Squad Busters: Revenue Drop by 50%

Is it time for Supercell to worry? 📉 In June, daily revenue fell from $1.2M to $600k, a 50% drop. ↳ This was expected as the initial spike was due to organic downloads from pre-registrations.↳ A decline was anticipated once those settled and user acquisition shifted to paid traffic.📉 But in July, daily revenue dropped another 50%: from ±$600k to <$300k.This isn't just normalization: User Acquisition can’t attract enough traffic at this price. The game probably is far from reaching profitability. Why did the decline happen again? • Very low medium- and long-term retention• Day 30 retention does not exceed 3%• For comparison, Brawl Stars has nearly 20% Day 30 retentionCauses:• Insufficient gameplay depth• Weak further gacha mechanics• Lack of content• UX problemsIt's time for Supercell to take more decisive measures to improve the game.Data Source: AppMagic

Anton Slashcev July 31

Journal

80 GameDev Tools Cheat Sheet 2.0

Thanks to all community members for their valuable feedback on the previous version of this list, which helped create the improved 2.0 version:

Anton Slashcev July 28

Journal

How to Increase Game Retention?

Here is a step-by-step algorithm for making a decision: 1. Enhance the Tutorial: Ensure the FTUE is clear and concise. 2. Engage Players Early: Make the game's start fun and intuitive. 3. Consistency in Gameplay: Match gameplay with creatives and ASO. 4. Clear Goals: Make sure players understand their tasks. 5. Add Engagement Mechanics: Include features like win streaks and daily bonuses. 6. Optimize Stability: Ensure technical stability and smooth performance. 7. Adjust Difficulty: Continuously improve difficulty, UX, and gameplay. 8. Monitor and Fix Churn: Use analytics to identify and fix high churn points. 9. Introduce Progression Systems: Provide leveling and character upgrades. 10. Add Variety: Introduce new mechanics over time. 11. Increase Content: Ensure there is enough content for players. 12. Enhance Rewards: Engage players with valuable rewards. 13. Social Features: Enable player interaction. 14. Balance Economy: Keep the […]

Anton Slashcev July 22

Journal

8 Essential Skills for Game Producers

Master these to become a top producer: 1. Vision Creation 🌟 - Craft a clear direction for the project- Convey and inspire the team with your vision- Align with stakeholders 2. Industry Knowledge 📚 - Understand gaming industry trends deeply- Perform continuous competitor analysis- Be well-versed in a broad range of references 3. Game Design 🎨 - Master game design principles- Understand project economy and balance- Be skilled in user flow and UI/UX- Find fun and work with game loops 4. Technical Understanding 💻 - Familiarize yourself with game engines and technologies- Know game development processes- Understand technical constraints and possibilities- Communicate effectively with technical teams 5. Product Thinking 🧠 - Grasp the product goal for each feature- Prioritize development based on product impact- Understand player needs and pain points 6. Leadership 🏆 - Inspire, motivate, and guide your team- […]

Anton Slashcev July 18

Journal

Improve Monetization or Engagement?

This is the main question when developing a new feature in Live Ops. Monetization: ↳ Improve monetization to increase revenue from the player directly. Examples: • Battle Pass• Piggy Bank and new offers• Holiday Events• Loot Boxes• Casino mechanics (Roulettes, slots)• Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment Engagement: ↳ Improve engagement by increasing retention and/or playtime, hoping to indirectly boost revenue. Examples: • Daily Bonus• Win Streak• Social Features (Clans, Friends, Leaderboard, etc.)• Happy Hours• Meta-related Features Both approaches aim to eventually improve LTV, but in different ways. Is it possible to improve both at the same time? In most cases, no.Trying to enhance both often leads to zero results.

Anton Slashcev July 18

Journal

Are Downloads and Revenue Indicators of Success?

