Get Ready To Get Global

Kaavya Kasturirangan Head – North America Communications & PR November 13, 2014

Contents 1. Going East 2. China 3. Japan 4. Korea 5. Summary

Go “East”, young man •  Very high smartphone penetration; large user bases •  Highly engaged gaming population •  Freemium model hugely popular; countries like Japan, Korea and China rank

very high on app store revenue •  Rise of the “Indian middle class” that chugs down mobile services (travel apps,

entertainment apps, communication apps) and consumes gaming apps like Western counterparts

However, •  Understanding the target audience so far away •  Cultural barriers •  Piracy concerns •  Fragmented app distribution •  Localization, customization •  Partnering for success

What it takes to win in the Chinese app market

Quick Wins

Marketing

Targeting

Partnerships

Fremium

Getting your Users

Monetizing them

Marketing

Localization

Advertising is ok!

WoM, social seeded campaigns

Subway Surfer (China)

Subway surfer (US)

Localization Beyond translation, think user emotions and culture

Temple Run 2 (USA)

Temple Run clone

Adapt to Chinese culture Great Wall of China Theme

Color, Perspectives & Texture of the game

Localization

Human characters vs. fantasy cartoons

Top Endless runer game in west -Darker more realistic themes.

Top Endless runner game in China Light and colourful themes.

Localization Gameplay & Mechanics

Swipe in four

directions, tilt left &

right vs. Slide and

Jump. That’s it!

Challenging gameplay Eg. Puzzle games

restrict the number of moves

Simple, fast and engaging game play.

Eg. Puzzle games are time-based. 60 seconds

per turn is popular.

Localization Player Mindset

Chinese gamers don’t care much about personal milestones, all they care about is how well are they doing

compared to their friends. So leaderboards are really important to engage users.

Chinese games are known to offer daily bonuses and discounts to players to encourage them to keep coming back!

Promotions - expensive but necessary step to get scale in China

Advertising

High level of receptivity to receive ads for apps based on app browsing history. Unlike Google Play, App Stores in China offer promotions in exchange for revenue share, for games monetizing through in-app-purchases. Due to the presence of multiple app stores in China, it becomes important to pick and choose the right app stores to promote your game in

Chinese users discover Android apps on mobile websites! While Chinese users explore new apps, they also love reading reviews and then interacting with an app.

Maximize presence across social apps especially in the game centers

Social-Seeded Campaigns

Social messaging platforms like WeChat and QQ are getting in to game distribution through their game centers! Users can directly download the games from these platforms.

Targeting

Demographics- Men vs. Women, Tier 2 cities

Operating Systems

Partnerships •  App Stores •  Payments •  Social Networks •  Game Operators •  Servers and Networks

•  Piracy Control

Highly fragmented. The number of players in the mobile app ecosystem is a lot higher in China than in the West

App Store Ecosystem

West

China

Discovery Payment Distribution

Update the users who have a pirated version of your game into your original Chinese version!

Piracy: From problem to solution

To achieve this, a close coordination with the app stores is required.

Pro-tip: Post publishing, often releasing the updates with new content will protect it from piracy.

Match user preference, motivation - reap returns Freemium Game Plays

In-app purchase stores

Trust – Paid apps are easily pirated!

Monetizing Gameplays Games in the west usually do not restrict the number of gameplays. In China it is acceptable to restrict the number of gameplays and use that to monetize users.

Gunz Dash

Temple Run 2 Infinite attempts.

Restricted number of lives.

In-Game Purchase Store

Jetpack Joyride

Gunz Dash

Single page store menu

Multi-page store menu

Chinese players are known to monetize better when there is a single page store menu and within the playing field.

