Adam Ardisasmita

  • The gaming industry’s revenue and export numbers are much larger than other entertainment/content industries (music, movies, etc.).
  • Mobile games account for 45% in 2021 and 53% in 2022 of the global gaming market.
  • Indonesians spend 25 trillion rupiah a year on games, mostly to get items that increase social strata in games.
  • Challenges of the gaming industry in Indonesia: the comparison between the spending of Indonesian gamers on games and the income of Indonesian game developers is still very far (1000:1).
  • Obstacles in making games: lack of funds (66.7%), lack of human resources (44.4%), lack of skills (36.1%), others (26.4%).
  • Why there are few successful local game developers in Indonesia: Business Model; Market Visibility; Access To Funding.
  • Business model challenges: premium (sales conversion & product experience) and freemium (live ops & reading data)
  • Market visibility challenge: pc gamers are more open to games with similar genres while mobile gamers tend to be enthusiastic about 1 game only. Longer life time and limited storage space make mobile gamers rarely look for other games in the same genre.
  • Access to funding challenges: premium (market similar to publisher) and freemium (market validation before funding).
  • Trends in mobile games: Game as a Service (live service and in-app purchase) revenue is greater than full game.
  • Trends in game purchasing power in developing countries: very sensitive to price, micro-transactions are more suitable than one-time purchases.
  • Pay attention to the development of cloud gaming and subscription based model.
  • Other strategies that can be taken: capitalize on viral trends, local wisdom, niche markets.
  • In terms of revenue, it makes more sense to target the global market, but in the local market, we know the market better, so competition is easier.
  • Relatibility is a challenge when promoting local wisdom, the unique selling point must be generally accepted.

Game trends are changing, all market segments need games, make sure to test games to the right target market.

Dave Fabrian

  • General structure and responsibilities of a mobile game business: development team (core features & liveops) & publishing team (marketing strategy & community management).
  • Capabilities required in addition to game development: data analysis, performance marketing, community management, customer support, market research, market validation.
  • Key metrics: ARPPU, MAU, DAU, LTV, Paying Conversion, ROAS, CPI, D1/D7/D30 Retention, IPM, FTUE Funnel, CPM, Session Length, Stickiness, Organic Rate, etc.
  • Unlike pc/console gamers whose market is mature (know the channels/sources of information available through media/KOL), the mobile market is still scattered, so to reach out they need to do user acquisition by advertising.
  • Unlike pc/console gamers who spend time specifically for games, mobile games are made to match the behavior (5W+1H) of the market.
  • How to estimate cost: operational cost (marketing cost, team payroll, general affairs) & cost of revenue (platform cost, server cost).
  • Iterate fast, be mindful when to kill and move on. Sometimes developers are too attached to their product, understand the runway, limit, and opportunity cost.
  • How to estimate revenue: revenue projection (new users & returning users/active users).
  • “Proven” is better than “New”. Don’t have too many experimental aspects.
  • Before making a game, find out the business end goal first.

By understanding metrics we can iterate/solve issues as quickly as possible and precisely.

Fandry Indrayadi

  • Fundamental differences between gaming platforms: mode of play, form factor, & session time.
  • Mobile gamers are divided into several spectrum: casual (non-gamer, can be quite hardcore, unforgiving about time), midcore (knowledgeable in games, wants hardcore but doesn’t have time), hardcore (dedicated time to game).
  • Core Experience: Taking experience from the real world is better than taking experience from other games. As designers, we can only take experience from other games if we know what experience the game is taking in the real world.
  • Core Audience: To please everyone is to please no one. Target your game to a specific audience based on demographic (gender, location, age) & psychographic (motivation to play).
  • Business model strategy: premium (direct sell), freemium (in-app purchase), free (ads).
  • It’s hard to make a profit from premium games on mobile because premium games compete with thousands of new free games every day.
  • Design focus for freemium games: retention (length of time players stay in the game) and conversion (percentage of players who buy in the game).
  • 3 things that make players want to buy (choose maximum 2): content unlock (gatcha, skin, etc) for emotion, boosters (xp+) for optimization, skips (instant upgrade) for time.
  • For free games with ads, don’t spam ads, you should make players want to watch ads with rewarded ads (extra life, double coin, etc).
  • As a designer we have to create the needs first so that there is demand so that players want to pay.
  • A design is said to be elegant if it can solve as many problems as possible with 1 feature.
  • Fake ads can be used to test game ideas to the target audience.
  • Trends change quickly, but behavior or culture rarely changes.

