If you fancy watching the other talks from this event, you can find them here: How We Found A Hyper-Casual Niche – Platonic Games The Latest Trends for Hyper-Casual Games – GameAnalytics
#ASO
How We Found A Hyper-Casual Niche – Platonic Games
During this event, Valeria from Platonic Games took to the stage, and showed us just how exactly her small-time studio tackled the competitive market by finding their niche in Kawaii mobile games. If you fancy watching the other talks from this event, you can find them here: The Latest Trends for Hyper-Casual Games – GameAnalytics Hyper-casual in a Hyper-competitive Market – Voodoo
#Data & Analytics
The Latest Trends for Hyper-Casual Games – GameAnalytics
Using data from our portfolio of 74,000+ mobile games, we kicked off our event with an industry update and shared the freshest insights and KPIs for the hyper-casual category (as well as news about our upcoming features). If you fancy watching the other talks from this event, you can find them here: How We Found A Hyper-Casual Niche – Platonic Games Hyper-casual in a Hyper-competitive Market – Voodoo
#Editor's pick
Game data pipeline: Building vs buying
As a large number of studios, publishers, and game developers are heavily relying on data to guide their decisions, they need to decide between building or buying. But which one is more efficient? To assist you in understanding the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), we broke down the following key considerations: Setup requirements Cost calculation Team needs and recruitment
#Editor's pick
Mobile gaming benchmarks for Q1 2024
Uncover the industry’s performance with Q1 2024 benchmarks. Explore key metrics like retention rates and session engagement to benchmark your games against industry standards. What’s inside? Retention benchmarks for casual, classic, and mid-core games Session length benchmarks for games launched in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Session count benchmarks across 15 game genres
#Editor's pick
Grow your revenue with Xsolla Web Shop for Mobile Games
“Xsolla anticipated this seismic shift earlier this year, when we launched multiple products that are being actively used by some of the world’s largest game companies to increase profit and build closer relationships with their mobile and pc players. We’ve now combined these products and learnings into an elegant new solution called Xsolla Web Shop for Mobile Games,” said Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla. Through Xsolla Web Shop for Mobile Games, developers can expect significant revenue growth and can reach new players in new geographies previously unavailable to them. This solution solves many challenges developers face; such as discoverability, declining profit margins, lack of control over the user experience, access to localized payment methods, cross game marketing, more efficient user acquisition, effective collaboration with creators and influencers, and much more. Three industry-changing announcements make this opportunity more timely than ever:...
#Editor's pick
2023 Roblox report: Behind the data with GameAnalytics
Download a comprehensive report of Roblox player behavior and game performance based on GameAnalytics data from 2023. This report highlights critical benchmarks and insights to help Roblox creators optimize their games. What’s inside? Devices analysis Players’ daily session frequency Average revenue spent per user Session length and count benchmarks Retention benchmarks Revenue benchmarks
#Editor's pick
The Game Developer’s Handbook to Mastering Data Solutions
Data is the key to success in the ever-evolving landscape of game development. Explore this guide to transform your data into insights using our turn-key data solutions. What’s inside? Our comprehensive guide explores cost-saving strategies and real-world applications for advanced use cases. Learn how to seamlessly integrate data sources, unlock detailed player insights with Player Warehouse, access real-time data with Raw Export, and ensure data privacy compliance.
#Case study
Developing a #1 VR MMO: Ramen VR’s Journey with GameAnalytics
Discover how Ramen VR used data-driven game development to launch "Zenith: The Last City", which became the #1 bestselling game all major VR platforms—including Meta Quest/Rift, Steam and PlayStation VR.
#Editor's pick
Using AI to Supercharge Your Game Art Design
Discover how tweaking AI tool settings can help you generate varied art styles, produce better concepts, and speed up the process from prototype to final design. With AI on your team, creating unique game art has never been easier or faster.
#Editor's pick
Event Design & Tracking Guide for GameAnalytics
Learn how to create an adaptable tracking plan, enabling you to unlock richer insights and maximize the value of your data within GameAnalytics.
#Editor's pick
How studios use DataSuite to find hit games
Learn how successful publishers evaluate hundreds of games per month, to find the next hit game.
#Editor's pick
Among Us VR dev talks about how to create immersive worlds
VR is all about immersion. It’s about allowing players to lose themselves in more than just a game, but a new world. You have to build VR experiences the right way to make this happen. This goal is always top-of-mind for Schell Games. In this interview, we spoke to Schell Games’ Vice President of Product, Charlie Amis, to learn their story. “For VR, you want to make the player feel like they’re actually in the world you’ve created. This isn’t as true or a high priority in PC and console games. If people start to lose that sense of presence and immersion, then a lot of the reason they put the headset on is hurt. They want to go to another world or be someone new. So you need to help them feel like they’re really there and really that...
#Editor's pick
GameAnalytics H1 Update: New Product Improvements!
It’s been a busy time since February, when the largest update in GameAnalytics history was launched. Read on for more information about what’s changed recently, and new functionality coming to the platform very soon.
#Case study
How TapNation uses DataSuite to increase the LTV of 19 hit games by 50% in only 6 months
Smashing obstacles with Giant Rush While they’ve seen huge improvements using DataSuite across their portfolio, one game stands out in particular: Giant Rush. (And not just because the character is huge.) The title has now reached over 140 million downloads. And, through a series of A/B tests and insights from the data they collected, they’ve been able to increase the LTV by a whopping 200% over six months for this specific title. “It’s because we A/B test every day,” Philippe Grazina from TapNation says. “We ask questions like: When are players leaving the game? For example, the boss in Giant Rush. If we spot that they’re leaving at the same point every time, we know we need to make a change. Small details like that really help.” Through these granular insights, TapNation can iterate and improve on their game step...
#Editor's pick
How to Build a Data Warehouse for Games from Scratch
Over our last couple of blogs around data warehouses, we’ve explained how they let you analyze data from across your portfolio and look at what insights you can gather from them. Now, we’ll dive into how to build a data warehouse. What steps do you need to take and what resources will you need? To figure this out, we’ve rounded up the costs, steps, and tools we think you’ll need to get started. Please note, that we haven’t included the cost of running an engineering department (which you’ll need), which can end up being a lot of $$$. What do I need to get started? Before you start, you’ll need to ensure you have the right people. You’ll likely need a software or data engineer, and perhaps an architect or DevOps engineer. You’ll also need to budget for tools like...