Mobile Games Playbook

We are a bit starstruck in this episode of The Movile GameDev Playbook, with guest Richard Bartle! Listen in to learn more about best practices for audience design, taxonomies of players and how they can help developers design better, more engaging mobile games. Richard joins the podcast to discuss his impressive career, including how he created the Multi-User Dungeon - or simply MUDs - the forebearer of the multiplayer online role-playing genre and how he developed the Bartle Taxonomy Player Types. Head of Analytics at GameRefinery by Vungle, Joel Julkunen, also joins the conversation to discuss the influence  Bartle's player types have had on GameRefinery's own taxonomy and the subtle difference between mobile and MMORPG players. You can now find The Mobile GameDev Playbook on video and all the usual podcast platforms. Thanks for listening!

In this episode of The Mobile GameDev Playbook, we’re discussing how to utilize player insight to help build better games. We look into the tips, tools, and techniques game developers can use to understand what their players want so that they’ll keep coming back for more.Market-research platform PickFu joins this episode to discuss how game developers have collected user feedback using their service, along with mobile game studio Mojiworks, which uses data-led design in their game development process. Dive deep into the topic with host Jon Jordan, GameRefinery’s Chief Game Analyst Erno Kiiski and special guests John Li, co-founder of PickFu, and Jen Bolton, VP of Player Insights at Mojiworks. Thanks for listening! 

In this episode of The Mobile GameDev Playbook we discuss the common struggles game developers face when monetizing their games and provide some top tips to ensure optimal ROI on mobile gaming ad monetization. We also take a deep dive into the current mobile app monetization strategy and how it might change post IDFA. Will high IAP monetization games survive the change? Kolibri Games brings their expertise to the panel today, as a games publisher, with their most notable mobile titles including “Idle Miner Tycoon” and “Idle Factory Tycoon”, with the former reaching over 100 million downloads worldwide. This episode also takes us through Kolibri’s humble beginnings from being founded in a student dorm to building an 120 strong team based out of Berlin. Host Jon Jordan is joined by GameRefinery's Head of Product & Ad Intelligence Lauri Heikkinen and special guest Nate Barker, Director of Business Development at Kolibri. Thanks for listening! 

Episode 13 brings you insight into the winners and finalists of GameRefinery’s very first Mobile GameDev Awards in 2021. These new annual awards aim to reward design and innovation in the mobile game industry by developers in the US, China and Japan. In this episode, GameRefinery’s analysts and partner judge from Luna Labs discuss a few of the award categories and what made the winners stand out from the competition - what is their secret?Award categories discussed include Innovation and Excellence in Core Gameplay, Best Evolver, and Best in-game Event. Host Jon Jordan is joined by GameRefinery's Chief Analysts Erno Kiiski, Kalle Heikkinen, and Teemu Palomäki and special guests John Wright, Vice President of Operations at Luna Labs. Thanks for listening! 

In this first podcast of 2021, The Mobile GameDev Playbook unveils what might be in store for the new year and the mobile gaming industry - it’s a fully packed episode! We discuss how the pandemic’s development might affect industry growth in 2021 and how gaming habits might evolve in the post-COVID era. We also explore future potential trends for the Match 3 genre, the expansion of the casual gaming market in China, as well as the recent increase of mobile game collabs. Host Jon Jordan is joined by GameRefinery's Chief Analysts Kalle Heikkinen, Erno Kiiski and Wilhelm Voutilainen.Thanks for listening! 

As the end of the year approaches, this episode of the MobileGameDev Playbook will take a look back at what 2020 has had to offer the mobile gaming industry. We’ll delve into the key trends to come out of this eventful year, including the rise of social mechanics, changes to location-based AR games to fit COVID lockdown restrictions, as well as some of the secrets behind Genshin Impact’s success. To wrap the year up, we’ll also do some forward-thinking about what might be in store for the industry in 2021.Host Jon Jordan is joined by GameRefinery's Chief Analysts Kalle Heikkinen, Erno Kiiski and Wilhelm Voutilainen.Thanks for listening! 

In the latest episode of the Mobile GameDev Playbook, we examine what it takes to design a profitable game economy. We uncover the best monetisation strategies for mobile game developers, as well as how to plan and execute these strategies to boost a free-to-play mobile game’s potential revenue. From the planning of in-game economic structures to applying an enticing value exchange for players, this episode covers all the bases for developers looking to maximise their game’s chances of financial success. We’re joined by game design consultancy Mobile Game Doctor that specialises in bringing together experienced game designers from all over the world to help promote global game design health and creative well-being for its clients. Host Jon Jordan is joined by GameRefinery's Chief Analyst Erno Kiiski and special guests Dave Rohl, Chief Executive Officer and Raymond Holmes, Consulting Designer at Mobile Game Doctor. Thanks for listening!

Apple shocked the mobile advertising world this summer when it gave a two months’ notice of a seismic change in how mobile advertising campaigns would be targeted, measured and evaluated with the arrival of iOS14 and IDFA changes. Luckily, with these changes now likely taking place in early 2021 instead, mobile game developers and advertisers have some more time to plan accordingly and explore new ways to build their acquisition and attribution strategies. But what is IDFA? What do the upcoming changes really mean? And most importantly, what marketing and tracking technologies will be available for the mobile games industry instead?In this episode of the Mobile GameDev Playbook, we focus on Apple's iOS14 ad feature updates and how to best prepare for them. Host Jon Jordan is joined by GameRefinery's Head of Product, Lauri Heikkinen, as well as special guest Alasdair Pressney, Product Manager at AdColony - one of the world's largest mobile advertising platforms, with a reach of 1.5billion users globally. Thanks for listening! 

Social Games are the hot topic for Episode 8 of the Mobile GameDev Playbook, where we delve into understanding what the must-have features that help create global hits are. We are joined by the expertise of Teatime Games who will share the lessons learnt from their amazing success with mobile game 'QuizUp', which has now accumulated over 100 million downloads. As well as talking about feature-level specifics, Teatime Games uncovers how they reached the top of the US App Charts in only two weeks with 2 million users, as well as their recent success with their brand new game, Trivia Royale. From avatars and AR emoticons, to chat rooms and other social mechanics, this episode explores why social features in games could be the missing piece in the puzzle for developers looking to maximise their game's success and monetisation. Host Jon Jordan is joined by GameRefinery's Chief Analyst Erno Kiiski and special guest Thor Fridriksson, CEO of Teatime Games. Thanks for listening! 

Drawing from insights gained from Facebook and GameRefinery's brand new report on mobile gaming genres, this episode of the Mobile GameDev Playbook delves into the popular RPG Genre.  Titled 'Genre and great games - Understanding Audiences and Designing Better Mobile Games', the report provides valuable genre-level insight across mobile games in the US, UK, South Korea and Japan. With a specific eye on RPG’s, the podcast takes an in-depth look at genre fulfilment, community, monetisation and ad preferences for RPG’s. We’re joined by Facebook Gaming to explore the differences and similarities in RPG design across the four main markets as well as what RPG fans are looking for in their games. We'll also be exploring the winning features common to the most popular RPGs and how game developers can build games that their fans will genuinely love. GameRefinery's Chief Analyst Joel Julkunen joins host Jon Jordan along with special guest Deon Moh, Gaming Marketing Lead for APAC at Facebook. In this role, he not only drives the B2B marketing strategy for the region but also global gaming marketing initiatives for Facebook with the Genre and Great Games report being one of them.Take a look at the live report on the GameRefinery website: https://www.gamerefinery.com/genre-and-great-games-report/Thanks for listening!