How to Find Success
on Android
David Worle
VP of Content Acquisition
WildTangent Games
The Platform Battle
Market Share
Revenue Performance
4
Epic Fail by Google and App Stores
Early Problems
Unknown DRM
No filter for content
No carrier billing
Side-loading Apps
Broken games, security concerns
Confused market - forcing everyone through Google
Checkout
• Device confusion, fragmentation
• Android OS versions constantly changing
•
•
•
•
•
•
5
What’s Been Missing?
No curated store
Is this a
self-fulfilling
prophecy?
Payments not
seamless
Customers seem
less willing to pay,
expecting to get
free stuff
Lack of readymade audience
Porting old
content, not taking
advantage of new
platform
Massive Consumer Adoption of Android
Internet Device Sales Forecast
Android Growth
Over 850,000 new
Android devices
activated each day
• Total number of Android
devices worldwide = 300
million
Android continues to • Gartner and comScore report
Android has over 50% market
dominate the
share of smartphones
smartphone market
worldwide and in U.S.
Android's U.S.
• At same time, Apple's iOS lost
market share
ground dropping to 29% from
jumped to 61% last
41%.
quarter from 49%
What do Android Games Need to Succeed?
5 Elements Required
Fantastic
Content
Execution
Multiple
Business
Model
Support
Billing
Ease
Exposure
Mutual partnership between content creators and distributors
Multiple Business Model Support
Not all Content Is
Equal
 Retail Price
(games can be worth
more than .99₵)
 Rental
 Advertising
 Item Purchase
 Subscription
Execution – What’s your plan to work with
partners?
Dedicated Account Manager
Make a
Fantastic
Game
Communication Plan
•Price changes, release dates, prerelease build up, alerts for new builds
Stripped APKs
Find Good
Distribution
Partners
Test
Game on
Relevant
Devices
•No 3rd party ad networks, analytics or
social networks (unless there is no tie
to a store)
Well-organized asset delivery
•Marketing copy!
•Layered art files
•Main game image that works for small
and large sizes
Be easy to work with.
Confidential
Making Sense of the Operating System
Most widely used versions of Android on GooglePlay
Gingerbread
65%
86%Froyo
21%
Data updated May 1, http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html
Non-Curated
Top 10 RevenueProducing Devices
1. Samsung SGH-i997
2. Samsung SGH-i727
3. Samsung SGH-i897
4. Samsung SGH-i777
5. HTC PD98120
6. LG LG-P925
7. Motorola MB865
8. Motorola MB860
9. Samsung SGH-i717
10.Pantech P8000
Top 10 Paid Games
1. Draw Something $1.99
2. Angry Birds Space Premium
$.99
3. Cut the Rope $.99
4. Where’s My Water $.99
5. Mine Craft Pocket Edition
$6.99
6. Fruit Ninja $1.22
7. Osmos HD $2.99
8. Cut the Rope: Experiments
$.99
9. Grand Theft Auto III $4.99
10.Doodle Jump $.99
Confidential
15
vs. Curated - Verizon App Store
Top 10 Revenue
Producing Devices
1. Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
2. Motorola Droid RAZR
3. Motorola Droid Bionic
4. HTC Droid Incredible 2
5. Motorola Doid X2
6. HTC ThunderBolt LTE
7. Samsung Charge
8. Motorola Droid X
9. Samsung Galaxy Tab
10.Motorola Droid 3
*Monthly Subscription Cost
Top 10 Paid Games
1. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
$3.99*
2. Battlefield Bad Company
$7.99
3. Dead Space $ 3.99*
4. Fruit Ninja $2.99
5. Bejeweled 2 $1.99*
6. Assassin’s Creed HD $1.99
7. Plants Vs Zombies $2.99
8. The Sims 3 $3.99*
9. Madden NFL 12 $2.99*
10.Modern Combat 2: Black
Pegasus HD $2.99*
Confidential
Curated Benefits
Verizon Apps
• greater visibility with smaller hand-picked
catalog
Advanced filters
• protecting publishers from copywriter
infringement
Developer community support
• test and optimize device development
Additional billing models
• monthly recurring subscriptions for monetizing
consumers
Carrier Direct Billing
• single option for payment removes confusion
on consumer’s end
Knowing Your Customer
Recent survey results of our audience regarding their
operating system
Who Is The Typical Android Consumer?
