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Many capabilities of major-grossing mobile games assist them retain and monetize players, but which are most productive and have the most important effect? To obtain out, GameRefinery analyzed the major 200 grossing iOS games in the U.S. and China, employing function-level analytics and industry insights from our platform. We then broke down the 5 most impactful capabilities in mobile games to show you how developers are employing them to drive greater income.
Gachas in RPGs
Gachas (aka loot boxes) are increasingly popular in mobile games, in particular RPGs. Gachas have a tendency to be tied into an comprehensive character roster, and there are several varieties in major-grossing RPGs. One of the most preferred is occasion-based gachas sold with bulk discounts to encourage players to get. AFK Arena on a regular basis delivers 800% worth packs for passing precise milestones. Fire Emblem Heroes delivers month-to-month one-use purchases that provide an “orb discount” along with a consumable bonus.
These events can also be tied to festive themes or a new tie-in license character, as we’ve observed with games such as AFK Arena and Assassins Creed.
Genshin Impact’s monetization focuses on gachas, exactly where players get characters and gear. This RPG monetization mechanic has been prominent with Asian developers and is gaining traction in Western markets. Genshin Impact normally has a couple of gachas active with diverse “featured characters” with greater drop prices. These “banner gachas” are how the game normally introduces its new characters by means of events and more.
Cosmetic products: skins and accessories
Although popularized by shooters in the West, cosmetic products have turn into a important income supply in a assortment of mobile genres, such as match-3 casual games. These decorative products augment the game by enabling players to express themselves, and there’s no impact upon the general game balance. Developers can also create promotions about exclusive, restricted-time content.
There are some important variations in the approaches these cosmetic products work across the genres. PUBG Mobile delivers cosmetics in the kind of character and weapon skins and numerous accessories, avatar icons, emotes and more. Access to these is usually behind numerous events, battle passes, gachas and other shops.
Apart from skins, other games supply players accessories as cosmetic products. One instance is June’s Journey, the major hidden object game in western markets. Its core gameplay consists of numerous hidden object levels, but its meta gameplay is about creating your “garden.” Players can create buildings and decorate the base as they see match. Events in the game are driven by collecting/acquiring new decorative buildings.
Guilds
Guild-based capabilities are becoming more preferred for retaining and engaging mobile players. Implementations of guild-based capabilities can differ in terms of functionality and degree of sophistication, such as asking for assist by means of more complicated co-op guild gameplay, guild competitions, and even communal tasks/ambitions and gifting.
Guilds have turn into in particular preferred in nontraditional games, creating their way from RPG’s to casual games such as Homescapes. It 1st released guilds with chat and straightforward send/ask lives capabilities to lay down to the foundations.
Then it began adding more guild-connected capabilities such as the Team Chest occasion, a co-op job exactly where guild members gather crowns from levels to add to a communal pool for rewards. It also added a Team Tournament occasion with equivalent mechanics to Team chest, but the guilds compete against each and every other to see who collects the most crowns.
Homescapes has also been experimenting with a “help your teammate” function exactly where guild members can full each and every other’s levels when they’re stuck.
Interestingly, we’ve observed Chinese games with a “double guild” technique, which pairs frequent guilds with a second, smaller sized one (normally restricted to 10 people today or so) to produce a a great deal tighter sense of neighborhood. An exceptional instance of this is Honor of Kings in China, which runs such a double technique.
Battle pass
The battle pass is amongst the quickest-developing capabilities in mobile games in the U.S. and China in the last 12 months. Fortnite ignited the battle pass mania, and then from there, it spread everywhere, even to the match-3 genre, exactly where we see a higher utilization of season passes.
Playrix was one of the 1st providers in the puzzle space to double down on battle passes. The Homescapes battle pass delivers numerous boosters for the player and collectible characters/regions for your household.
In a new twist on battle passes, the Chinese PvP game Battle of Balls lately launched a new occasion that incorporates co-op and partnership creating mechanics into the verified battle pass monetization mechanic. This suggests players pick a pal and “lock” them into the battle pass, then each players set out to acquire progress in the battle and jointly contribute to the similar battle pass progression.
Promotional collaboration events in RPGs
In turn-based RPGs with metagames that concentrate on character collection, the emergence of collaboration events and characters work exceptionally effectively collectively to increase player engagement and monetization. Time-restricted unique events are important to the results of these RPGs, and so the sweet spot is the introduction of exceptional character collaborations about these events.
One such instance is Nintendo’s Dragalia Lost, which has had various crossover events. In April 2019, it ran an occasion with the Fire Emblem franchise that incorporated a story-driven PvE campaign and restricted-time characters such as Alfonse and Marth. It then rolled out an occasion with Megaman in which players could get the Blue Bomber and exclusive gear. There was also a current collaboration occasion with the Monster Hunter franchise, like raid co-op battles and the dragon Rathalos.
Another instance of this crossover with Epic Seven and Kizuna, in which developer Smilegate rolled out an occasion in collaboration with virtual YouTube star Kizuna AI. During the occasion, players could add Kizuna to their hero roster and get Kizuna copies as day-to-day rewards.
Conclusion
As mobile games continue to evolve, developers will obtain new and fascinating approaches to introduce brand new mechanics or just create these currently there. With social events becoming ever-more preferred in mobile games, it will be intriguing to see what the next 12 months have in shop as the world gradually recovers from the pandemic and players venture outdoors more.
Kalle Heikkinen is the chief game analyst for China at GameRefinery by Vungle, offering function level analytics, industry insights, and benchmarks for the mobile gaming market.