"Why your players hate your web store"

• Miikka Luotio spoke at PGC Helsinki 2024 about potential barriers for players on web stores.
• He highlighted common mistakes and suggested improvements to a player's web store experience.

"What is the player journey for a web store? Some people might think, just go to a web store and buy stuff. But it’s actually four different steps," said Appcharge VP of business development in Europe Miikka Luotio.

He spoke on stage during Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2024 to explore the four stages of this player journey and how to help ease the experience from login to checkout, convincing players to "hate your web stores less".

Speaking with more than 20 years’ experience in the games industry - having started his career in the sector at Digital Chocolate in Helsinki - Luotio defined the four steps of a player’s journey with a web store as login, personalisation, DTC metagame, and checkout.

He suggested those struggling to get players to complete a web store purchase may have a "broken” step.

An easy experience

Luotio called web stores "a new paradigm" that players aren’t entirely used to. The initial hurdles are helping a player to log in and convincing them that the effort will be worthwhile, despite the fact that they may become frustrated at having to find their user ID or other information first.

"Many players don’t even know that they have such a thing," said Luotio. He explained that often, the next step is telling players to go back to the game, where they must go through various menus to find their user ID which then needs to be pasted into the web store to log in.

"It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to say that’s going to churn out most of your players even before they get to buy anything," he added. "In the case of a web store, you need to log in to be able to buy in the first place."

Luotio suggested that most authentications are like this for web stores, meaning there is "clearly" room to improve.

He used Supercell as an example of a superior model, with players creating one account that then applies across multiple games.

The next potentially "broken" step is the personalised view: what players see when they enter the store. If offers look boring, don’t have clear added value, or aren’t in the user’s currency, they may be put off. Furthermore, high-spending players presented with small, basic purchase offers won’t be interested.

"This is something that, when done right, we’ve seen as much as a 20% revenue increase with some of our partners, so it’s by far the most impactful feature. Yet, at its best, it feels invisible to the player."

Luotio went on to discuss the direct-to-consumer metagame, how web stores should be an "extension of the fun your players are having in your game" with clear goals and challenges. Lastly, he explored the importance of offering a payment method players are already comfortable with at checkout.

PGC Helsinki will return on October 7th and October 8th, 2025. To be involved in the conversation and network with other industry professionals, you can register for the show here.