Session Name: | Effective Testing for Free-to-Play Games |
Speaker(s): | Emily Greer |
Company Name(s): | Kongregate, Inc. |
Track / Format: | Production |
Overview: |
Mobile games have become increasingly high-stakes over the last few years. Successful games make billions, but most games launch to failure, and few get a second chance from either platforms or players. Most developers test their games in various ways, from individual playtest sessions to geo-locked launches in Canada and Australia. But many games still launch with poor retention, monetization, tech problems, or some combination of the three. What's going wrong? Kongregate has now put more than 20 games through test markets, learning valuable lessons along the way. This talk will be a pragmatic guide to creating a test strategy, taking into account budget and schedule along with the benefits and pitfalls of various methods and the psychological traps that teams fall into as they evaluate results. The talk will be illustrated by case studies and metrics from Kongregate's portfolio including AdVenture Capitalist, Global Assault, Spellstone, Raid Brigade and more. |