Erik Råmark HEROES OF WARLAND-BATTLE PASS SEASON 3 Database Implementation Thesis Bachelor of Engineering in Information Technology Game Programming 202 1 Tutkintonimike Insinööri (AMK) Tekijä/Tekijät Erik Råmark Työn nimi Heroes of Warland-battle pass 3. kauden ohjelmointi tietokantaan Toimeksiantaja Nitro Games Oyj Vuosi 2021 Sivut 40 sivua Työn ohjaaja(t) Niina Mässeli TIIVISTELMÄ Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli ohjelmoida Heroes of Warland-mobiilipelin battle pass -ominaisuuteen uusi kausi. Peliin oli tarkoitus luoda ilmainen ja premium- versio battle pass -kaudesta erilaisilla palkinnoilla. Kehitystyötä edeltävä teo- reettinen viitekehys rakennettiin tutkimalla projektin kannalta tärkeitä aiheita. Opinnäytteen teoriaosuuteen hankittu aineisto yhdistelee kvantitatiivista ja kvalitatiivista tutkimusta. Teoriaosuus käsittelee muun muassa mobiilipelien syntyä ja nykytilaa, battle pass -käsitettä, tietokantoja ja kehitystyön työkaluja. Kehitystyön työskentelyn metodina toimi ketterä iteratiivinen ohjelmistokehitys, joka koostui enimmäkseen JSON-tietokantaohjelmoinnista ja pelitestauksesta. JSON-dokumentit lisättiin Nitro Gamesin kehitystietokantaan Heroes of War- land -pelille. Kehitystyön lopullisena tuotteena syntyi pelattava uusi kausi Heroes of War- land -pelin battle pass -ominaisuuteen. Nitro Gamesin henkilöstö oli ohjelmoi- nut pelin ja battle passin front end -puolen. Kehitystyö mahdollisti toisten ohjel- moijien kopioida kolmanen batte pass -kauden pelin kehitysversiosta live -ver- sioon. Lopuksi premium battle pass -tuotteen pystyi ostamaan pelin sisällä iOS App Store- ja Google Play -palveluiden kautta. Asiasanat: mobiilisovellukset, peliohjelmointi, JSON, tietokannat, MongoDB Degree Bachelor of Engineering Author (authors) Erik Råmark Thesis title Heroes of Warland-battle pass season 3 database implementation Commissioned by Nitro Games Oyj Time 2021 Pages 40 pages Supervisor Niina Mässeli ABSTRACT The objective of the thesis was to implement a new season for the battle pass feature of the mobile game Heroes of Warland. The purpose was to create free and premium versions of the battle pass season with different rewards. The thesis utilized both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The theoretical framework primarily consisted of examining the emergence and current state of mobile games, the battle pass concept, databases, and tools used in the development of online video games. In this study, the develop- ment method was agile iterative software development, consisting mostly of JSON database programming and game testing. The JSON documents were inserted into the development database of Heroes of Warland made by Nitro Games. The final product of this thesis study was a playable new season for the He- roes of Warland-battle pass. The front end of the game and battle pass had been programmed by Nitro Games staff, and the outcome of this study al- lowed other programmers to copy season 3 from the development version to the live version of the game. Also, it made the premium battle pass available for in-game purchase through iOS App Store and Google Play services. Keywords: mobile apps, game programming, JSON, databases, MongoDB CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Nitro Games Oyj ..................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Heroes of Warland .................................................................................................. 7 1.3 The battle pass ....................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Thesis motive.......................................................................................................... 9 2 MOBILE GAMES ........................................................................................................ 10 2.1 A brief history ........................................................................................................ 11 2.1.1 Roots of mobile entertainment ........................................................................ 11 2.1.2 First mobile games ......................................................................................... 12 2.1.3 Digital era ........................................................................................................ 13 2.2 Mobile games today .............................................................................................. 13 2.2.1 Types of monetization ..................................................................................... 14 2.2.2 Mobile gaming statistics .................................................................................. 15 2.3 Battle passes ........................................................................................................ 16 2.3.1 Shifting F2P monetization ............................................................................... 17 2.3.2 Birth of the battle pass .................................................................................... 18 2.3.3 Reasons behind success ................................................................................ 18 3 DATABASES .............................................................................................................. 19 3.1 Definition of a database ........................................................................................ 20 3.2 Short history.......................................................................................................... 20 3.3 Implementation tools ............................................................................................. 20 3.3.1 JSON .............................................................................................................. 21 3.3.2 Robo 3T .......................................................................................................... 22 3.3.3 MongoDB ........................................................................................................ 23 4 DEVELOPMENT WORK ............................................................................................ 26 4.1 Preparation ........................................................................................................... 27 4.2 Design .................................................................................................................. 28 4.3 Programming ........................................................................................................ 29 4.4 Testing .................................................................................................................. 30 5 CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................... 33 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 35 FIGURES ........................................................................................................................... 39 ABBREVIATIONS App Application BSON Binary JSON DBMS Database management system F2P Free-to-play GUI Graphical user interface IAP In-app purchase JSON JavaScript Object Notation 7 1 INTRODUCTION This thesis begins with introductions of Nitro Games and Heroes of Warland, then continues to study the theoretical framework of mobile games, battle passes, databases, and the tools used in online game development. Finally, the theoretical framework is followed by a description of the actual workflow of the development performed in this thesis study, accompanied by conclusions. The objective was to implement a new battle pass season in a development database for Nitro Games’ mobile game Heroes of Warland. 1.1 Nitro Games Oyj Nitro Games Oyj is a Finnish game developer and publisher focused on free- to-play (F2P) mobile games. The company specializes in the shooter game category and aims to produce high production value mobile games for mid- core audience (Nitro Games 2021). Founded in 2007 in Kotka, Finland, the company initially made PC strategy games such as East India Company, Commander: Conquest of the Americas and Pirates of Black Cove. The com- pany also developed the Windows version of the action-adventure game Alan Wake in collaboration with Remedy Entertainment in 2011 (Yin-Poole 2012). Nitro Games began producing mobile games in 2013 and has since released titles such as Raids of Glory, Medals of War and Heroes of Warland. The new- est addition to the mobile game family is the early access game Lootland. Ni- tro Games was listed in Nasdaq Stockholm First North stock market in 2017 (Nasdaq 2017). Presently the company has offices in Kotka and Helsinki and is working on multiple titles in collaboration with other companies including Hasbro and Snap (Nitro Games 2020; Nitro Games 2021). 1.2 Heroes of Warland Heroes of Warland was announced in 2018 and soft-launched later that year. It is a competitive team-based multiplayer game for mobile devices (Riis 2018). According to Nitro Games’ website (2020), Heroes of Warland is “[The] most epic party shooter game on mobile”. The game is played online and the 8 player is one of the six heroes in a team, trying to score more points than a ri- valling team by killing opponents during a match. Players can team-up with their friends or play with random players through matchmaking. The game can be played from first- or third-person camera, and it allows players to move, aim,