A designer’s job is not to make games but to solve problems in a creative way, his responsibility is to craft experiences.

Yanu Ashari

  • Low budget ≠ Low effort. The name of the business is capital, the bigger the capital is relatively the easier it is to do the steps that need to be done.
  • Approach before making a game: Top Down (starting from market analysis) & Buttom Up (starting from SWOT analysis)
  • Market Analysis: (1) target audience identification, (2) competitor research, (3) market trend analysis.
  • Target audience identification: the goal is to empathize with the player (keywords: demographics, psychographics).
  • Competitor research: (1) identify similar games, (2) identify UX and gameplay, (3) analyze player reviews, (4) research marketing strategies, (5) identify unique selling points.
  • Market trend analysis: (1) industry publications/trends/news/developments, (2) industry conferences/exhibitions/meetings, (3) market reports.
  • How to determine UVP: value proposition canvas (fit between the product and why people buy it).
  • How to validate UVP: (1) prototyping & pseudo MVP, (2) qualitative (usability testing, interviews, FGD) & quantitative (survey, wishlist) research.

Formulas to make a successful game: (1) DATA from industry standards and our game, (2) WORDS from user reviews, (3) our FEELINGS to believe in the product.

Panelist Bandung

  • Steps that beginners can take: observe-imitate-modify, focus on mature execution rather than experimental, because there will be many failures so make sure there are skills that are honed and knowledge that is carried over to the next project.
  • Guidelines for building a team: be able to objectively assess team members from their contributions, be professional, spend a lot of time at the beginning to get to know each other, the team search process cannot be instantaneous, the team composition must be correct (development, business, operations).
  • Make this indie project an opportunity to understand end-to-end business, even though we will eventually focus on one other area, the knowledge is still important.
  • The logical consequence of having a fun life is not only doing what you like but also being trained to do things you don’t like (sacrifice).
  • 1 skill required by founders: convincing people to join because the values are the same, even if the salary is small or unpaid.
  • It is important to make a written agreement at the beginning to address unwanted scenarios in the future.
  • Alternatives for those of us who fail to release a game and we need a budget to survive: outsourcing, gamification, or working as professionals for other companies.
  • In business there is always a chance to fail, in fact all our efforts are to minimize risk.

Johannes Nindyo

  • You can consider the asset store first to help speed up the development process, except for 2D assets which are usually specialized for 1 project.
  • Other factors besides UVP that can be considered: hockey (featured by media & platform), barriers to entry (optimization for low-spec devices), good execution (free games feel like premium games).
  • We can learn business as we go, but make sure you can make a very good product first - within your capabilities.
  • If not managed properly, remote work can hinder your project progress.
  • Other marketing channels: android game reviewers/youtubers (via email), certain Facebook groups (impersonate a group member).

Sometimes people who think too much about good games and good business may not be successful in both, because if we are lacking in one aspect we should look for partners who can cover our shortcomings, so we can focus on aspects that are our strength points.

