How to Get the Best out of a Soft-Launch Campaign ��Soft Launch Insights
Soft Launch Insights
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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The Importance of a Soft Launch
Soft launching means releasing the game to a restricted audience and region to see if the product is ready to be released Worldwide.
The value of a Soft Launch lies in the first cohorts of users that can provide vital first indicators of the game’s quality, market potential, and attractiveness. Additionally, during this period, the game can be tested for bugs and further optimised prior to Worldwide release.
In order to have a successful Soft Launch, there are multiple factors to be considered. After researching the market opportunities, you need to set budgets, timelines and clear objectives to be followed and analysed throughout the soft launch period. Moreover, the countries where the game is initially available, also play a key-factor throughout the whole process.
Executive Summary
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The Importance of a Soft Launch
By Soft Launching a mobile game, developers can:
Optimize the game for global launch;
Lower the risk of failure;
Understand the game’s performance;
Understand the audience;
Collect feedback;
Optimize KPIs;
Optimize First Time User Experience;
A/B test tutorials;
Test creative assets;
Optimization
User and ASO Testing
Mitigate Risks
Collect Feedback
Soft Launch
Worldwide
Launch
Why is it Important to Soft Launch a game?
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Soft Launch Cycle
Soft Launch
Improve
Test KPIs and
performance
Repeat until targets are reached
Questions to Be Answered
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Focus
The focus of this research is on best soft-launch practices.
Our aim is to answer the following questions:
What KPI to look at?
Where is it best to soft launch a game?
When is it better to soft launch a game?
What do you need to check from a technical point of view?
What are the best user acquisition and ASO practices?
Methodology
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About the Data
The data used comes from several research papers and articles published by Apps Flyer, Adjust, Pocket Gamer and others. This can give us, not only a general idea about soft launching processes, but a closer look at best practices that help us prepare for a successful global release.
We also looked at certain information from top games in Soft Launch at the moment (August 2021) to estimate the best countries and time of the year for a release. Estimations are based on data between March 2020 and August 2021.
Best Practices
Things to Avoid
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Activities before Soft Launching
Activities Before Soft Launching
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Best Practices
Before soft launching a game, one should take into consideration several activities:
2. Budget and Timeline; Define the kill factor
It’s essential to anticipate costs and to acquire users.
A kill factor should be defined in this stage, so people know why you might stop the game or not.
At the end of the soft launch, if you have an LTV higher than the CPI, you might want to continue with the global launch; if not, you could continue improving the game (depending on the budget), or you could kill it.
1. Market research & Theme test
Define the target audience and the game’s genre, look at how other games are targeting users, who would play these kinds of games.
At the same time, test different creative aspects of the game, with campaigns that could be done through Facebook Ads. The one with the highest Click-through Rate could be chosen, since CTR can be improved in time by app store optimizations.
Activities Before Soft Launching
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Best Practices
3. Analytics - Make sure SDKs, media sources, and events are configured and enabled in your attribution platform, so you can collect data, analyze it and define benchmarks and KPIs. Keep an eye on UX and bug fixing, acquisition, retention, and monetization.
4. Technical Soft Launch - One of the best soft launch practices is to have the game released for an even more limited number of players (before starting the user acquisition campaigns), to validate that the build is ready from a technical point of view, before releasing it to a larger audience.
What you should look for:
Activities Before Soft Launching
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What to Avoid
Making emotions-driven decisions – if you continue with the game or want to kill it, it should be done only based on data, not on emotions and assumptions.
Skipping testing before releasing the game in Soft Launch.
Soft Launching without a plan – you should know WHAT to do and HOW to do it.
Assuming the player base will grow organically – paid marketing and paid user acquisition are needed to gather data so it can be properly analyzed.
Expecting the Soft Launch to save the game – a Soft Launch cannot improve the game if the metrics are not good enough.
Activities Before Soft Launching
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Takeaways
Before deciding to Soft Launch a game, there are several activities that one should take into consideration and that could help give a wider perspective of the game’s potential in the gaming market.
1. Research the market;
4. Set budgets and timelines;
3. Define objectives;
5. Validate the build from a technical point of view;
2. Collect and analyze data;
The future of the game should be decided only based on processed data, and not on hunches or speculations.
Overview
Language of the Game
Soft Launch 3-Stages Strategy
Technical Stage
Countries and Analytics
Top Countries by Platform
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Best Countries for Soft Launch
Best Countries for Soft Launch
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Overview
When it comes to the region you want to soft launch in, the key is to focus on countries with an overall similar culture to that of the target audience.
Some developers choose to soft launch in a Tier 1 market. The benefit is that it provides an insight into how the game is specifically performing in that region.
