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F2P the Wrong Way: Age of Empires Online [email protected] GDC 2013
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F2P the Wrong Way: Age of Empires Online

Feb 25, 2016

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Page 1: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

F2P the Wrong Way: Age of Empires Online

[email protected]

GDC 2013

Page 2: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

OverviewIn this session, we will discuss the story of Age of Empires Online, an MMORTS that launched as an okay game but with a bad F2P business model. We’ll identify the problems with the initial model, detail the proper fixes, and then show how we applied them to a live game.

Business model and design changes Population growth strategies Results of all the above

Page 3: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

The BeginningAge of Empires Online (AOEO) launched in August 2011.

TimelineDaily Active Users

Daily Reven

ue August 2011 ~100

k~$85

k October 2011 ~25k ~$9k December 2011

~15k ~$3k

Why?

Page 4: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

The BeginningAge of Empires Online (AOEO) launched in August 2011.

AOEO launched with: Insufficient Content and Missing Features

Causing Daily Active Users decline Poor Business Model

Causing Revenues decline

And therefore acquired: Small Poorly Monetized Player Base

Page 5: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

The BeginningInsufficient Content and Missing Features

Only two civilizations and one booster Perceived as much less content than previous Age titles Significant changes in design intent not understood by franchise fans

No skirmish mode Very popular low time commitment mode Does not depend on new content to drive repeat play

Level and gear-based PVP Hated by competitive PVP core gamers who prefer pure skill-based matches Small in number, but loud influencers

Slow Leveling Curve Annoyed players Forced repeat of already limited content

NO SOFT LAUNCH FOR

BRANDED GAME

Page 6: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

The BeginningPoor Business Model

High Price Point $20 per civ, $10 per booster Required expensive minimum commitment

Capped Spending Opportunity Max spend at launch: $50 ($75 with limited vanity items) Revenue of F2P games dependent on players who spend more than others

Biggest Problem

Page 7: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

The BeginningIn Summary:

We built the core of a good game. But didn’t finish it before launch. And built a business model predicated only on the sale of very

expensive, slow to create content, set at a high price.

All these things were fixable, but needed time. The game is live. All our fixes have to be done in the public eye.

Fixes beginDecember

2011

Page 8: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

The Fixes

Problem Fix ResultsLimited ContentNo SkirmishGear-based PVPGrindy GameplayHigh Price PointLimited SpendingSmall Player Base

Page 9: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

The Fixes

Problem Fix ResultsLimited ContentNo SkirmishGear-based PVPGrindy GameplayHigh Price Point Lower Price

PointRevenue same; half price, twice sales

Limited SpendingSmall Player Base

Easy

Probably a mistake

Page 10: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

The Fixes

Problem Fix ResultsLimited Content

Two New Civs Sales and DAU spike

No Skirmish Skirmish Mode Released free, positive reviewsGear-based PVP

New PVP Mode Released free, positive reviews

Grindy Gameplay

XP Overhaul Released free, positive reviews

High Price Point Lower Price Point

Revenue same; half price, twice sales

Limited SpendingSmall Player Base

Steam Launch Tripled DAU, revenue spike

Community Overhaul

Doubled base and engagement

Easy Medium

Page 11: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

The Fixes

Problem Fix ResultsLimited Content

Two New Civs Sales and DAU spike

No Skirmish Skirmish Mode Released free, positive reviewsGear-based PVP

New PVP Mode Released free, positive reviews

Grindy Gameplay

XP Overhaul Released free, positive reviews

High Price Point Lower Price Point

Revenue same; half price, twice sales

Limited Spending

ECON OVERHAUL JUNE 2012

Small Player Base

Steam Launch Tripled DAU, revenue spike

Community Overhaul

Doubled base and engagement

Easy

Medium

Hard

Biggest opportunity

Page 12: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

The FixesThe business model had to fundamentally change.

DAU is driven by major expensive content releases We cannot create civs fast enough to sustain the business

Small but dedicated player base Increasing monetization WITHOUT alienation

Economy Overhaul inSummer Update:

June 14 2012

Page 13: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Monetization ChangesBefore June 2012:

Limited PDLC Purchasable through G4WL or Steam Sharply limited amounts

Item Price

# Total

Premium Civ

$10 3 $30

Pro Civ $10 1 $10Boosters $5 2 $10City Vanity $5 5 $25

$75 Max

On Steam for $16 or $30

Page 14: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Monetization ChangesAfter June 2012:

UNLIMITED purchases

Item Price # Cost CeilingCivs $10 4 $40 $40Boosters $5 2 $10 $10City Vanity varies 50 ~ $.40 ea ~ $20 per civUnit Vanity varies 39 ~ $.30 ea $1-$100 per civCity Consumables

varies 6 ~ $.50 ea Unlimited

Mission Consumables

varies 6 ~ $1.50 ea UnlimitedNo

Max

NEW

Page 15: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Monetization ChangesThis was a much bigger change than just adding more items into the store.

We moved the game onto an Internal Currency Model, where players purchase content with Empire Points. Empire Points are earned through normal play, or can be bought to speed progressions.

This converted AOEO into a true free-to-play game, where players choose whether to spend time or money on content.

Page 16: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Monetization ChangesTrue Free-to-Play model gave us many wins.