Boy Dozan

  • Sometimes, we don’t have to innovate everything, why?: (1) experimentation carries a big risk that needs to be validated, (2) game development involves many complex processes that need to be considered, (3) lack of experience and there is still much to learn.
  • What can be learned: (1) use successful games as solid references, (2) market research, (3) create player personas, (4) prototyping & AB testing themes and artstyle (5) early access.
  • Not innovating everything can help us: by using something proven we can speed up the development process and focus on other things.
  • proven > reduced validation process & higher chance for profitable > faster development > better execution & smaller production cost
  • Making a game has to have a business element–whether it’s a clone or not–because at the end of the day, games have to make money.
  • But, innovation is the best weapon if we use it properly: UVP (unique value proportion).
  • When is the right time to innovate is relative depending on the needs of the market and the capabilities of the team for execution & validation.
  • Game clone rule of thumb: it’s hard to be more successful than the game you clone, unless you have a very strong uvp, but the question is do we need to be that successful? in the end, the most important thing is that the results obtained can be sufficient for the company.
  • Copyright needs to be considered when cloning: character designs, assets, parodies.
  • Put idealism aside if it’s not financially viable, unless it brings in a large audience.
  • Best practice in-app purchase: usually people who buy once in our game will have a higher chance to buy continuously (continuous buyer), so the hook at the beginning is important to attract the first purchase.

Having a brilliant idea with poor execution is worthless, but even a common idea executed well is still better.

Shafiq Hussein

  • It’s not just ads and in-app purchases that can make money from games, there are many other ways such as in-game branding (sponsorship) & IP licensing.
  • One of the determining factors of a game’s success: luck.
  • People will be more likely to try a game if their friends promote it.
  • When we want to make something - in addition to knowing where our strength points are - we must know what our weaknesses are. If our weakness is in the marketing budget, we can try to approach people who have marketing power.
  • How to become part of the market share in the industry: (1) market research, (2) catch up with social media trends in our target market, (3) incorporate relatable content into game design, (5) development & testing, (4) marketing & PR, (5) maintenance & bug-fixing.
  • Marketing & PR: find a good angle for your target market, approach influencers, send press releases to media, ask your friends to share.
  • The problem only starts when your game is in the store. Typical people are “good at staying quiet, not good at complaining.”
  • Tips for getting sponsors in games: see on social media what brands are running campaigns and what their branding direction is.
  • Having a business partner is not as easy as recruiting people for work, because the burden is different.
  • The key to the relationship between business and development is to trust each other that the promised results are the best that can be given.
  • Don’t let our game’s research & development take longer than the game’s lifespan.
  • Content-able strategy: not necessarily people like the product, but at least people can create content from the product.
  • When we work with other parties, we must have a legal team to read the terms & conditions of the contract.

We must know our battlefield first, how far we can compete, where our capabilities are, and what the quality of our product is.

Banu Andaru

  • Local values are not only traditional, but all the customs around us, be it traditional or popular popular culture.
  • Application of game experience in the real world: (1) transfer personal experience into relatable content (effect: increase retention, conversion rate & brand trust), (2) understand the mindset and habits of the target audience (effect: increase in revenue), (3) make other creators create content about your game (content baits, effect: traffic, conversion rate, organic growth rate), (5) build communication with players in the community (effect: loyalty, community support).
  • Types of content baits: LOL (anything funny), Win (secret content, easter egg), OMG (dramatic scene/hyperbole), Cute (triggering cuteness), Trashy (hard to see people happy and happy to see people hard, positioning players to feel better than others), Fail (general unrest), WTF (weird).
  • The cycle: game developer -> fan/content creator -> community -> more players -> game developer.
  • If you want to promote local values for the global market, consider relatibilty (something that can be generally accepted).

Surabaya Panelist

  • When the market research is right but the execution fails, the game is still garbage. sometimes when the idea is mediocre but executed very well, the potential for success is greater.
  • Not everything based on feeling is successful because the luck factor plays more, and if based on data we must be able to judge that we are not processing the wrong data.
  • Sometimes we misdirect our game because we position ourselves as the target market which the market doesn’t necessarily like (biased validation).
  • This is not about whose way is the most correct, but about you seeing your game development strategy from which angle and where is your strenght? product or commercial.
  • Before we make a product, there is always a product-market fit (there is a demand from the market that we are trying to serve with the product).
  • Unlike e-commerce and other tech products, games are not “winners take all” - because the value in games can still be tweaked a little and it can still be competitive because the market can consume many similar games at once (content-based).
  • The 70-20-10 principle: 70% clone, 20% improve, 10% innovate. Nothing is 100% original. Why would we build from scratch something we don’t know yet, where we can perfect something that exists for a market that wants it.
  • Whether we fail or succeed, if we don’t start, we don’t know where our limits are. Because the chances of us failing are greater, so we must be able to get up again and try again (growth mindset).