However, the risk of failure in this market is not something to ignore, recovering from the early negative perception of the game might be a struggle.
Best Countries for Soft Launch
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Overview
Some of the most popular soft launch countries of choice (for both iOS and Android) are Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. However, they are becoming more and more expensive.
According to a research done by Asodesk for 2020, there are some countries/regions that are not that expensive, but relevant:
Latin America – it’s a growing region for hyper-casual, casual, and social casino;
The Netherlands - multicultural population, with a high percentage of English speakers;
Russia – has a high percentage of mobile game players;
The Middle East – a fast-growing market in mobile games and hyper-casual categories.
Best Countries for Soft Launch
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Game Localization
Another key aspect of the release is game’s language. If the game is only available in English, you need to consider two strategies:
If the project has a simple gameplay with little to no text, the language has a minimal impact, and the game can be launched in almost any location;
If the game is a bit more complicated and needs to include more text, then, language has a larger impact. In this specific case, you need to go with an anglophone country or one with a large population of English speakers.
Best Countries for Soft Launch
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Soft Launch 3 - Stage Strategy
In soft launch, a project needs a lot of users and testing so the KPI can be improved to the desired level. There are three main stages when you can focus on various countries so you can bring the needed player cohorts.
1. The Technical Stage – 100-500 downloads;
Focus on Tier 3 countries (India, Philippines) – low UA and CPI cost;
Test the game’s stability and identify major bugs for the next stage.
2. The Retention Stage – 1,000-2,000 downloads;
Focus on Tier 3 countries (ex: Brazil) or even Tier 2 countries that exhibit a similar behaviour to your target audience; they can be more expensive than Tier 3 regions, but they still have low UA costs;
Make sure players are moving smoothly through funnels and they don’t drop/churn somewhere along the way.
3. The Monetization Stage – up to 10,000 downloads.
Best Countries for Soft Launch
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Countries and Analytics
The soft launch objectives will determine the target countries.
Philippines – ideal for UX tests and bugs; low CPI; high volume of users;
Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia – similar to Philippines, but slightly more expensive.
Focus on UX and bug fixing
FTUE funnel;
Progression;
User behaviour;
Time spent;
Bug reports.
Best Countries for Soft Launch
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Countries and Analytics
The soft launch objectives will determine the target countries.
Canada, Australia – used to simulate the American user's behaviour; high ARPPU, but costly;
New Zealand – similar to Canada and Australia, but more affordable and less competitive country;
Nordic Countries (Sweden, Finland, Denmark) – just like NZ and feature high monetization potential;
The Netherlands – lower CPI than Canada, Australia, and New Zealand; English is a widely spoken language;
Belgium – like the Netherlands; attractive ARPU;
United Kingdom – similar to the United States, a key target market for mobile games – usually to be avoided during soft launch testing, except for special circumstances
Focus on Acquisition & Retention
CPI
Retention rates
FTUE Performance
Focus on Monetization
In-App Purchases
ARPU, ARPPU, Buyers Rate
Ads monetization
eCPM, Fill Rate
Best Countries for Soft Launch
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Top 10 Soft Launch Countries by Platform
Analyzing top 55 games in soft launch in August 2021, the countries where most games have been launched on Android and iOS are, to some extent, the same, with Canada, Philippines and Australia in Top 3.
Best Countries for Soft Launch
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Takeaways
Choosing the right country for soft launch is a key factor. While Canada, Australia and New Zealand are some of the most popular choices, they are becoming more expensive, but there are several cheaper regions just as relevant: Latin America, The Netherlands, Russia, The Middle East.
Developers can choose to release their games based on their scope and this can be done in a 3-stage strategy.
App Store Optimization
User Acquisition
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Advertising the game
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Advertising the game
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App Store Optimization
One crucial step of user acquisition strategy is App Store Optimization.
As the name suggests, this consists in optimizing the store page so you can make sure you have the most appealing one ahead of the worldwide launch.
By doing store optimizations, you can:
Convert a maximum of users who land on the game’s page;
Optimize the costs of the advertising campaigns, encouraging more and more users to download the app.
Advertising the game
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ASO Elements
The soft launch stage is ideal to A/B test everything, from the game icon, screenshots, the trailer to the description.
Advertising the game
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Paid User Acquisition Scope
Paid User Acquisition campaigns for mobile games are an important part of the marketing strategy. They are carefully implemented to attract users to download the app and interact with the game.
Soft launches allow developers to test the market, therefore, user acquisition strategies can be tried, tested, and changed to fit in order to reduce the likelihood of a failure at launch.
