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GDCE 2012: PVP is the best way to monetise users says Game Insight's Darya Trushkina

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GDCE 2012: PVP is the best way to monetise users says Game Insight's Darya Trushkina
As some smart commentators (ahem) have recently pointed out that the Player Versus Player mechanic is becoming increasingly popular in the mobile-social space.

Russian publisher Game Insight is best known for its casual games, especially on Android.

However, despite the success of its games such as free-to-play hidden object game Mystery Mansion (which has generated over $1 million), it's betting big on PVP.

Its big hope is cross-platform free-to-play MMORPG Dragon Eternity, which is currently in closed beta on the web, and will also be supported with native iOS and Android releases.

Talking up the subject was Darya Trushkina, the company's VP business development during her GDC Europe talk - 'Cross-platform mobile game development: What, Why and How Much'.

All in

"User experience is the basis of your future revenue," Trushkina explained, why Game Insight has taken two years and had around 100 developers working on the title.

"The ARPU for PVP is much higher than casual games. PVP is the best way to monetise users, and MMORPGs are the best way to deliver PVP," she added.

Yet while Game Insight says it's seeing "amazing numbers" from the closed beta, it's still unsure whether the game will perform globally at the level it hopes.

"Retention rates are unbelievable. The active user base is amazing. But these games are very expensive. We could have made 10 casual games for this budget," Trushkina said.
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.