Joseph Putra

  • Games are hit or miss business (either succeed once or fail completely and die).
  • So, what can we do? faster iteration (copy the successful formula then change the theme), beginners start from hypercasual, milestone knowledge & experience.
  • How to copy or iterate fast: (1) find a game with compelling gameplay, (2) find a data, (3) analyze the core gameplay, (4) make a little innovation, (5) try to release it fast.
  • In the end, the hypothesis from the data needs to be executed and validated as quickly as possible.
  • Measuring a successful game depends on the context of each studio, it can be from the capital spent or from the size of the team.
  • If we don’t have time to add content to the game, we can slow down the player’s progress by dividing the stage then complicating the final stage or limiting the amount of access (hearts, energy, etc.), these methods can also be used as opportunities for monetization.
  • If your game is a competitive experience, don’t monetize skill boosters that ruin the balance of the competition.

Lucky Putra

  • Reskins of small games with nothing improved and poor monetization make your game unmarketable.
  • Narrative game problems: (1) no hook in the first 5 minutes, (2) lack of in-game interaction, (3) not free player friendly, (4) players wait too long for new content.
  • Things to consider: (1) prepare a clear monetization from the beginning, (2) pay attention to the matrix of the early game, (3) hook the first 5 minutes, (4) think about the live-ops plan, (5) optimize game performance.
  • There’s no need to set grandiose targets, being able to pay employee salaries and create an okay portfolio is enough to open up new opportunities (business deals, benchmark the next project).
  • Tips when sharing on social media: The caption must be personal and look for the right moment, tell the purpose of why making this game and tell our personal background.
  • Tips for making survey questions: make directed questions according to the feedback we expect, don’t give open questions, start with generic questions then deepen them in the next question.

Suyono

  • Why make games for a niche audience? It’s more guaranteed and targeted (even though the pool is smaller, you can get more out of it), it’s more fun (what we make is what we understand), the fans are more hardcore (loyal).
  • Don’t daydream too much, there are things that you will discover on your own as time goes by.
  • Just make it, just make it. The negative thing about too many guides is that there are more gatekeepers (thoughts that make it difficult for you) to start something.
  • Failure is part of the process and an inevitability, there is no need to be overly afraid.
  • Tips for applying the principle of just making things: don’t look from a gamedev perspective, don’t start from what you want to make, but focus on making games that you and others want to play.
  • New features are rough first, polish later, they don’t necessarily work and prevent you from burnout.
  • Community can happen naturally as long as the game is good, you can also direct people to join your community or design the game to be suitable for the community.
  • Data is important as long as you can read data, if you can’t read data, you don’t know which data is relevant.
  • There is no one right way for all because people’s execution skills vary, and in the end, the market is the judge.

The longer you’re in gamedev, the more you’ll feel your skill is the inhale skill :v

Julio Andryanto

  • No need to make tools/anything from scratch, our focus is to make a good game.
  • Don’t spend a lot of time on things that require talent instead of time to learn.
  • Mobile game business model is a live service, which needs content all the time.
  • If the core mechanic is not proven in the market, it’s better to kill it.
  • We can’t add people to an organization without a system where everyone doesn’t know what to do, we need project management and organizational structure.
  • If you have an idea directly executed without project management it will be chaotic, the project cannot be managed and extended.
  • Things that must be proven in the development stage: product risk (core loop, meta game), marketing risk (theme, artstyle).
  • PBN Framework: proven (mechanics that have been tested in the market), better (improvements made), new (USP).
  • Build games that can grow: higher LTV (string game mechanics) > lower CPI (approachable art) = positive ROI
  • Artstyle has a big influence on FTUE (first time user experience), for that CTR (metric people want to click) must be high first.
  • Test the game on the right target audience. Use Facebook ads, it is not recommended to share in your friends’ social media circles, to avoid bias.
  • Metrics & KPIs are the core of the free to play mobile game business.

