There are plenty of panels with plenty of unfiltered industry conversations taking place at PGC London 2024, and one among them has focused on the opportunities for better player retention.
New players are hard to come by in the modern mobile gaming landscape, and keeping existing players can be a challenge too.
Mistplay’s Maxim Lapkouski, Crazy Games’ Rafael Morgan, gamesconsulting.net’s Nick Murray, Exmox’s Yoni Nijboer, Gamesight’s Dan Laughlin and Keywords Studios’ Marek Niszkiewicz came together to talk just this, dissecting strategies for retaining players like engaging them on multiple platforms, using social media to connect with players, and utilising a web store to offer better deals while dodging Apple and Google’s app store fees.
Ultimately, this discussion navigated "the kinds of tools and platforms that you can use outside of your games to improve player retention".
The power of contact
The panel first noted that retention rates for mobile gamers acquired through Meta were down last year, but players acquired through TikTok have surprisingly strong retention. Players found via Reddit ads are also more likely to stay, and is in fact a "star" of retention for RPGs in particular.
The conversation then progressed to keeping a user once they’ve installed a game, as it should be cheaper and easier to keep an existing player than to find a new one. "A user that doesn’t really like to play your game won’t stick around for 30 or 40 days," warned Nijboer.
Conversely, those who form a habit of playing a game, and who are rewarded for playing and "getting past a particular sticking point" are much more likely to stay.
"Nurturing a community" is important too, noted Niszkiewicz. He highlighted the importance of being "where the potential players are", be that Reddit, Discord, or anywhere else. "Reach out proactively and build a relationship with players," he advised. "If you know you have a high-value player in your game, you need to find a way to retain them. Beyond just user acquisition, think about how you can reach out to that user."
One of Niszkiewicz’s most striking suggestions was "actually calling your players", which can be offered via a popup in-game that players can agree to. "When players actually engage with you, they are more likely to stay… You want to make sure they have an easy way to contact you."
Morgan then spoke on the power of crossplay, and how "merging players together from PC, mobile and now web leads to a more vibrant community".
"A lot of people who play a game first touch it through a mobile UA campaign," added Laughlin, noting that most players "get a taste" of a new game on mobile first, with the hardcore fans on PC often having started out on mobile.
There’s a lot more still to discover from PGC London 2024, with talks and conversations ongoing through January 22 and 23. Find out more about what's on and how you can be part of it here.
