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 community isn't easy, but in this episode, Schrijvershof paints a picture of how to do exactly that.
Here are your cheat codes:
- 0:48 How did Wouter Schrijvershof get into the video game industry?
- 4:10 The history and background of “Game Point”
- 7:23 Many friendships were made through “Game Points” bingo.
- 10:28 Filtering out the in-game language barriers.
- 12:31 Developing strong social features to build a stronger and deeper community amongst players.
- 22:41 Understanding your audience on a deep level.
- 25:25 Surveying players.
- 29:44 A Live Op event that created angst amongst players.
- 31:44 Coming up with new ideas for LiveOps events
- 34:57 Super Fan Groups
- 36:29 How important is a smooth players experience?
- 41:42 Welcoming new players
- 43:25 User acquisition by churned players
- 44:47 How to keep more playing around longer.
Ep. 63: Creating Long Lasting and Meaningful In-Game Communities