Last year was challenging for mobile, seeing significant changes across the industry. However, some were able to adapt and went out to launch successful titles or continue to support a long running game through the storm. We've already explored one game that managed to beat the odds, Solitaire Grand Harvest. Now we take a deep dive into the continued success of Jackpot Party Casino.
Founder of Gradient Universe Games analytics consultancy, Oxana Fomina, takes us through what makes SciPlay’s Jackpot Party Casino one of the highest grossing games on the app store and breaks down its secrets.
SciPlay experienced significant revenue growth in both Q4 and the entire year of 2022, with a remarkable 18% increase in the fourth quarter and an impressive 11% increase for the entire year. This success was partly due to the outstanding performance of the game Jackpot Party Casino, which achieved its second consecutive quarterly record revenue in Q4 of 2022.
Jackpot Party Casino was released in December 2012. According to AppMagic, the game has been downloaded over 30M times and has generated over 1 billion US dollars in revenue. Cumulative RpD (revenue per download) over a lifetime is $35.47 US.
Jackpot Party Casino is home to over 200 recreations of Vegas slots, featuring popular games from Scientific Games' Bally and WMS studios such as Zeus II, Invaders from the Planet Moolah, Gorilla Chief 2, Lock It Link, Bier Haus 200, and Buffalo Spirit. As one of the highest grossing apps in the App Store and Google Play, with nearly one million daily active players, Jackpot Party Casion combines innovative gaming technology and jaw-dropping game design which we take apart below.
And SciPlay has made significant strides in improving the game experience for its Jackpot Party Casino players. In 2022, they introduced an innovative new task system in various game events, contributing to the game's phenomenal revenue growth.
Currently, the game has more than 50 events and offers of various types. In 2022, 21 events were introduced into the game, and since the beginning of 2023, nine events have been introduced. This shows a game team that's actively experimenting to increase engagement and improve monetisation.
Below are two schedules for the Jackpot Party event calendar (between January and March and between November and January 2023).
Calendar of Jackpot Party events from January to March 2022. Source: Playliner
Calendar of Jackpot Party events from January to March 2022. Source: Playliner
Let’s dive deep into finding out exactly how the live ops strategy was changed and the implementation of which events affected the game’s income and user engagement.
Stimulation of user activity
The game has the mechanics of getting involved in the main events through participation in related events. These events were built so that completing tasks in one event led to a doubling of the reward in another. In addition, at some events, super prizes were raffled among players who fulfilled specific requirements.
Let's take the Earn Double event as our example. For the duration of the event, the player will receive two times more premium currency and points for the Honey Pass event for completing Extra Credits tasks. To access Extra Credits, the player must first complete all the Honey-do List daily tasks in the game.
Implementation of task events
Implementation of task events. To enhance the players' engagement, three events with tasks were introduced in the game in 2022, allowing players to receive prizes upon completion. Tasks in these events involve users in various features and motivate them to perform various actions in the game, contributing to the user's retention and monetisation.
Example: The Task Event. Here the player needs to complete tasks to receive rewards. Tasks are related to game activities and appear in order. Each task has a reward, the player only knows in advance the reward for completing the first task. Depending on the event version, the design, conditions, tasks to complete, and reward may change.
Honey Pass seasonal event optimisation
The event was divided into two parts for 14 days, and the player must pay for each part separately. The cost of the event has increased from $4.99 to $9.99. Thus, the player must pay $19.98 per month if they want to receive rewards in the Honey Pass during the month instead of $4.99 as it was before. Moreover, in March 2023, a new type of paid season pass at $49.99, was introduced into the game.
These events increased player engagement and motivation to return to the game every day, thereby improving retention rates, but also motivated players to play at high bets, ultimately leading to an increase in game revenue. Including events with a super prize increased the excitement and involvement of players, further boosting engagement and monetisation. Finally, the daily task mechanism, implemented through various events and reinforced, played a crucial role in the game's revenue growth, as well as the overall success of the game.
The mechanics of daily quests, implemented through various events, play a decisive role in the growth of the game's revenue. These challenges guide players through their daily gameplay plan and create triggers for engagement, retention, and monetisation. They also help to form the habit of returning to the game by using various functions and participating in activities.
Below is a list of guidelines to help you create a task system in your game.
- Create a list of tasks that involve the player in various features and events of the game.
- Include monetisation tasks to identify which player actions drive the game's revenue and make sure you have call-to-action for them in the list of your daily tasks. For example, add tasks such as spinning 100 times with the highest bets, making a purchase, etc.
- Update the list of tasks daily to provide a sense of new experiences and incentivize players to return daily.
- Divide tasks into stages to enhance player engagement and motivation, consider breaking tasks into stages that appeal to different types of players. Designate a minimum number of daily tasks that, once completed, unlock access to particular tasks and a bigger prize. These special tasks can add variety to gameplay and incentivize the most active players to spend more time, boosters, and in-game currency.
- Reward the player for each completed task, this will motivate the player to take action. A prize for completing several tasks will help increase the session's length and the player's involvement.
- Add delayed rewards that players can use in the future to increase retention.
- Provide additional short-term and long-term goals through events with tasks. Add events with tasks for which players will have a different amount of time. This will allow you to build a plan of action for the player and improve your engagement and retention strategy. Ensure that his daily contribution to the game counts as a contribution to long-term events.
Edited by Paige Cook
About Oxana Fomina
Oxana Fomina is the founder of Gradient Universe, a games analytics consultancy. Since 2017, the company has helped game developers improve game profitability through live ops strategy optimization. Oxana is a mobile gaming industry speaker and writer. She is a creator of a unique strategic game analytics focused on improving engagement, retention, and monetization. The system considers psycho-social behavior patterns and games economics for ROI and LTV optimization. Over a decade experience in the industry allows her to support top developers and foresee trends and new strategies to achieve high results.