If you want to create a company, first focus on your team, then the product.

Batam Panelist

  • Although we use data, in the end we use feelings to make decisions, the data actually supports our feelings.
  • Although we use feelings, in the end our decisions must be based on data, if during discussions everyone uses feelings, whose feelings do we want to believe?
  • Don’t trust your feelings if 50% of your time is not spent forming those feelings, also use references that already work as support for feelings.
  • In the end, the one who judges our product is the market, so don’t let our product judge us and never release the game.
  • In the end, the effective way of the team varies depending on our strength points, some have the capability and time to grow the existing team skills (improve weaknesses), some choose to convince other people who have the capability to join the team (prioritize strengths).
  • With a community, we can reduce development costs and accelerate validation to the market because core players gather there.
  • Community is important for us to build, but before that, first find our identity as a game developer in which direction, don’t let us invest in things that we are not ready to harvest.
  • For bigger projections, target audiences to countries with high purchase conversions first, then look for the same user base that exists locally, so when we test we can test locally.
  • To start with low risk (low CPI), we can start from the local target audience because we are more reachable.
  • If you succeed without failing, you don’t appreciate failure. If you fail, you are one step ahead of those who haven’t failed yet.
  • Always have a plan B ready, so that you can totally stick to plan A without fear, in the end you have to be able to keep going.
  • Tips for surviving in the gaming industry: (1) just make it, (2) networking, (3) invest in skills other than gamedev, (4) consistently finish the job, get the full lesson.

Andi Taru

  • In making a game, there are various considerations such as genre, location, and technical platform.
  • Resource considerations include man power (number of workers), time (time and money), skill (level of complexity), and moment (trend).
  • There are several ways to monetize games, such as through advertising (banner, interstitial, rewarded, etc), in-app (item purchase, subscription), or premium (paid games).
  • What is your goal in making a game? Money, fun, or impact.
  • To earn Rp 5 million per month, it can be done through in-app advertising (20k players per month), paid game sales (1500 buyers per month), or through projects (1 project worth 60 million, 10 projects worth 6 million, 100 projects worth 600k).
  • Creating games with the goal of helping others can be done through educational games, social campaigns, or serious games (games for training).
  • Sweet Spot: reaching the intersection of making money, mastering skills, and enjoying the process.
  • Problem-solution Fit: the game must be truly entertaining and appealing to the right target audience.
  • Scaling up the business can be done through increasing quantity (advertising and in-app purchases, increasing the number of games), quality (paid games, increasing purchase conversion), and market share (reaching a wider market).
  • The game development industry has high risks, but also high profit potential.

“Dreams are not what you see in your sleep, dreams are things that do not let you sleep” ~ Cristiano Ronaldo.

Agung Subagiyo

  • Combining the hobbies we love with the skills we have: when we are enthusiastic about a hobby, we will know what makes it fun, and from there we can find the potential in producing other products.
  • The most difficult part of making a game is estimating cost, time, and quality.
  • Effective marketing is when users themselves promote (through sharing content or social networks).
  • Performance on low-spec mobile devices: build size will affect the number of users who can reach the game, and frame rate will affect playability on common devices.
  • Make sure to use third-party tools that are consistently maintained by the developer.
  • Basic app store rituals: select relevant keywords, use screenshots that clearly illustrate, use unique icons, implement important features of the platform (leaderboards, achievements, cloud storage, etc), respond to user reviews.
  • Include important keywords for discoverability, and be specific in the description.
  • Use A/B testing on marketing media such as icons, screenshots, campaign images, and so on.
  • Don’t rely solely on reviews to identify issues, use feedback from other tools (consoles, analytics, etc), as only a small percentage of users leave reviews.
  • Engagement and performance: D1-D30 retention rate and duration per session need to be improved, an important factor for Android is its vitality which affects the visibility of the game on Google Play.
  • We can judge the extent to which people like our game by their facial expressions, not just by their words.
  • Mobile game players don’t have a lot of time to play, so make sure the user experience/usability is simple and responsive in situations that distract the player.
  • The health of games in a region is measured by the formula: (revenue / number of downloads) > (marketing budget / number of downloads)

