The mobile gaming industry has long been a way for companies to make money off of its users. The emergence of real money gaming allows the players the opportunity to get in on the money making through skilled and/or chance based games. This week on Mastering Retention, Tom speaks with Priyank Badkul (VP of Products and Monetization at Tripledot Studios) about the emerging trends and technology behind real money gaming. Here are your cheat codes: - 0:33 How did Priyank get into the video game ind...
Feb 03, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Well designed features within your game can be the difference between an audience rejecting your game and an audience falling in love with your game. Saravanan Sankar (Game Designer at EA) has spent years working on game features and he joins Tom on this week's episode of "Mastering Retention" to share some deep insights on what works and what falls short of being a good feature for your game. Here are your cheat codes: - 00:27 How did Saravanan Sankar get into the video game industry? - 4:45 Le...
Jan 27, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Coming up with a game concept is hard, but creating that game from scratch and seeing it through all the way to global launch is incredibly difficult. Annelie Biernat (Game Director at Wooga)has done exactly that. She and her team have taken their game "Switchcraft" all the way to the global launch finish line, and she sits down with Tom to share the wealth of knowledge she has gained from doing it. Here are your cheat codes: - 0:20 How long have they been working on “Switchcraft” - 1:41 How did...
Jan 20, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Data and analytics are incredibly important for the game industry, but understanding and accurately interpreting the data is key to creating and sustaining your game's success. Joni Ruotsalainen (Data Scientist at Metacore) speaks with Tom about his day-to-day role as a data scientist and illustrates how valuable a data scientist can be to any game studio. Here are your cheat codes: - 0:59 How did Joni Ruotsalainen get into the video game industry? - 3:41 How important is it to have a data scien...
Jan 13, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Video games are meant to entertain us, but they also have the incredible power to connect people from all over the world. Wouter Schrijvershof (Live Ops Manager at GamePoint) and his team at GamePoint pride themselves on creating meaningful communities within their games. Schrijvershof tells Tom that GamePoint's bingo has developed such a strong sense of community, that players are hosting games/events specifically to honor online friends that have tragically passed away. Creating that type of c...
Jan 06, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Creating a successful game requires a lot more than a good idea and decent gameplay. It takes a true artist to perfect all the intricacies throughout the menus, marketing materials, and virtual stores. Kristina Miles (Lead UX Designer at Electric Square) is one of those artists. This week on the Mastering Retention Podcast, she sits down with Tom to discuss what all goes into creating a game's design that maximizes player satisfaction. Here are your cheat codes: - 0:51 How did Kristina Miles get...
Dec 30, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 63
In order to effectively advertise your game, you must know your players like the back of your hand. Srikanth Peru (Director of Production & Operations at Bingo Bash) takes Tom inside the world of game operations and illustrates its ever changing nature. Learn some tricks on how to properly identify your target audience! Here are your cheat codes: 1:30 How did Srikanth Peru get into the video game industry? 5:49 Defining LiveOps from a game operations perspective. 7:10 Understanding what a pl...
Dec 23, 2021•49 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Is Blockchain Gaming the next big thing? Khaled Alroumi (Game designer at Illuvium) thinks so! Adopting the Play-To-Earn format, Alroumi and his team are on the verge of creating an open world RPG that exists on Ethereum blockchain. Alroumi joins Tom this week to answer some perplexing questions on blockchain gaming and play-to-earn game economies. Here are your cheat codes: 1:19 How did Khaled Alroumi get into the video game industry? 3:43 How do you make money from “Play-To-Earn”? 9:25 Do Bloc...
Dec 16, 2021•42 min•Season 1Ep. 61
On today's episode of Mastering Retention, Joakim Hoglund (Head of Studio at FunRock) joins Tom to discuss to art of understanding your target audience, localization across cultural boundaries, and so much more! Podcast Highlights Include: 1:29 How did Joakim Hoglund get into the video game industry? 3:54 What titles have you been working on at FunRock studios? 5:38 Catering your game to a specific population 13:04 One Server VS Segmented Servers 15:41 Localization across different cultures, lan...
Dec 09, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 60
On today's episode of Mastering Retention, Mat Baker (Game Design Lead at Trailmix) joins Tom to discuss when to know when to pivot your game's approach, how to do so effectively, and so much more! Here are your cheat codes: 1:18 How did Mat Baker get into the video game industry? 6:38 How did Mat start working for Trailmix and what sort of projects have they been working on? 18:47 How to identify problems in your game? 23:25 What are some indicators that appear when your game isn’t working? 27:...