Good press story, positive coverage (PC Gamer from 65 to 90)

Great community reaction, sparking additional word-of-mouth A larger player base overall

Using internal currency gave us a significant win as well.

Vastly simplified store operations One set of currency offers per store All other store changes handled in-game Allows agility at the team level without Live/Steam

dependencies

Page 17: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Initial ResultsSummer Update went live on June 14, 2012.

After the first month:

Page 18: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Initial Sales

3/31/2012

4/3/2012

4/6/2012

4/9/2012

4/12/2012

4/15/2012

4/18/2012

4/21/2012

4/24/2012

4/27/2012

4/30/2012

5/3/2012

5/6/2012

5/9/2012

5/12/2012

5/15/2012

5/18/2012

5/21/2012

5/24/2012

5/27/2012

5/30/2012

6/2/2012

6/5/2012

6/8/2012

6/11/2012

6/14/2012

6/17/2012

6/20/2012

6/23/2012

6/26/2012

6/29/2012

7/2/2012

7/5/2012

7/8/2012

7/11/2012

7/14/2012

$0.00

$5,000.00

$10,000.00

$15,000.00

$20,000.00

$25,000.00

$30,000.00

$35,000.00

STEA

M S

ALES

First 5 weeks of new model = Previous 15 weeks of old model

Same player baseTRIPLE REVENUE

Page 19: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Internal Economy

6/14/2012

6/25/2012

7/6/2

012

7/17/2

012

7/28/2012

8/8/2

012

8/19/2012

8/30/2

012

9/10/2

012

9/21/2

012

10/2/2012

10/13/2

012

10/24/2

012

11/4/2

012

11/15/2

012

11/26/2

012

12/7/2

012

12/18/2

012

12/29/2

012

1/9/2013

1/20/2

013

1/31/2013

2/11/2013

2/22/2

013

3/5/2013

3/16/2

0130

1000000

2000000

3000000

4000000

5000000

6000000

EP BoughtEP EarnedEP Spent

55% bought ratio --- 3% surplus

Page 20: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Internal Economy

38% of EP purchases to categories that did not exist before

Category EP Spent Percent

Civilizations 49612500 45%

Booster (Features) 17768250 16%

Consumable 23319455 21%

Vanity Gear 10075919 9%

Warehouse 6264225 6%

Vanity Blueprint 2290594 2%

Grand Total 109330943

NEW

Page 21: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Design ChangesDesign changes were occurring along the way as well.

We did not design to monetize. We designed to ENGAGE. Engaged players spend more time with the game. They then spend more money naturally.

We did not design to force players to do things. We provided additional rewards to promote behavior that increased engagement.

Alliances to promote end-game engagements Milestones to promote multiple civilization purchase PVP focus features to promote PVP play Feature-level conveniences to reduce annoyances

Empire Vault But base given free

Page 22: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Overview Business model and design changes Population growth strategies Results of the above

Page 23: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Population

GROWTH

Two complementary strategies to population management.

Requires:• Marketing Spend• PR Traction• Discoverability

Requires:• Content Releases• Polish and QoL• Engagement

MAINTENANCE

Launch = HIGH Launch = Very Low

After = ZERO Therefore…

Page 24: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar2011 2012 2013

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

Daily Active Users

Population

13% MAU rise on econ shift, but did not stay

Page 25: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

CommunityIn a Game as a Service, Community is as important as Operations. Without Community management, players do not come to or stay with the game.

AOEO Community Management has taken an innovative approach to increasing engagement, as well as focusing on outreach to make up for the lack of marketing commitment.

Page 26: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

CommunityWhy is all this important?

A highly engaged community is much more monetizable. Since we have limited access to new customers (poor discoverability) and cannot communicate well with our current customers (GFWL policies), we must engage them with community tactics.

This has a proven effect on revenue and DAU.

Page 27: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

CommunityForums are an incredibly important tool for the AOEO Community. Due to GFWL privacy issues, we cannot directly email our customers.

We generate key information in blogs and aggressively drive traffic back to the forums. Approximately 10% of the user base regularly uses the forums, which is 5-10% higher than industry standards.Facebook traffic was initially a result of people interested in AOEO. Now we use Facebook to drive people to AOEO.

Page 28: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

After the FixSo we fixed the business model, revamped the design, and kept string community involvement.

So what happened next?

Page 29: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar2011 2012 2013

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

Daily Active Users

Population

New civ released. No effect on population. Sales, but no player spike.

Page 30: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

The Most Important SlideNew content didn’t move the needle. Not anymore.

Existing players wanted deeper features and more expensive content, and the same content wouldn't bring new people.

BUSINESS MODEL PRODUCTION MODEL ! =

The production model was unsupportable, no matter how good the business model.

The content was too expensive to create.

Page 31: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar2011 2012 2013

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

Daily Active Users

Population

Population steady state.

Page 32: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Overview Business model and design changes Population growth strategies Results of the above

Page 33: F2P the Wrong Way:  Age of Empires Online

Final WordWe have known for a while that disastrous technical launches were recoverable (sometimes). We’ve also seen several games change business models entirely, with mixed results.

Age of Empires Online proved that it is possible to pivot within a business model fluidly and while keeping the game open and alive.

Keeping the players engaged is the key to any successful game as a service.

You cannot be afraid to change if the outcome is better for the players.

[email protected]