In a session at the Social Games & Virtual Goods Forum 2103 in London, Wooga's Sebastian Kriese has explained how the company handled its pivot from social to mobile games development.
The core of his presentation was a five-point list of best practices for those looking to make a move onto mobile.
Top of the list was the importance of attaining a "native feel" in any mobile game.
Wooga has flirted with HTML5 for previous releases, but Kriese claimed that the web technology doesn't currently allow the developer to attain that all-important feel.
Access all areas
Kriese's next piece of advice was that developers should make it easy to access their games. A player should be able to start a session with just one tap, ideally, and studios should ruthlessly cut out unnecessary obstacles to play.
Point three was the importance of social play. Diamond Dash makes use of Facebook Connect, and Kriese explained that 64 percent of users log in in this way.
These players are eight times more likely to spend in-game and have an average session length that's twice that of regular players.
In all, 1.9 million players come to Diamond Dash from Facebook each month. So although the majority of Wooga staff now work on mobile development, the Social Network remains deeply important to the company.
Build a bunch of times
Kriese also advised that developers optimise their games for tablets. "It's not develop once, distribute anywhere," he stressed. "That just doesn't work."
Instead, Wooga's approach to carefully tailor its games for the platform. Diamond Dash, for instance, has a web version, a smartphone version, and two different tablet versions one for seven-inch tablets, and one for larger slates.
Finally, Kriese emphasised the importance of treating games as a service, particularly on mobile.
This continued focus on launched products is great for players, but it has palpable benefits to developers too. For instance, post-launch monetisation tweaks have significantly improved Diamond Dash's revenue.
Top Stories
Feature
Apr 24th, 2024
48 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, CSR 3, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Feature
Apr 24th, 2024
Mobile Mavens: Analysts share insights on Embracer Group's "rapid dissolution", "mature" split and nervy future
Events
App Promotion Summit London | Europe | Apr 25th |
Esports Future Summit | Middle East | Apr 27th |
Dubai GameExpo Summit 2024 | Middle East | May 1st |
The MENA Games Industry Awards 2024 | Middle East | May 2nd |
GameDev Atlantic 2024 | May 4th | |
Mobidictum Meetup Berlin May 2024 | Europe | May 7th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Israel Mobile Summit 2024 | Middle East | Jun 6th |
Popular Stories
News
Apr 23rd, 2024
Supercell’s Squad Busters soft launches today with over 100,000 Google Play downloads
Feature
Apr 24th, 2024