General Information on Mobile Spending

Superman0X

Here is a public resource for all with some good general info on spending in mobile games:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-09-04-its-all-about-the-players

KenFisher

The issue I have with this sort of data is I don't think it compares apples to apples, when referring to the different monetization groups.

In my perspective, a non-spender who plays twice and uninstalls should not be weighted evenly with a player who installs, plays for a while, becomes a spender, and stays with the game.

If the analysis only contained data from players with a minimum of 40 hours gametime, I suspect the non-spender percentage would be significantly less of a majority.  As such I consider the breakdowns artificially skewed.

Great link.

Loktofeit

XAPKen said:

1 The issue I have with this sort of data is I don't think it compares apples to apples, when referring to the different monetization groups.

2 In my perspective, a non-spender who plays twice and uninstalls should not be weighted evenly with a player who installs, plays for a while, becomes a spender, and stays with the game.

3 If the analysis only contained data from players with a minimum of 40 hours gametime, I suspect the non-spender percentage would be significantly less of a majority.  As such I consider the breakdowns artificially skewed.

1 The most likely reason for that is because you don't understand the data or the reasons for it. That's not criticism; it isn't your field. Each group is directly related to the next.

2 Weighed evenly in what regard? It seems an odd statement. Every spender, on any level, was once a non-spender. It looks like reading up on "Conversion" might help you. You've brought the potential player to your game, they've installed it and they are playing. The next goal is to get them engaged and returning for more play sessions. This is especially important as, according to the data, the bigger spenders play for a longer period of time before they spend than most spenders do.  

3 Since 25% of the nonspenders were only seen once during the 3 months, and there are no days of the week with more than 24hrs, are you suggesting those non-invested players played for almost two-days straight? If so, then the next study should be what percentage of those one-timers stopped playing because they had to be hospitalized or simply dropped dead. Are you saying to omit people who played less than 40 hours during the three months? So a player that plays 12 hours a month but was active all three months should be ignored. That doesn't make much sense. 

laxie

Really interesting article.

Since the big spenders actually don't play very often, it raises some interesting questions.
Do you design the game around those who play it a lot (hoping for conversions), or around the spenders (hoping for retention).

I never realised this before, but it seems as if you should ideally design two fairly different gameplay systems - one that favours the non-spenders; and another tailored to the whales. Once they start converting, the gameplay would shift in order to match their desired playstyle.

The initial game would be based on micro-managing stuff and investing a lot of time. The later game would more revolve around less frequent decisions. Would something like that work?

KenFisher

@Loktofeit ;

What I was thinking of is a filter for the non, small, and large spenders.

It would look like:

Game-X player database was scanned.  Data was collected only from players with N number of hours or more of gametime played.  Of these players:  85% were non-sspenders, 10 % were minor spenders, 5 % were major spenders. (Fake numbers here as example)

The reason I would find this information of interest is that 'tourists' who played only a few hours thhen left never to return would be excluded from the count.

I wonder how much the non-spender percentage drops with time played.

Loktofeit

XAPKen said:

@Loktofeit ;

What I was thinking of is a filter for the non, small, and large spenders.

It would look like:

Game-X player database was scanned.  Data was collected only from players with N number of hours or more of gametime played.  Of these players:  85% were non-sspenders, 10 % were minor spenders, 5 % were major spenders. (Fake numbers here as example)

The reason I would find this information of interest is that 'tourists' who played only a few hours thhen left never to return would be excluded from the count.

I wonder how much the non-spender percentage drops with time played.

I've got some driving directions for you:
Drive straight and make a left at the block after the last traffic light.

Superman0X

XAPKen said:

@Loktofeit ;

What I was thinking of is a filter for the non, small, and large spenders.

It would look like:

Game-X player database was scanned.  Data was collected only from players with N number of hours or more of gametime played.  Of these players:  85% were non-sspenders, 10 % were minor spenders, 5 % were major spenders. (Fake numbers here as example)

The reason I would find this information of interest is that 'tourists' who played only a few hours thhen left never to return would be excluded from the count.

I wonder how much the non-spender percentage drops with time played.

The problem is that this would also likely exclude most of your big spenders. The data shows that (in general) the big spenders are playing less frequently, but with longer sessions.  Depending on the cutoff, you might remove them from the data.

The reason that the numbers are presented in the fashion that they are, is because they are using industry standards. They can get this data from multiple sources, and compare across companies, product lines, and even different markets. If they were to use a custom type of data, they would not be able to do this.

KenFisher

Superman0X said:

 

The reason that the numbers are presented in the fashion that they are, is because they are using industry standards. They can get this data from multiple sources, and compare across companies, product lines, and even different markets. If they were to use a custom type of data, they would not be able to do this.

Understood.  Makes sense that there would be standardization.

I just re-read the article.  I think what I'm looking for is average retention of non-spenders (it's in one of the graphs).  I've got an idea in my head (might not be correct) that a player profile exists that I call a 'tourist'.  Downloads, installs, looks around, meh not interested, and leaves without ever making a purchase.

I think non-spender retention could give me that.

I'm curious how many non-spenders stay in a game long term.  The reason this has me curious is the non-spender who doesn't stay long term, doesn't eat server resources like one who does.  So from my perspective, if they aren't spending, I'm fine with them not sticking around.

In this graph, they have non-spenders down 60% in a week.  I know this is for portables, but I'm wondering if this pattern would also apply to F2P MMOs?

Superman0X

XAPKen said:

In this graph, they have non-spenders down 60% in a week.  I know this is for portables, but I'm wondering if this pattern would also apply to F2P MMOs?

The general trend is true for PC MMO's as well. The numbers can vary significantly by game. As shown by the data, in mobile it often takes more than a week for non spenders to convert to spenders (of any size). The timeframe is even longer in PC games. This is why retention is so important in F2P games, as early retention has HUGE returns. Also, as a side note, the vast majority of that attrition is on day/session 1.

KenFisher

Superman0X said:

XAPKen said:

In this graph, they have non-spenders down 60% in a week.  I know this is for portables, but I'm wondering if this pattern would also apply to F2P MMOs?

The general trend is true for PC MMO's as well. The numbers can vary significantly by game. As shown by the data, in mobile it often takes more than a week for non spenders to convert to spenders (of any size). The timeframe is even longer in PC games. This is why retention is so important in F2P games, as early retention has HUGE returns. Also, as a side note, the vast majority of that attrition is on day/session 1.

Very helpful, thanks!

I'm not feeling well, so pardon as I excuse myself.

I like seeing posts about the industry.

lurleena

It was good to know such information about gamers. Honestly, I rarely play games whether in pc or android.