Web browser games are often an afterthought when thinking about the video game landscape, but with the internet being more accessible than ever, the odds of having some degree of familiarity with web games are high. Despite the perception that web games maintain a relatively low profile, there is a large market for these types of games and lots of money to be made. This week on Mastering Retention, Tom speaks with Valentin Simion (Senior Game Producer & Product Owner at SOFTGAMES) about catering to specific audiences, integrating social features into a game, and the profitability of modern day web gaming.
Here are your cheat codes:
1:34 How did Valentin Simion get started in the videogame industry?
6:42 What is the typical target audience for web games?
9:07 Where are web games predominantly found and/or played?
10:58 Starting a modern day web gaming company.
17:11 A good process for coming up with a new web game.
22:13 Surveying target audience before creating a game.
23:59 Good survey questions and processes to avoid biased results.
27:36 Is there value in open-ended survey questions?
30:39 Live ops within web games.
32:39 Content expectations for web games.
34:06 A live ops event that flopped.
36:30 Driving a game’s community with a facebook group.
37:46 User generated content.
40:47 How to make a game like “Solitaire” social?
47:17 There are many different ways to monetize web games.
50:46 How to keep more players around longer.
Ep. 82: Web Gaming In A Mobile World