Saifi Ismail – Group President – Yalla Group Limited.
Launching a new app game is no simple feat. With a saturated market that already includes approximately 460,000 games on the Apple App Store and 390,000 on Google Play, it’s tough to launch an app game that gets attention, draws in players and keeps them playing long term. If you’re in the process of developing an app game and you want a better chance of breaking through in the market, the key is figuring out what players truly want.
Success Takes Time
Our most recently released app game took over two years to build from concept to completion. Coding, marketing, testing and launching took up a large part of this time frame, but it all started with the most critical step in product development: market research.
The importance of market research cannot be overstated. If done correctly, market research will tell you what players want, how they spend money in the games they play, what features they are most likely to engage with and so much more. If you want to create a game app that breaks through the noise of hundreds of thousands of competitors, market research should be among the first and most time-intensive steps you take.
Tips For Finding Out What Your Players Want
Our team has launched countless app games, and in my experience, there are certain foundational aspects of player behavior that must be defined by market research to create a successful game. Make sure you’re addressing these aspects when researching the market for your next game.
1. Drill Down On The Psychology Of Your Market
Analyze the user characteristics of your target market, including their gaming behavior and payment psychology, to design a game that meets user expectations. What do they get out of playing app games? Is it a social connection to the other players? Is it a sense of mastery and purpose by honing skills and tracking progress? Is it a mindless escape from a tough day?
Ask why your players play and what inspires them to spend money within a game. Then use those answers to design key features that appeal to their desires.
2. Look At What’s Already Working
Assess newly released games, especially those that have received good user feedback. At Yalla, we closely monitor the latest games from other developers and our own similar products to see what users are saying, how they’re playing and what’s working really well. Then we look for ways we can replicate or iterate on them.
Look for features that are used often and tend to generate revenue. Some of the features we have found that play well with users include being able to switch between player-versus-player and player-versus-environment battles, live voice chat among players and regular in-game events and challenges.
3. Find Out Where Your Players Play
The great thing about app games is that they don’t require buying an expensive gaming console to access, making them accessible to a larger audience. We make sure our games are offered on both Google Play and the Apple App Store so Android and iPhone users can access them. The more widely we cast a net, the larger share of the market we hope to catch. If your market research shows that your players tend heavily toward Android over Apple or vice versa, you may choose to list your game on only one platform.
Invest In Market Research Now For Success Later
Market research for game app development might not seem like the most exciting part of the process, but the information it reveals can be priceless. When you learn what makes your players tick, why they play and how they like to engage with app games, you’re exponentially more likely to launch a game that cuts through the noise and delivers success.
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