The head of the publisher Supersonic Studios gave advice to developers of hyper-casual games

What do publishers of hyper-casual games expect from developers? The general manager of Supersonic Studios answered this question and told why marketing in this area is more important than development. We have selected the main tips from his material.Nadav Ashkenazy, who took over Supersonic in February this year, wrote a column for GamesIndustry.biz .

In his text, he identifies four main points that developers of hyper-casual projects should focus on.

First marketing — then developmentbefore developing a hyper-casual game, it is worth checking how competitive it will be in this area;

• it is necessary to find the concept with the highest number of installations per thousand impressions (IPM) and the lowest installation price (CPI).
• This is due to the low average amount of revenue per user in games of this type;Ashkenazi advises to first make a prototype with several levels and start full-fledged development only if the CPI is acceptable;
• “Don’t make this mistake and don’t spend two months on a game that has no potential — this is a sure way to spend all the money.

Instead, remember: “Failures should be cheap and fast” — and constantly come up with new concepts,” Ashkenazi advises.

• The head of Supersonic Studios believes that the most viable ideas are born from proven hyper-casual mechanics in combination with global and YouTube trends (for example, toilet paper-related games during a pandemic);marketing orientation will help the publisher understand that the game being developed will not become a random hit, and its creators will be able to release successful projects on a regular basis.
• Development speed

if the game is based on trends, it is necessary to act quickly — otherwise an idea that has shown good results at the concept stage may fail after a protracted development;

• Ashkenazi believes that ideally, no more than a month should pass from the development to the launch of the game: “Publishers should be sure that developers are able to quickly turn their concept into a finished product of the highest quality”;
• in addition to speed, publishers also look at the overall quality of gameplay mechanics, design and visual side of projects.
• Analytics above all

Ashkenazi notes that publishers are primarily interested in the profitability of the project.

• To do this, developers must be able to carefully collect and analyze data to improve the game both before and after release;developers should understand that the main work begins only after the release.
• In addition to analytics, it is necessary to release constant updates in order to retain users.It is important to be a team player

publishers, first of all, are looking for partners with whom it will be comfortable to work.

• Ashkenazi also talks about the importance of understanding your strengths and weaknesses.
• Developers should not have problems with delegating responsibilities in areas where they lack competence.;”We are looking for partners who understand which aspects they should focus on, and in which they should pass the baton to us,” Ashkenazi notes.
• Also on the topic:
  

• ironSource has launched Supersonic Games, a developer and publisher of hyper—casual gamesHoma Games has announced a competition for developers of hyper-casual games
• Tenjin has published a marketing benchmark of hyper-casual games for the first half of 2020
• Is there any news?