While there are many metrics for developers to track, retention remains key.
If you can't retain a reasonable percentage of the players who start playing your game, you have a fundamental problem.
Assuming that players are enjoying and sticking with your game, however, increasing your retention rate over standard periods such as 1, 7 and 30 days should be your next goal.
By reducing gameplay obstacles and/or providing more rewards, an increasing retention rate provides a strong basis for the viral distribution of your games, as well as growing revenue - the bottomline for any serious business.
Higher level power
Such moves should be carried out on a per game basis, but how you release your game can also have a significant impact on retention.
As argued by Eyal Rabinovich, VP of marketing at Israeli Android gaming platform MoMinis, integrating your game with a platform such as its PlayScape can provide a strong uplift in retention beyond any internal changes you make in your game.
"They are typically two type of games with different retention rates," he explains.
"You have single player games like Angry Birds, which have a low churn rate and are played in few, long sessions, while social games have a massive initial churn rate - very low retention - and then are characterised by frequent, short sessions."
So big it's mega
A platform like PlayScape enables the first type of game to gain the benefits of the second type, as PlayScape includes social features such as challenges and leaderboards, and experience points and a virtual currency that are shared across all games.
It has over 6 millions monthly active users, and with new games being released on PlayScape on a weekly basis - currently most are arcade-style games - players are always coming back to see what's new; providing an opportunity for re-engagement.
"We describe this as being a mega-game. It's play within a bigger environment that has a retention rate more like a news or communication app," Rabinovich says.
He says games on PlayScape have an average session length of over 30 minutes, compared to a typical session of four to eight minutes in the rest of the industry.
The right size
Of course, MoMinis is not the only company offering such opportunities. PlayScape is most similar to DeNA's Mobage platform, while the likes of GREE offer a more open, if less integrated gaming platform.
Both of these are focused on hardcore social games though.
So, as a start up - even if a relatively well-funded one - MoMinins can't compete with the scale of its billionaire-dollar Japanese rivals. But Rabinovich argues its smaller size provides more opportunities for the small indie studios who find it hard to gain the attention of the big boys.
"We're different because we provide an end-to-end platform," he says. "It's development tools, data analytics and distribution. And we're more than an SDK. We work closely with developers to ensure that everyone understands best practice on PlayScape."
It's going to be building out that experience too, with five games offering deeper experiences in genres such as puzzle and action due to be released during February. The company is also looking to add competitive and co-operative multiplayer features.
You can find out more about MoMinis, its development tools and PlayScape platform via its website.
Interview
Contributing Editor
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
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