Skeeter
Uncle Slappy
Gregory
There is no typical
customer, everyone
is a special
snowflake
Maggie
Meg Ryan
19
Rules for Game Design
• KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
People will NOT read
3 menu screens is 3 too many
UI should be unnoticeable
Game mechanics (for phones) must be INTUITIVE
Men hunt and compete
Women collect and cooperate
Find the value in your game and charge for it
20
You Have to Become a Crossover Artist
1. Apply the KISS rule
2. Passion + Hook = Emotion 
congratulations, you just
connected with your audience
3. Burn from the first bar
4. Make a game you want to play
5. Passion INSPIRES people
…Inspired people buy things
Taylor –
Owns an HTC
Sensation
21
Spend Time At Retail
Say what?
• Watch how people shop, this can help inform your
presentation sales strategy
• We are not rational creatures
• Ok I admit it, I liked the pink dinosaur
• Your game is your retail product, design it to sell
22
Don’t drink the Kool-Aid
• All purchasable games need not be 99 cents
• All successful games won’t only be in game purchase
• Having your game in 1 location is not all you need
WildTangent Android Test Devices
Acer Iconia A500 (3.0 Tablet)
Acer A700 (4.0 Tablet) – Pre-release
Archos 101 (4.0.3 Tablet)
Asus Eee Pad Transformer (4.0 Tablet)
Motorola Droid Razr (2.3.5 Phone)
Motorola Atrix (2.2.1 Phone)
Motorola Droid X (2.2 Phone)
Motorola Xoom (3.2 Tablet)
Pantech Element (3.2 Tablet)
Sidekick 4G (2.2.1 Phone)
Sony Xperia Ray (2.3.3 Phone)
Toshiba Titan (4.0.3 Tablet) – Pre-release
Toshiba Sphinx (4.0 Tablet) – Pre-release
Toshiba Blade (4.0 Tablet) – Pre-release
Toshiba Thrive 7” (3.2 Tablet)
Virgin Venture (2.3.5 Phone)
HTC EVO 3D (2.3 Phone)
HTC Wildfire S (2.3.3 Phone)
Huawei Phoenix (2.3 Phone)
Kindle Fire (Custom 2.3 Tablet)
Lenovo K1 (3.1 Tablet)
LG Optimus (2.3.3 Phone)
LG Slate (3.0.1 Tablet)
Samsung Galaxy 10.1 (3.0 Tablet)
Samsung Galaxy Nexus (4.0 Phone)
Samsung Galaxy Note (2.3.6 Phone)
Samsung Galaxy S (2.2.1 Phone)
Samsung Galaxy SII (2.3.3 Phone)
Samsung Galaxy 7.0 (2.2 Tablet)
On Deck
HTC One S/X
Motorola Photon
Sharing Information
WildTangent is publishing a White Paper in June.
Working with device manufacturers and carriers gives
us access to all sorts of inside data and news.
david.worle@WildTangent.com
Platform
Codename
API Level
Distribution
Android 1.5
Cupcake
3
0.30%
Android 1.6
Donut
4
0.70%
Android 2.1
Eclair
7
5.50%
Android 2.2
Froyo
8
20.90%
Android 2.3 -
Gingerbread
9
0.50%
10
63.90%
11
0.10%
Android 3.1
12
1.00%
Android 3.2
13
2.20%
14
0.50%
15
4.40%
Android 2.3.2
Android 2.3.3 Android 2.3.7
Android 3.0
Android 4.0 Android 4.0.2
Android 4.0.3 Android 4.0.4
Honeycomb
Ice Cream
Sandwich