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Next Phase of Casual Games: How to Make the Free-to-Play Model Work for You

Next Phase of Casual Games: How to Make the Free-to-Play Model Work for You. Austin GDC September, 2009. First: What is Gaia?. Gaia Online. #1 time spent site in social media Average 51 minutes per visit ( Hitwise ) Over 8 million monthly unique visitors

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Next Phase of Casual Games: How to Make the Free-to-Play Model Work for You

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  1. Next Phase of Casual Games:How to Make the Free-to-Play Model Work for You Austin GDCSeptember, 2009

  2. First: What is Gaia? Confidential – Do Not Distribute

  3. Gaia Online • #1 time spent site in social media • Average 51 minutes per visit (Hitwise) • Over 8 million monthly unique visitors • Over 100,000 peak simultaneous users every afternoon • #2 forum on the Internet • More than 1.75 billion posts • #2 art community on the Internet • Growing fast  The fastest growing online hangout for people in their teens and 20s

  4. Gaians At a Glance Demographics • 83% U.S. and Canada • 62%/38% Female/Male • 90% 13-24 years old • Median age: 18 Audience Profile • Creative • Early Adopters & Social Influencers of: games, movies, fashion, music.

  5. Gaians Love Gaiaonline Source: Hitwise Average time per visit, April 2009 Confidential – Do Not Distribute

  6. Company awards Overall Winner Always On AO100: 2007* Top Social/Community Site c|net Webware 100: 2007, 2008** 50 Best WebsitesTime Magazine, 2008*** * Top private company ** Best Web 2.0 application: top vote getter social/community category *** Rated #2 overall among the top 50 by poll of TIME consumers Recognized as a top website Confidential – Do Not Distribute

  7. The Social Mall Online Games Entertainment Social Networks Virtual Worlds Communication Messaging / Communication AIM Fantasy Real World Confidential – Do Not Distribute

  8. Gaia is a social platform

  9. Identity and Social Interaction Tools

  10. Tools to Measure One’s Success Social Economic Physical

  11. Gaia is a Social Platform

  12. A Look at the Games Category

  13. Games Category Gaia Pinball

  14. Games Category Integrated 3rd Party Games Community Avatar Chat

  15. Games Category UGC Game

  16. A Look at the Art Category

  17. Art Category Gaia Content

  18. Art Category 3rd Party Art

  19. Art Category User Generated Content

  20. And now back to our topic… The Ultimate Goal Be both accessible and engaging! Many sites are accessible, but don’t retain users long-term due to lack of quality entertainment Many MMOs are engaging, but too hard for users to try (downloads, up-front costs, etc)

  21. The Three Key Lessons Make it fun for everyone! But focus on your niche first! Get users to want to buy! Make buying easy!

  22. Make it Fun For Everyone!

  23. Identify a Niche and Own It • You can’t design a single set of features to satisfy every user, so don’t try • Start out by nailing a particular niche • Get the “core” right before taking on more tasks • If you satisfy your niche well, then your reputation will blossom, word of mouth increases, and you can branch out Make it Fun for Everyone!

  24. Gaia Example • Gaia started as an anime lover’s forum site • Its audience grew as people that loved anime told their friends about it

  25. Gaia Example (cont’d) • Our niche has widened as we gained users • The process is continuous rather than rapid • Grown over five years of time

  26. Keep Your Audience Involved Twitter Feed Live News Articles • Keep your audience involved with internal marketing for both present and future features • Players want to be excited…so make it happen • Schedule of events to keep players looking forward

  27. Keeping the Users Involved • Talk to them! Give them what they want! • Bite-sized content • Faster rewards, smaller commitments ( <=15 min instead of 2+ hrs) • Give them a “20-ring circus” • Different things appeal to different people • No single thing appeals to everyone • Always something new • Constantly evolve, refine and add

  28. Keeping the Users Involved (cont’d) • Avoid the temptation to make traditional “core-gaming” entertainment • You don’t really have the budget or desire • Focus on 80’s arcade model…not the more current “summer blockbuster” mentality • Revolve other features around your “core gameplay”…don’t settle for just the core • Many flavors for many player types: • Collectibles, Gathering/Crafting, Social Community (forums/networking), Social Gaming, Combat (both PvE and PvP), Mini-games, etc.

  29. TIME “A kind of Internet carnival, Gaia Online combines chat, games, discussion forums and a virtual world to make it the most popular teen hangout on the Web. Discussion forums are the heart and soul of Gaia and get half a million posts each day. Users can upload artwork for others to rate, or inhabit an avatar to navigate Gaia's virtual world, which is free to use. Gaians can earn gold to bling out their avatars, simply by playing games, posting messages and clicking through the site.” —Anita Hamilton * Rated #2 overall among the top 50 by poll of TIME consumers 50 Best Websites 2008 * Confidential – Do Not Distribute

  30. Gaians are Passionate about Gaia

  31. Get Them to Stick and You Win Engaged players check in… But they don’t check out! The more entertained they are, the longer they stay The longer they stay, the more likely they are to buy something Once they have invested both time *and* money in your site, they last a long time Cultivate,nurture, and entertain your users

  32. Get Users to Want to Buy!

  33. 90%+ Won’t Buy • Accept it! Most users won’t buy from you! • But those that won’t buy are still critical to your business • They keep the community alive and exciting for those that will buy • Build things that entertain everyone and then enable ways for “buyers” to participate or get ahead via purchases

  34. What Do They Buy? Anything that promotes self-expression Anything that promotes a sense of belonging to the community or friends Anything that lets users get to an end-goal faster

  35. How Does Community Affect Buying? • Community provides venues by which players can show off to one another, where earned or purchased abilities/items can be displayed • Forums • Profiles • Guilds • Marketplace, and trading support • Games • Flash environments • User-created content

  36. Are Items Entertaining? • Item types are a form of entertainment:  decorative, functional and/or collectibles. • But they are only one ring in your “20-ring circus” • Don’t get sucked into them as your sole focus

  37. Make BUYING Easy!

  38. Utilize EVERY Payment Option • Mobile payments • Game cards • Credit cards • Cash • Heck…let them pay with chickens if you can figure out how…every user is different in what works for them

  39. Summary Recap • Make it fun for everyone! • But focus on your niche first! • Get users to want to buy! • Make buying easy! • Customers win, you win, everyone wins!

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