How to Choose which game to develop — Azur Games story

Each team faces a question: how to choose a game for development. Azur Games producer Artur Mostovoy shared with App2Top.ru the way the company decides to launch a new product into production.

Artur MostovoyThe first stage is the idea

It all starts with an idea. When searching for it, we start from a number of factors:

• games we play;
• the latest trends in the market;
• softlonchey strong teams.

In addition, we conduct a marketing analysis at the stage of selecting an idea. We are looking at:

• the tops of the platforms, their revenue and those metrics that are publicly available;
• market trends (App Annie, SuperData);
• the potential audience of the new game, its size and intersections with the target setting (FB Audience Insights, for example).

In addition, already at this stage we are planning a marketing strategy with tests and researching promotional materials that will be suitable for a future project.

Due to the fact that we try to keep abreast of what is happening in the market, we always have a few ideas in our backlog. We understand what is worth developing today, and what is likely to resonate with users.

The second stage is a concept document

Just an idea that looks good on paper is not enough to make a decision. Many questions need to be answered. This is possible only if the idea is clearly and comprehensively formulated.

The latter involves writing a concept document. Most often it is a document that consists of several pages with key details and theses: genre, setting, style, format of the game, the target audience of the product. It includes the USP, the main set of core and meta features, as well as the type of monetization. After reading such a file, a clear image of the future product should form in your head.

The third stage is a critical evaluation of the concept

The project is evaluated from two sides: creative and technical.

The creative side

The creative part is the territory of experience, sensations, visions.

You turn the image in your head and think: “Would I play this? Do I believe that a lot of people will play this? Why should they choose this particular game among others?”.

Then the project is discussed with experienced people in the company who share their opinions. If the experts like the idea, if they light up — you can move on.

Technical side

The technical part is measured: it is calculated and tracked in numbers.

For example, as part of the technical part, we ask ourselves how many competitors our concept has in the chosen niche, how we differ from them (here in detail, up to each feature, the level of graphics, stylistics and setting).

It is important to look at the metrics of similar products, as well as their audience. Accordingly, the project itself should fit into the budget for resources and have potential in the market within the framework of low competition and unique USPS.

However, unfortunately, it is impossible to guarantee that the chosen niche will be free in the future. You can check the stores for the presence of projects in the segment. However, the absence of a large number of games in it does not mean that this situation will continue a year later, and clones of popular games will not fill this niche.

The popularity of niches, as well as the size of their audience, often varies depending on events in the global market. For example, the release of a thematic blockbuster with a large marketing budget generally raises interest in a particular genre around the world.

We try to make products within the niches in which we have expertise. We usually have in this case:

a) developments that can be immediately used in a new project (architectural solutions, design features);
b) understanding how much time and resources will be spent on the development of the game;
c) understanding at the design level what works in such games and what doesn’t.

Also, when evaluating the concept, we calculate its cost.

For a detailed calculation of the project, a task scope is formed together with future project leaders. This determines the overall complexity of the work and the specifics of individual parts of the project.

After that, it becomes clear what level of specialists and in what quantity will be required.

Then the preliminary budget is calculated (time x costs).

If the product falls out of the existing framework in terms of budget and time, you can try to cut the scope. But after that, it is necessary to look at the project again and understand whether it has potential in a truncated form.

We try not to take into development products that, according to our estimates, will take more than nine months before the soft launch. If you do not meet these deadlines, there is a risk of falling out of the trend, losing focus, losing speed to competitors.

The fourth stage is demand testing

One of the important stages of working on the concept is checking the demand for the product by the market. We consider the potential demand for the product in one or two stages. It depends on how confident the internal “greenlight” of the product is in technical and creative parts.

If we are not fully confident in the potential of the project, we prepare creatives and promotional materials for the project as if it already exists. We conduct marketing tests on them.

There are, of course, not without nuances. The role of materials are art, not screenshots of gameplay, the video is selected from a similar project with modifications. All this can negatively affect conversions. But at this stage it is possible to roughly understand the fundamental relevance of the game to the audience.

If we are already confident in the product, we prepare a vertical section of the project for the softlonch. That is, according to the concept, a minimal content product is created, in which there is a necessary and sufficient package of features and content for the primary analysis of metrics and feedback.

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All the above actions and methods are directed by us to reduce the risks in the selection and production. With this approach, the cost of testing the hypothesis of each new game and the probability of error becomes lower — but there is a certain limit here. No one can say with certainty that this or that product will become a worldwide hit and be right in 10 out of 10 cases. But it is possible to reduce risks and hone the approach, increasing the probability of success.