Pocket Gamer.Biz Mobile Games Developer Survey
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MOBILE GAMES DEVELOPER TRENDS SURVEY Spring 2018 The Pocket Gamer.biz Mobile Games Developer Trends Survey IN ASSOCIATION WITH FOREWORD INTRODUCTION 2018 In Mobile Games While it’s always been a massive success for and Google’s ARCore and now Google Maps. King for years, in 2017 the title has actually Indeed, with titles like Next Games’ The been performing as well as it ever has in many Walking Dead: Our World, Ludia’s Jurassic markets thanks to a renewed focus on serving World Alive and Niantic’s Harry Potter: Wizards up live events and regular fresh content. Unite on the horizon for 2018, it’s no surprise It’s a sign that the industry is moving away that 43 per cent of survey respondents think AR Craig Chapple from just the headline-grabbing high download is the hottest trend right now. Senior Editor, PocketGamer.biz numbers, and really doubling down on Real-time competitive multiplayer games (as engagement and retention – thus leading to show by those hit titles from Asia we Now that spring is here, the year is already monetisation and a growing sector by revenue. shaping up to be another hugely exciting one mentioned earlier) was also seen by 41 per cent It’s arguably an effective way to combat what’s of respondents as a big industry trend. in the ever-growing mobile games industry. long been a cited as a major challenge in our According to a new report by market data trend surveys: rising user acquisition costs. Other notable trends developers cited were influencer marketing (35%), people watching firm App Annie and intelligence company IDC, But that’s just what we’ve noticed – what do mobile games spending was one-third higher games on platforms such as Twitch (32%) and developers think are the biggest opportunities the growth of emerging markets like Brazil, than the combined total of console, PC/Mac in the mobile games market right now? and handheld in 2017. Russia, India and China (31%). To learn more about the challenges and It’s a staggering statistic that shows the opportunities in the sector, we surveyed 250 THE THREATS sector has outgrown other platforms in a industry professionals for our Mobile Games It’s not all sunshine and rainbows (though relatively short amount of time. And it’s Developer Trends Survey in association with things do look good). There are major showing no signs of slowing. The Specialist Works, and asked them about challenges that developers are facing. Recent smash hits like Lineage 2: Revolution, what excites them most in the space, and the The biggest threat developers cited is the Lineage M and Arena of Valor (Honor of Kings) key challenges that lie ahead. sheer amount of competition and number of have taken the headlines for generating releases (66%). While Apple and Google are THE OPPORTUNITIES hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. taking strides to increase discoverability on their But perhaps one of the most interesting trends There are a plethora of other key trends marketplaces, the thousands of releases each is the growing sophistication of live operations. taking place though, making it a hugely day can make it tough to stand out, particularly Take Candy Crush Saga as an example. exciting time for mobile. There’s of course with developers on small marketing budgets. augmented reality, powered by Apple’s ARKit SPRING • 2018 The Pocket Gamer.biz Mobile Games Developer Trends Survey in association with 2 FOREWORD Rising user acquisition costs was also a available budget (49%), for there to be lower major concern (59%) – perhaps campaign costs (38%), and have more time compounding the problems mentioned and resources (32%). above. Then to complete the trifecta here – rising costs (46%) was also seen as a key OUTLOOK FOR 2018 problem for developers. Despite some big challenges facing the mobile games industry, the raft of OFFLINE MARKETING opportunities opening up in the market mean Especially for this survey, we asked about TV there’s an overwhelmingly positive outlook advertising and the opportunities for for the next 12 months. Almost 75 per cent of developers there and whether it’s seen as a respondents had a positive or very positive good avenue for marketing in the face of outlook, while 15 per cent had a neutral one, rising costs on other channels. and seven per cent weren’t sure. Offline channels such as TV, radio, outdoor You can find out more information about advertising, cinema and printed were rarely the hottest trends right now in the mobile used, with between two per cent and four games sector by reading this survey. per cent of our respondents doing so on a Don’t forget to visit PocketGamer.biz to regularly basis. Many also said they were keep up with the latest breaking news, unlikely to do so in future. reports and analysis of the global mobile CONTENTS Understanding of offline marketing sector. Be sure to also check out our channels however was reported as low to new sites InfluencerUpdate.biz, all Foreword