Win the Soft Launch
Test the best creatives and channels to bring high quality users for the most competitive prices ahead of the worldwide launch
Boost monetization with high LTV users
Acquire high LTV users who drive revenue and monetization
Become noticed with interactive ads
Drive high install rates, engagement rates, and retention rates through impactful ad experiences
Advertising the game
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Paid User Acquisition Best Practices
Set up the app in your analytics tools of choice.
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Determine the ad networks (Facebook, Ironsource, Vungle, Twitter, Unity, etc.) – choose the network that is best aligned with the audience you’re trying to reach.
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Build the audiences for targeting – if you are unable at this point to build a test audience for your soft launch, you can work with the advertising partners to reach the ideal user cohorts.
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Launch the campaign on a consistent budget, pricing model and time frame, without adding too much variation
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Review the results and compare them against your desired outcome. Optimize accordingly before proceeding with a full launch.
5.
Advertising the game
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Paid User Acquisition
Reviewing results
Outcome data that you should be measuring New users (Installs);
Advertising the game
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Paid User Acquisition
Top 10 Networks
According to AppsFlyer Performance Index for H2 2020, these are the best network choices for user acquisition campaigns for mobile games.
1. Google Ads
2. Unity Ads
3. Facebook Ads
4. IronSource
5. Apple Search Ads
6. AppLovin
7. Vungle
8. Moloco Ads
9. AdColony
10. Liftoff
Advertising the game
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Takeaways
Advertising the game is crucial at this stage. Do App Store Optimizations to convert users who land on the game’s page and to optimize advertising campaigns costs.
In parallel, continuous paid user acquisition campaigns should be run to attract users to install and interact with the game. The soft launch stage allows developers to test the market and optimize campaigns to reduce the risk of failure at launch.
Besides testing the best creatives and channels at this point, high LTV users can be acquired, who can further drive revenue and monetization.
Overview
Soft Launch Months by Platform
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When to Soft Launch Your Game
When to Soft Launch Your Game
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We will take a look at top games currently in soft launch (since 2020 until August 2021), and see that there are, indeed, certain times of the year that seem to be more suitable to soft launch successfully. There is no guarantee, however, that soft launching a game at a certain date influences its success.
What we need to know is that the success a game can achieve in soft launch depends on multiple factors, the month of the release being only a small part of the whole package.
The time of the year when you choose to release the game worldwide seems more important than it is in this stage.
Overview
When to Soft Launch Your Game
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Soft Launch Months by Platform
Analyzing top 55 games in soft launch now (August 2021), it can be noticed that the least used months for soft launching a game on both platforms are January, March, April, and May. On the Android market, mid-spring (April) and mid-summer (July), along with December seem to be preffered by developers. On iOS, most games are released before winter holidays (November and December), followed by spring and mid-summer.
When to Soft Launch Your Game
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Takeaways
By analyzing top games currently in soft launch, it can be noticed that there are certain times of the year prefered by developers. However, there is no guarantee that soft launching the game in a certain month can have an influence on its success.
Releasing the game Worldwide seems more influenced by the time of the year, so in the soft launch stage, the time of the year is only a very small part from the whole package of factors that could contribute to the game’s success.
Brawl Stars
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Case Study
Successful Soft Launch
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Brawl Stars (Supercell)
Brawl Stars is a fast-paced 3v3, battle royale developed and published by Supercell, the makers of Clash of Clans and Clash Royale.
Released in soft launch in June 2017, Brawl Stars has been overhauled three times before being worldwide released, in December 2018, after 522 days in which virtually every aspect of the game was changed.
Predicting its global performance was a hard thing to do, but it seems that the long period of soft launch along with the changed the game suffered contributed to its route of becoming a hit in the mobile gaming industry.
Brawl stars emerged as a genre defining game. It borrowed elements from action-based titles (with focus on the accuracy of the shot) and MOBA titles (with a simplified 3v3 battle).
Successful Soft Launch
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Brawl Stars (Supercell)
Stages
Brawl Stars was initially launched on the Canadian App Store, where it racked up 600 thousand of installs in the first month alone. The soft launch was supported by many streamers from Clash Royale, Boom Beach and Clash of Clans, in parallel with a very active Reddit community.
Despite the overwhelming success it had in the first couple of months, it became clear that players demanded more and the first cracks in the game design started to appear.
Successful Soft Launch
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Brawl Stars (Supercell)
Controls – during AB tests, it has been observed that players prefferred playing with their thumbs (one to move the player around, the other to shoot), which was a difficult task in portrait mode.
Progression – with only 15 launch characters, the gacha system seemed shallow and too weak for players to get excited.