In-Game Purchase Store Western games have mixed currency tabs, Chinese gamers would prefer to have them neatly separated. Keep various denominations of currency for high users and new entrants. Also consider virtual currency to entice new users

What it takes to win in the Japanese app market

The Land of the Rising Sun •  Huge smartphone penetration •  App downloads are a-rocking •  Huge app spenders •  Prefer rich media ads, context-aware ads – likewise with gaming •  High degree of social play

However, •  Competitive internal market •  Cultural minutiae o  Being well prepared o  Patience, persistence o  Expectations of quality o  Customer service

Quick Wins

Marketing Getting your Users

Monetizing them

“Run” your game

Community Management

Marketing Mix of Media

Target Audience and Reaching Them

PR and Agency Support

Mix of App Stores

Target Audience •  Data crunching and game tweaking towards keeping players

engaged; all in the hope that if they keep playing, they will be paying

•  Men – tend to look at download stats, culture of “risk-aversion”, peer-reviews highly considered

•  Women – more traditional media – billboards etc.; play in different peer group settings

PR and Agency Support •  Everything in Japan goes through agencies, it’s the traditional

approach •  Virality – Pre-campaign teasers. Collaborate with app review sites

like AppBank •  Working with review sites can also ensure discoverability since

users often browse app review sites aside from app stores •  Gaming in Japan encourages social interaction hence requires tie

ups with social communication platforms like LINE •  Localization e.g. Anime/text-heavy/rich visuals

Run Your Game Freemium works but creative revenue models

From currency schemes to GACHA cards to goodies and smart schemes – Japanese developers have more data scientists and analysts than their western counterparts. They know that persuasion is what gets a game to catch on and stay cool

Data crunching to keep users engaged

The Japanese art of Persuasion

Partnerships with Telcos and Server clients

Community Management Virtual nature of gaming means app developers need to stay current with their apps and users. Customer service is an art form in Japan. Converting users into “fans for life” is a popular endeavor for most Japanese developers.

High quality and consistent customer care

Feedback and responsiveness

Social Channels Monitoring

What it takes to win in the Korean app market

The Land of the Morning Calm •  Home to Samsung, LG and KakaoTalk •  Love phablets •  Game obsessed •  Android big but Google Play isn’t However, •  Fragmented distribution including operator-run app

stores •  Variously referred to as being at ‘point of saturation’

Marketing Getting your Users

Quick Wins

Monetizing Them Partnerships

Types of Apps

Marketing •  Social – KakaoStory, Band, KT, FB •  Gaming Platforms (commission based) – Kakao Game (highest user base),

Band Game (targets 30-40 year olds), AfreecaTV, Line (Big outside Korea too) •  Channels – HungryApp, HandyGame, Inven •  PR for pre-registration •  Offline advertising at Metro stations including game booths •  Keep users curious by constantly tweaking game play and mechanics

Partnerships •  Fragmented ecosystem of app stores e.g. T Store, NHN, Hangame –

partner with a local ad network with knowledge of the market so you can determine which app stories to list on

•  KakaoTalk – Tuesday Top App phenomenon •  Telco app store •  Mobile payment and NFC-enabled devices means partnerships with local

carriers or mobile operators like SK Planet •  Local app store ecosystem allows for devs to make money (yay!) so get in

on it.

Types of Apps •  Fremium model is hugely popular like any mature market both for UA purposes

and monetization •  Game play is easy but addictive – Think Flappy Bird •  Pay attention to the details within apps – too cluttered and you’ll lose audience •  Game should be playable with fingers and not very complicated in terms of

permutations and options •  Think beyond Gaming – huge demand for social communication apps •  Within gaming, most users are hooked to casual games so it is opening up a

market for mid-core games •  Other popular activities among Korean consumers are K-pop, movies, reality TV

so apps surrounding these also have huge potential

Summary •  Highly localized - Think global, act local •  Asia does not equal CJK – highly nuanced markets that need different

strategies and approaches •  Other emerging markets of the East include India, Indonesia, Malaysia,

Singapore which are worth looking at once the Big 3 are conquered •  Huge appetite for apps – gaming especially so worthwhile to consider

expansion into Asia or launching across Asia as part of your GTM plan •  Remember “Games-as-a-Service” – it’s not a single shot launch it, forget it

type approach •  Partners can make the journey easier

Thanks! For questions, comments please email:

Kaavya.kasturirangan@inmobi.com