Dec 02, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 59
On today's episode of Mastering Retention, Varia Vakhreeva (User Acquisitions Manager at Sheepyard) joins Tom to discuss user acquisition at every step of the game creation process and navigates listeners through the complicated world of ads and "creatives". Podcast Highlights Include: - 1:04 How did Varia Vakhreeva get into the video game industry? - 4:53 User Acquisition - 9:27 Finding Your Audience - 12:05 What should UA look like at launch? - 14:56 Promoting your game at soft launch. - 21:31...
Nov 24, 2021•49 min•Season 1Ep. 61
On today's episode of Mastering Retention, Mladen Dulanovic(Game Lead at Nordeus) joins Tom to discuss problem solving at all levels of production, the value of being prepared, and so much more! Here are your cheat codes: - 0:55 How did Mladen Dulanovic get into the video game industry? - 7:03 How to make a successful game? - 11:44 Solving Problems In Your Game. - 20:45 The Practical Phase - 27:01 Pivoting Your Approach - 31:30 The Value of Surveys - 34:27 Preparing For Global Launch - 38:51 Tes...
Nov 18, 2021•49 min•Season 1Ep. 57
On today's episode of Mastering Retention, Chris Hong (Tech Lead at Metacore) joins Tom to discuss the exciting world of LiveOps and the technology and services used in the process. Podcast Highlights Include: - 0:43 How did Chris Hong get into the video game industry? - 9:24 Defining LiveOps - 11:29 Automated LiveOps - 13:35 What efforts go into executing LiveOps - 14:47 Potential LiveOps Errors - 19:36 LiveOps Technology, Features, and Services - 28:54 How should data be used for LiveOps? - 32...
Nov 11, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 56
On today's episode of Mastering Retention, Francesco Fontana (Senior Game Designer at Savage Game Studios) joins Tom to discuss designing a game economy, limited currency, and so much more! Cheat codes: - 1:04 How did Francesco Fontana get started in the gaming industry? - 3:11 Game Economy Design - 6:13 Early Stage Prototype/Soft Launch - 9:15 When should you give up on your game? - 12:24 User Research and Analytic Tools - 17:10 Creating a Shooter Game - 19:51 Building a Game Economy for the Lo...
Nov 04, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 55
On today's episode of Mastering Retention, Rimmy Spanjer (Managing Director of Games Division at Hyper Hippo Entertainment) joins Tom to continue their dive deep into the world of videogame monetization and first time player conversion. - 1:29 Defining First time conversion - 4:50 Differences between first time conversion and subsequent conversion events - 8:06 Optimizing First time conversion for all players. - 13:16 Is is worth while to segment your conversion offers? - 15:33 What percent of p...
Oct 28, 2021•57 min•Season 1Ep. 54
On today's episode of Mastering Retention, Rimmy Spanjer (Managing Director of Games Division at Hyper Hippo Entertainment) joins Tom to dive deep into the world of videogame monetization. - 1:03 How did Rimmy Spanjer get started in the gaming industry? - 4:06 How did Rimmy Spanjer become interested in game economy design? - 6:17 What does “creative director” actually mean? - 8:30 Why is monetization important? - 12:29 The fundamental importance of monetization. - 17:49 Monetization Design - 20:...
Oct 21, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 53
- 1:27 What has Natalie Sieradzki career journey been like? - 4:50 How a UX consultant would go about fixing a game. - 10:08 How to find your peer group. - 13:00 How to figure out what different things different players want. - 16:45 “Magic Moment” - 18:25 How does fantasy play into “scratching” a players “itch” - 22:27 Is there more value in talking with the players who churned apposed to the ones that keep playing? - 28:25 The importance of getting used emails. - 33:34 Push Notifications - 37:...
Oct 14, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Founders of game studios who have "been there and done that" share their top secrets and tricks on how to start your own game studio. ▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬ 00:00 Introductions 12:22 How you became a studio founder? 21:54 Thing that most people don’t realize about starting a studio 29:51 Crucial roles to start a studio 35:37 First hires 39:25 Raising money 46:58 Setting up a studio for a large corporation vs starting as an owner 51:15 How to convince people to join you 53:54 What is good...
Oct 07, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 51
On today's episode of Mastering Retention, David Molnar (Live Ops Manager at Square Enix Montreal) joins Tom to dive deep into the world of Battle Passes and In-App Purchasing, as well as a lengthy discussion on League of Legends. - 1:01 How did David Molnar get into the gaming industry? - 2:15 Did he play League of Legends before working on it? - 6:25 Thoughts on League of Legends coming to Mobile - 8:07 What was his first reaction to playing League for the first time. - 10:52 League of Legends...
Sep 30, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 50
On today's episode of Mastering Retention, Pradeep Gupta (Product & Growth at Gameberry Labs) speaks with Tom about integrating social features into a mobile game and the importance of socializing in videogames. - 1:36 How did Pradeep Gupta get into video games? - 3:38 Why did “Ludo Star” take off? - 10:09 Did “Ludo Star” grow organically? - 13:54 How to balance Monetization and social. - 16:52 Balancing Social and Monetization. - 22:34 What does social LiveOps look like? - 26:37 How to mana...
