This talk is from the event 'The Arcade (R)Evolution: Making Hit Casual Games with a Focus on Hyper-Casual'. To see more details about our events, follow us on Meetup here:
https://www.meetup.com/mobilegamesdev/
About this talk:
In this talk, our audience learned just what exactly is Voodoo’s development approach, what their publishing agreement is, what metrics they care about, and the journey of a viral hit (looking specifically at AquaPark).
2. Our Approach
● Long-term, close partnerships
● Fail Fast, refine wisely
● Lead the market & set trends
● Innovate to stay ahead
V
V
V
V
3. Development
Period
Launch
Game
Confirmation
+$20k + $180k + > $800k on average
- D1: > 45%
- D7: > 17%
- CPI < $0.25
Break-even
2M to 6M downloads*: + $40k per M downloads
6M to 10M downloads*: + $50k per M downloads
10M+ downloads*: + $60k per M downloads
Confirmation
Period Performance Payments
Payouts
Conditions
2 months max.Variable
duration
Uncapped
Submit
Prototype
*: IOS US, UK, Japan and China
+ Android US, UK and Japan
The Publishing Agreement
On top of that, we contribute in the ideation process of studios in order to help them get better at doing games. On a platform we have build, you’ll find Open source knowledge with everything we have gathered on games for years now.
You’ll find video tutorials
and regular live streams in which you can ask any question
Our way of working is tailored made because every studio has different needs. On our platform, you’ll find open source knowledge but it will also allow you to test any propotype you have:
Many studios have access to our platform, for free, and can test an unlimited amount of prototypes. We will take care of the campaign, pay for the acquisition and send you feedback on how to improve if it doesnt reach the KPIs we are looking for.
40/10 <50c
Our entire process is completely data driven for a reason people who have been on that market know well: you want to know if you are going into the right direction with your game and if you are working on something that can be big. If not, it’s a waste of time. That is why, we test our games very early in the development process to see if it’s worth investing more time into or if it’s just better to move to the next idea.
V1: 35/13 @ 80 cents
2-3 day sprints work best
By doing large sprints, you’re gambling with a studio’s time
Ideation phase:Basic rules: Mass Market is a huge focus for us. Puzzle game help us add depth later in the development phase
Paper.io
Crowd City
Dune
2048Bubble
Helix Jump
Dunk Hit
Hole.io
Twisty Road!
Splashy
Fight List
Donuts Drift
Balls VS Blocks
Flappy Dunk
IOs are challenging (eg Beads.io)THey are tough to launch because have complex gameplays
A bit like puzzle games, you need that hypercasual relatable core mechanic before thinking about the gameplay
But they can go viral
Paper.io
Crowd City
Dune
2048Bubble
Helix Jump
Dunk Hit
Hole.io
Twisty Road!
Splashy
Fight List
We always do random brainstormings with kids, with guys older than us, with girls and so on. and we always get lots of unfiltered ideas from them because you know people dont know what we are looking for. We just ask them what game would they like to play on phone. and so we got the idea about the water slides during one of those brainstormings.
Started as initial discussion was with Hugo - studio wanted to design an interactive io waterslide game. Hugo backed it and gave reference of Waterslide 3D VR, an Android game
Forgiving/Fun
Satisfying jumps, more depth
Hack is encouraged more
CPI ability to project yourself more onto the game