The success of a game is seen in financial terms, how well it converts.

Jessica Hartanto

  • Use trends as a way to attract players, use tools like Google Trends.
  • After knowing the trends, give our game a unique value so that it is not too common.
  • CPI (Cost Per Install) on iOS is 3 times higher compared to Android. The global average CPI in 2023 is $2.24.
  • Using content creator endorsers can help reduce the CPI cost.
  • Lessons learned: game design greatly affects game retention, use tools commonly used in the industry to solve technical problems, and don’t rely on just one product or platform.
  • If you want to make a game, it’s important to have people who can do marketing, or at least we should know how to market it.
  • Work experience is essential to understand how the industry works, such as project management, team organization, and running a business.
  • How to find the right endorser: find and make a list of content creators who are relevant to their content, their audience, and our product, then find out their level of engagement and fees professionally, and finally make an offer accordingly.

Failure is part of the process to success, so don’t be afraid to face it.

Eldwin Viriya

  • Even if we get lucky with one game, the question is whether we can repeat the success?
  • Even if the revenue is not as big as the successful game, the game should be able to support the team and grow.
  • While it’s not the ideal business decision, if what gets you going is the team, don’t sacrifice the team, adapt to new things to stay afloat, and try changing the business model.
  • If there is an assumption that making games based on trends will quickly disappear, go back to the way of development and how to read data, because at that time we are not only making games, but also building a business.
  • Find our strengths, re-value them, and find out if we can replicate the formula for success.
  • Everyone has a different journey, some moments cannot be compared, this is our personal journey and process, choose our own path and be aware of the choices we make, in the end we are dealing with ourselves and asking ourselves.
  • For specific user acquisition, the cost will be affected by the extent to which the trend exists in the market, the easier the keyword is searched and presented, the cheaper the acquisition cost.
  • It is not advisable to use marketing budget other than revenue, figure out the lifetime value of our game, allocate revenue to marketing budget.
  • If your game follows the trend, release it immediately to get organic traffic.
  • Choose the right platform: (1) What is our game type? (2) How to find a suitable community for our game? (3) Use relevant social media.
  • An important business relationship to understand is the exchange of value with clients, whether they are looking for a good fit or value for money, and clients only work with people they can trust.

Don’t put all our eggs in one basket.

Surakarta Panelist

  • The way to recognize our strengths in the field of game development is to deeply discover what we enjoy about the things we love, and then turn them into a game that we can share with others.
  • A practical way to recognize our strengths is to explore many games, pay attention to current trends, and hone relevant skills.
  • For B2C, it requires market research and validation, for B2B, it requires pitches and portfolios, and for B2G, it requires understanding the bureaucracy. Focus on just one of these aspects for maximum results.
  • There is no choice of work that is better or worse than the other. The most important thing is to have clear goals and a commitment to achieve them, and remain flexible in the process.
  • There is no instant success in achieving perfect results. Every journey has a learning curve where we need to go through a lot of learning to achieve success.
  • Our goal in making a game is not only for ourselves, but also for others who will play it.
  • From a business perspective, a good game is a game that makes money, and a good team is a team that can create games that make money.
  • Start with confidence and act, then seek validation and find ways to survive.
  • Before deciding to enter the gaming industry, understand the risks and your current financial situation, and make sure to have a plan B if needed.

Watch the Full Roadshow At

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVUyIfQWnm-EnPV53GdCtNhkhA7aA5ELv