by The Specialist Works p4 reasonable. Just 17 per cent had a good about the world of influencers, and understanding of planning, 14 per cent had a BlockchainGamer.biz, about, you guessed it, Demographics p5 good understanding of buying, and 13 per blockchain technology’s impact on gaming. Products & Budgets p11 cent a good understanding of the potential Are our websites not enough? Keep an eye results that can be achieved. out for our Pocket Gamer Connects The Mobile Game Industry p19 The most common reason for not using Conferences. They take place in San offline channels was the lack of budget, Francisco (May 14th and 15th, 2018), Helsinki The Future Of The Mobile Games Industry p25 while other major factors included prohibitive (September 11th and 12th, 2018) and London costs compared to other channels, lack of (January 21st and 22nd, 2019). Here you’ll get Offline Media Channels p29 the ability to track and optimise ads, and lack to network with other industry professionals, of time and resources. learn from the experts, and discover how to Industry Events p35 take advantage of all the latest industry For offline marketing to be appealing, PocketGamer.biz contacts p37 respondents said they would need a higher trends. Head to www.pgconnects.com for more details. SPRING • 2018 The Pocket Gamer.biz Mobile Games Developer Trends Survey in association with 3 FOREWORD FOREWORD by globally consistent world of mobile marketing, This halo effect is one that now keeps TV as an and the TV landscape and process differs integral part of marketing campaigns run by substantially market to market. many mobile publishers. Almost half of the respondents stated that And as you’ll know the mobile gaming they would be prepared to consider using TV to industry is extremely competitive. Sixty-six per promote their mobile game if they could cent of respondents said it was the biggest effectively track, analyse and optimise TV threat in the industry. Competition combined spend. Essentially what half of the respondents with rising UA costs, rising development costs Richard Downey were implying was if TV could be run in a way and ad fraud means it’s no longer enough to Global New Business Director more consistent with digital campaigns then just focus on getting new players. they’d be more inclined to use it. It’s always an interesting conversation when But things have moved forward significantly. “…there will always be talking to a mobile first games publisher or Offline analytics and agility have now been marketer about using offline channels to combined in a way that complements and an element of branding promote their game. People are often amazed synchronises with mobile marketing rather than that anyone would invest their hard-won trying to replace it. This now solves the that comes from TV” marketing budget into channels widely challenges and concerns that mobile companies deemed to be un-trackable, un-optimisable have about the transparency of TV, making it Mobile gaming companies need to get more and old fashioned. easier for them to take the leap into the world players and then keep them playing for weeks… Partnering with Pocket Gamer for this of offline. It has meant that dozens of leading months… years. industry survey has meant this issue can be mobile publishers have now run successful and This is also reflected in future KPI setting. explored further. And the results are striking! scalable international TV campaigns. Respondents said they were now considering Yes, it’s clear there’s still scepticism about using Of course, there will always be an element of KPI’s such as lifetime value, retention rate, TV to promote mobile games, with respondents branding that comes from TV. Gabe Leydon, re-engagement and churn rate. A stark contrast preferring the tried and tested mobile channels. CEO of Machine Zone famously said that ‘You to recent times when the focus was all on CPI. Over two-thirds of the respondents said they are not a brand until you are on TV’. The major TV can play a vital part in helping keep your didn’t have a good understanding of TV part of that interview revolved around the fact mobile game at the forefront of your customers planning or buying. This is entirely that Machine Zone see large improvements in mind for longer. understandable as their area of expertise is the their digital activity when they are live on TV. It’s exciting times ahead… Game on! SPRING • 2018 The Pocket Gamer.biz Mobile Games Developer Trends Survey in association with 4 DEMOGRAPHICS Your company and how it works SPRING • 2018 The Pocket Gamer.biz Mobile Games Developer Trends Survey in association with 5 DEMOGRAPHICS TEAM SIZE RESPONSES 1 1000+ 1 13.1% 2-5 21.3% 201-999 6-10 9.0% 11-30 16.4% 101-200 1 31-50 7.0% 2-5 How many 51-100 7.8% people work in 101-200 7.8% 51-100 your company/ organisation? 201-999 8.2% 1000+ 9.4% 31-50 6-10 By far the biggest group in our survey had between just 2 and 5 team members – a clear sign that small indies are continuing to thrive in 11-30 the mobile gaming sector.