Downloads and revenue are not indicators of a game's success.Many large games operate with a negative ROAS throughout their existence.Despite impressive numbers, they often bring their owners nothing but losses.So why do studios continue to buy traffic for such games and lose money?Here are several reasons:• Hope for profitability: Belief in a turnaround during the live-ops phase• Competitive strategy: Securing traffic share to force competitors to bid higher.• Inflating valuation: Boosting overall ARR before selling the company.• Attracting investments: Demonstrating potential to draw in investors.• Misjudgment: Sometimes, it's simply foolishness. :)There are rare cases where buying traffic for a loss-making game makes sense.But it's mostly an attempt to create the illusion of a successful game for investors or stakeholders.Profit > Volume

Anton Slashcev July 16

Journal

10 Game Monetization Models

Here’s a quick overview of 10 different models, each with its pros and cons. 1. Premium Pros:- Immediate revenue upon sale- Complete experience for players Cons:- High price can deter players- Heavy reliance on initial launch success 2. Free-to-Play Pros:- Large player base- High revenue potential through in-game purchases Cons:- Challenges with user acquisition- Requires constant updates 3. Subscription Pros:- Predictable, steady revenue stream- Encourages long-term engagementCons:- Requires ongoing high-quality content- Achieving profitability can take years 4. Ads-Based Pros:- Free for players, large player base- Quick profitability Cons:- Poor user experience- Short engagement span- Volatile ad revenue 5. Hybrid Pros:- Flexibility to cater to various player types- Diverse revenue streamsCons:- Complexity in managing and balancing methods- Risk of overwhelming players 6. DLC (Downloadable Content) Pros:- Extends game lifecycle- Provides post-launch revenueCons:- Requires ongoing development- Balancing free content and paid DLC […]

Anton Slashcev July 16

Journal

15 Red Flags For Game Producers

If you hear statements like these - RUN! 🚩 1) "The more meetings we have, the faster tasks get done!" 2) "I don't care about player feedback; we just make money." 3) "I don't need market research; I have a Vision." 4) "I don't need a Vision; I have market research." 5) "We won't use new tools; everyone is already used to Excel!" 6) "We need to add AI because everyone else is adding it." 7) "I listen to those I like and ignore the rest of the team." 8) "I don't trust my team and personally check every task." 9) "If I'm crunching, everyone must crunch." 10) "I could do this task faster myself; why does it take the developer so long?" 11) "I don't have time to play other games; I'm busy developing our game." 12) "No one is indispensable; the team is just parts of a big […]

Anton Slashcev July 15

Journal

All Key Game Metrics In One Place

Here is the list of all crucial metrics to track: Progression: - Unlock Rates for Features/Items- Avg. Time to Finish Level- Player Level Distribution- Level Completion Rates- Feature Usage Rates- Churn Rate Engagement: - Levels per Session- DAU / WAU / MAU- Retention D1-D360- Sessions Per User- Session Length- Playtime Balance: - Currency Consumption Per User- Income/Spending by Source- Currency Income Per User- Currencies Per User- Attempts Per Level- Win/Loss Ratio Technical: - Build Size- Load Time- ANR Rate- Crash Rate- Frame Rate (FPS) Community & Support: - Social Media Engagement- User Reviews and Ratings- Response Time- Common Issues- Support Tickets Volume Marketing: - ROAS- k-Factor- CPI / CPM- CVR / CTR- Target Spend- Monthly Installs Monetization: - Ads Fill Rate- ARPU / ARPPU- LTV / Avg. Check- Conversion Rate- Payer Cohort Distribution- Player Spendings by Sources Business: - Revenue- […]