Sep 23, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 49
- 0:31 How did Ido get into the video game industry? - 4:03 Going from a data-driven company to a fast-paced company? - 6:40 What did Ido’s VP of GameOps role look like at Voodoo? - 10:50 Can liveops can be done in hyper-casual games? - 17:40 How does liveops translate into an ad-based game? - 22:34 Learning from failures - 30:36 How to brainstorm solutions to problems? - 32:59 How to learn from churned players. - 40:35 When to consider killing your game. - 49:56 How to keep more players around ...
Sep 16, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 48
- 1:34 How did Luiz get into the video game industry - 5:38 What is the secret to launching great games? - 8:25 How to know when your game isn’t working? - 14:51 Validating your game’s concept. - 21:02 What to look for during a playtest. - 24:16 Best way to approach a soft launch - 35:42 How to gather realistic data - 39:00 Rules for soft launch. - 41:30 Should you seek advice from people that stopped playing your game? - 47:33 Monetization within a soft launch. - 50:54 How to keep more players ...
Sep 09, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 47
(1:25) How did Aaron Morley get into the gaming industry? (8:01) What does a product manager even do? (12:04) How to intermediate for your monetization team and product team. (17:34) Yearly planning. (21:54) Changing your game once it is established. (29:56) Extinction Mode/rebooting your late game economy. (43:28) Using quantitative and qualitative data to improve live performance. (48:46) How to keep more players around longer.
Sep 02, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 46
- 0:45 How did Mikael Silvennoinen get into the video game industry? - 3:06 How his background as a chef impacts his career in video games. - 5:08 What does he define player experience? - 6:19 How to accommodate all the different things that different players want. - 7:53 Effective ways to communicate with players. - 8:59 The challenge of localization. - 10:20 Communication errors and how to prevent them. - 13:46 Providing a good customer service experiences. - 15:40 Using forums or discord to g...
Aug 26, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 45
- 0:50 How did Alok Kumar get into the gaming industry? - 6:27 Was briefly leaving the gaming industry helpful? - 8:06 How does Alok Kumar approach psychology? - 13:40 The psychological impact on players - 17:35 How does psychology help game design? - 20:11 Intrinsic motivation vs extrinsic motivation. - 29:51 Reinforcement theories in game design. - 33:32 How to keep more players around longer.
Aug 19, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 44
- 1:19 How did Olesja Marjalaakso get into the gaming industry? - 9:56 What has she learned along her way about the gaming industry? - 13:26 What should a co-founding team look like? - 15:47 Deciding what game to build. - 22:08 Testing your game's concept - 28:47 What to do after creating a game concept and nailing down the gameplay. - 35:52 How to keep more players around longer.
Aug 12, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 43
- 1:19 What got Jakub Remiar into video games? - 4:17 Does he utilize his background in psychology when designing a video game? - 7:16 What is the best way to get a game to global launch? - 13:13 When is the best time to do a play test? - 19:50 Is a PNG approach a good way to innovate? - 27:36 When should you start thinking about monetization? - 30:39 Battle Passes - 32:35 Using LiveOps to test your content treadmill during soft launch. - 35:45 Ideal launch timeline. - 38:37 Signs you need to ki...
Aug 04, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 42
On today's episode of Mastering Retention, Peter Pawan (Co-Founder Of Super Huge Studios) talks with Tom about his journey through the video game industry, starting a studio from scratch, and much more! Episode Highlights: - 0:54 What started Peter’s love for video games? - 3:40 Peters outlines his professional journey in the video game industry. - 7:40 What kind of games are you making at Super Huge Studios? - 9:38 Starting a small game studio from scratch. - 14:50 Testing a product before buil...
Jul 28, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 41
- 0:22 How did Carson Taylor get started in the business? - 6:02 Has Austin, Texas become a gaming hub? - 11:43 Remote Working vs In Office working. - 17:00 Computer Science - 22:05 Is learning “Sequel” a key to success for Product Managers? - 26:53 An example of a time where “Sequel” made a profound impact. - 31:42 A/B Testing in the video game world. - 40:22 At what stage of development is it appropriate to do A/B testing? - 43:32 What is the right way to A/B test live ops events? - 48:42 How ...
Jul 22, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 40
On today's episode of the Mastering Retention podcast, Stanislav Stankovic, Creative Director at EA, sharing with us a great deal of his experience with games and game development. To read his Medium articles, please visit here . Episode highlights: What to do first when starting new game Approaches to introduce new game concepts and mechanics Psychological feelings in a game Mood boards His retention tip...
Jul 14, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 39
