10 Differences: Publishing Your Own Mobile Game VS Working with a Publisher Nenin Ananbanchachai, Co-Founder, Extend Interactive,

2 Introduction ( Self-publishing vs Publisher ) My studio, Extend Interactive (aka Extend Studio) –A small independent game development house in Thailand –Own both of Hardcore and Casual Titles on Steam, iOS, etc. –Jigsaw Mansion (self-publishing) vs Jigsaw Mansion 2 (publisher) This presentation is prepared for who ? –Mobile developers who doubt why and why not getting a publisher –Publishers who are interested to know more about small-sized studio What am I going to talk about exactly ? –10 differences from my point of view that can be useful for both developer and publisher –Don’t get confused. I don’t have any intention to convince you to either have your game published or not published with publisher

3 10 Differences 10 Differences ( Self-publishing vs Publisher) There could be more but here, I give you 10 1.Document Works 2.Deal, Shares, Sales 3.Game Features, Monetizing 4.Work Flow (Development, Testing, Publishing) 5.Playtest and Feedback 6.1 st Party Relationship 7.Analysis, Calculation, Pricing 8.Launch Plan 9.PR, Advertising and Campaign 10.Result

3 Differences: Before the development starts

5 Difference #1: Document Works Documents play more important roles We have several notes (features, milestones, bugs, etc.) but a design doc Your design doc is the first thing you would be asked for Your dev milestone becomes your payment milestone (if any) Note: You need to spend more time on paper works but it’s not a bad thing since it helps in communication.

6 Difference #2: Deal (Shares & Sales) Portal gets 30%, Developer gets 70% The sales cover dev cost in 3 months iPad only Portal gets 30%, (Developer + Publisher) gets 70% The sales cover dev cost in the first few weeks (We do have marketing cost :) iPad and iPhone (Android version’s not yet been released) Note: I’m happy with the both ways.

7 Difference #3: Game Features Add/adjust features for better Monetizing and Marketing In-game shop (IAP) Push notification Share own puzzles via FB wall post and (Deep link) In-game economy / currency (IAP) Game Center (Achievements) Note: Most of the new features come from the discussion. Some are raised by developer while some are suggested by publisher

3 Differences: While the development is progressing

9 Difference #4: Work Flow Publisher joins the loop Development and Testing is done internally Submit the game to store directly Send each build to publisher for a feedback via TestFlight and/or Dropbox Publisher manages the store’s dev portal (Add new app, Create test account, Add IAP, Add achievement items, etc.) Note: Submission of each build to publisher quite slows down the dev process. Internet speed does really matter.

10 Difference #5: Playtest and Feedback Most of the feedback come from the developers and their friends Customer feedback come in after the release Publisher helps collect feedbacks from more various sources: Internal Producer Team  Marketing People  Customers  Distributors Note: It’s always good to know many Feedbacks. Consider them wisely. Don’t forget that no one knows your game more than you do

11 Difference #6: 1 st Party Relationship 1 st Party here means App store / SDK owner Normal notification message Some marketing opportunities from Apple Worldwide Developer Relations Get early feedback Get early access to beta sdk Get technical support via , skype, etc. Note: This is the most important difference in my opinion.

4 Differences: When the game is about to launch

13 Difference #7: Calculation and Pricing Price is set to $4.99 (Avg price of iPad app) $0.99 for 4-6 additional puzzles (IAP) Goes premium Less premium -> $0.99 for iPhone version and $1.99 for HD version Add in-game economy -> Players buy items with the coins instead of $ Price for coins (IAP) and items are calculated by the possible income from each player Note: A publisher has marketing and data of other game to help deciding on a pricing model

14 Difference #8: Launch Plan iPad version was released in every country as soon as the game was approved by Apple (June 16, 2010) Got approved 1-2 days before the release Soft Release => iPad and iPhone version are live everywhere except USA, CANADA, MEXICO, UK, and AUSTRALIA Real Release => App was released everywhere and got featured a few days after the Soft Release Note: You can have soft release even when you publish your own game

15 Difference #9: PR, Advertising, Campaign PR, Advertising and Marketing Campaigns New & Noteworthy Submit to the press and game review website Pay for PR writing and distributing service Free app campaign (DailyAppDream) New Release, New and Noteworthy, Staff Favourites, What’s hot Use PR agency service Free app campaign (FreeAppADay) Cross promotion between games (more games) Advertising with Ads banner and Website Skin Note: This is the most important difference in my opinion.

16 Difference #10: Results What does the result look like ? (at February, 2 nd ) Got featured on the App Store’s Home page in 140+ countries Top 5 Free app in 10+ countries including USA, UK, China, Taiwan, etc. 130,000+ downloads (including free promotion) Got featured on the App Store’s Home page in 50+ countries #24 all paid app, #14 all paid game (US) There is a player who create and share his/her own puzzle in every 5 minutes (3 days) Over 100,000 transactions in the first 3 days Release: Jan 30, 2012 Release: June 16, 2010

17 Difference #10: Results (Summary) Has a good start with new & noteworthy Get a lot of users from the free app campaign Sales are quite stable Excellent start from the early push Later, Sales are quite slow, considered from the good start Note: Sales from the app price are quite bigger than the IAP’s

18 Summary Self Publishing 1.Get 100% after App store 2.Flexible & comfortable to manage the app store portal 3.No cross promotion Publisher 1.More marketing push 2.1 st Party Relationship 3.More early feedbacks 4.Things can be slower 5.Cross promotion / In- game Ads can be annoying VS

19 Summary Should I have a publisher for my mobile game ? Honestly, It depends on many things. I have 2 advices for you which are 1.Don’t get publishers because you think that the game would be sold better if you have them 2.Don’t be afraid to have publishers in your unreachable market A publisher may know about how to market games more than you do, but you know your game the most

Q & A Nenin Ananbanchachai MD and Founder, Extend Interactive facebook/nenin.th