Anton Slashcev July 11

Journal

Game Development Tools Cheat Sheet

Planning Asana: https://asana.com/Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jiraClickUp: https://clickup.com/ Communication Slack: https://slack.com/Discord: https://discord.com/Microsoft Teams: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software Documentation Notion: https://www.notion.so/Confluence: https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluenceGoogle Docs: https://www.google.com/docs/about/ Whiteboard Figma: https://www.figma.com/Miro: https://miro.com/Canva: https://www.canva.com/ Game Engine Unity: https://unity.com/Unreal Engine: https://www.unrealengine.com/Godot: https://godotengine.org/ IDEs JetBrains: https://www.jetbrains.com/Visual Studio: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/Eclipse: https://www.eclipse.org/ Networking Photon: https://www.photonengine.com/Mirror: https://mirror-networking.com/Nakama: https://heroiclabs.com/nakama/ CI/CD TeamCity: https://www.jetbrains.com/teamcity/Jenkins: https://www.jenkins.io/GitLab CI/CD: https://about.gitlab.com/stages-devops-lifecycle/continuous-integration/ Art Photoshop: https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html3DS Max: https://www.autodesk.com/products/3ds-max/overviewSubstance Painter: https://www.substance3d.com/products/substance-painter/ Animation Maya: https://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/overviewCascadeur: https://cascadeur.com/Mixamo: https://www.mixamo.com/ Sound Wwise: https://www.audiokinetic.com/Audacity: https://www.audacityteam.org/FMOD: https://www.fmod.com/ Text Articy: Draft: https://www.articy.com/en/Google Sheets: https://www.google.com/sheets/about/Lokalise: https://lokalise.com/ Market Research Sensor Tower: https://sensortower.com/AppMagic: https://appmagic.rocks/Playliner: https://www.playliner.com/ Analytics Game Analytics: https://gameanalytics.com/Tableau: https://www.tableau.com/Firebase: https://firebase.google.com/ Playtesting Antidote: https://www.antidote.gg/PlaytestCloud: https://www.playtestcloud.com/Bugsee: https://www.bugsee.com/ Monetization AppLovin: https://www.applovin.com/AdMob: https://admob.google.com/home/Balancy: https://balancy.com/

Anton Slashcev July 8

Journal

User Journey in Mobile Games

The main steps in the interaction between the player and the product are: 🎯 Marketing: 1A. ADS CreativeGoal: Hook attention and drive interest in the game.1B. Store SearchGoal: Ensure visibility and discovery in the store using ASO.1C. Store FeaturingGoal: Hook attention and drive interest in the game.2. Game Store PageGoal: Persuade users to download the game. 🚀 Onboarding: 3. InstallGoal: Convert interest into a completed & fast app install.4. First LaunchGoal: Deliver fast loading and a smooth initial experience.5. TutorialGoal: Educate players on game mechanics and controls.6. Core Game LoopGoal: Hook players with fun and repeatable gameplay. 🔥 Engagement: 7. Return to the GameGoal: Encourage users to come back and play again.8. ProgressionGoal: Provide a sense of achievement and advancement.9. Live-OpsGoal: Offer new content and events to maintain interest. 💰 Monetization: 10. First PaywallGoal: Monetize player engagement without a high […]

Anton Slashcev July 2

Journal

Live Ops Feature Pipeline: A Complete Guide

Here's a step-by-step breakdown of the process: I. Pre-Production: 1. Concept 💡• Identify feature goals• Specify aspects to improve or develop• Provide references• Define the target audience• Set KPIs and profit forecasts2. Specification 📋• Describe all mechanics, states, user flow, and corner cases• Ensure interaction with other features• Prepare UI/UX mockup• Balance calculation• Team presentation3. Planning 🗓️• Scope estimation: Evaluate the scope of mechanics and art assets• Milestones: Define key milestones• Sprint planning: Break down tasks into manageable sprints• Risks: Identify potential risks II. Production: 4. Development 🛠️• Develop feature components (code, art, UI, level design, VFX, sound, etc.)• Implement key parts• Focus on core user flow and primary use cases5. Prototype 🧪• Initial build with only key mechanics & tutorial• Use draft or placeholder art• Evaluate overall game feel and adjust vision6. Iterations 🔄• Feedback iteration: Refine the feature […]

Anton Slashcev July 1

Anton Slashcev

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