Gameplay – the lack of depth was enforced by the lack of content, leading to repetitiveness and lack of players’ motivation to play more.
Theme – starting with a Western style, the developers needed a more comprehensive one to create new and different characters.
Art style – the overall art style felt cheap, childish, and inconsistent.
Successful Soft Launch
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Brawl Stars (Supercell)
2. September 2017 - A massive update which focused on progression mechanics rather than the core gameplay.
The overhaul brought changes in the gacha contents – the players received upgrades from Brawl Boxes, the ability to pick abilities they wanted to upgrade, and duplicate brawlers were removed.
Each brawler received a unique Star Power that could be unlocked when the player had the brawler fully upgraded 🡪 additional mechanics were added and this way, the repetitivenes and the lack of depth of the gameplay were addresed.
Special events (opened once a week) were introduced to draw players back to the game.
Successful Soft Launch
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Brawl Stars (Supercell)
User interface (brawl screen, game rooms, in-game shop) was fully redone to make the game feel different and improved.
Game Room was improved and allowed users to enter friendly battles more easily and organize tournaments.
3. December 2017 – developers went after two biggest persistent issues: controlls and progression
The only way to fix the controlls issue was to move to a landscape format and auto-attack was added. However, this was not well-received by the community.
The progression system was changed again, and the upgrades added only a few months back were removed.
Successful Soft Launch
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Brawl Stars (Supercell)
4. May 2018 – massive update that brought:
Ultimately, the December 2018 update brought new skins and models, 3D maps upgrade, new UI, and game modes and social changes.
Successful Soft Launch
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Brawl Stars (Supercell)
Along with the multitude of changes that the game suffered in its long soft launch, Supercell tried to deliver consistent updates packed with new content.
Brawl Star also benefited of several mobile gaming markets where the audience responded positively.
In an interview with PocketGamer.biz, the Supercell game lead Frank Keienburg stated that:
“The game changed a lot over the years. […] Growing the audiences in several regions we either didn’t have on our radar (Eastern Europe, Russia, Turkey etcetera.) and markets where success was uncertain (South Korea) proved to be huge. That and trying to introduce new players that don't traditionally play Supercell games.”
Successful Soft Launch
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Takeaways
While predicting the game’s success was a tricky task, Supercell managed to transform Brawl Stars in a worldwide hit after a 522 day-long soft launch.
Brawl Stars emerged as a genre defining title, by borrowing elements from action-based and MOBA games.
After an initial success in Canada in June 2017, after the first few months, players demanded more from the game. This led to overhauls over the following ~2 years, that addressed a multitude of game features and aspects: user interface, events, gacha system, portrait/landscape mode, economy and monetization.
Ultimately, the last soft launch update brought a 3D maps upgrade, new UI, new game modes, and social changes.
From there, the only way for Supercell to keep Brawl Stars as a hit was to deliver new content packed in consistent updates.
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Conclusions
How to Get the Best out of a Soft-Launch Campaign
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Key Takeaways
Soft launching a game is the best opportunity to check if the product is ready for a market push.
Before releasing a version to the public, research the market, set budgets and objectives, and prepare the build to collect data and analyze it.
Make only data-driven decisions, do not count on emotions and assumptions.
Choose the right countries for your soft launch, depending on your objectives: UX and bugs fixing, acquisition and retention, monetization.
Advertise the game. Do App Store Optimizations and set up continuous paid user acquisition campaigns. This way, you can test the market and optimize the campaigns to reduce the risk of failure at launch.
Releasing the game in soft launch does not seem influenced by the time of the year - rather focus on when to release the game globally.
How to Get the Best out of a Soft-Launch Campaign
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Conclusions
A successful soft launch is the result of a combination of factors that should be tracked. Whether we talk about key performance indicators, the country you release the game in, or the way you advertise it, there are plenty of key aspects that could be optimized.
A soft launch is the best opportunity to prepare your game before a global release.
Good luck!
Appendix
Confidential. March 2021
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App Annie – for estimates on comparable titles and other data
Consumer Acquisition – How Do You Conduct a Gaming Soft Launch Campaign;
Consumer Acquisition – 2020 Playbook – Soft Launch to Worldwide Launch Strategy for New Games Using Facebook Ads;
Iron Source – User Acquisition;
GDC Mobile Summit - Mobile Game Launch Best Practices: From Soft Launch to Working with the Platforms;
Segment – Soft Launching User Acquisition Strategies to Maximize Results;
Adjust - Soft Launch Strategies to Boost User Acquisition;
Unity – 7 Steps to Grow Your Game With Paid User Acquisition;
Game Analytics - A Guide To Soft-Launching Your Mobile Game;
Addict Mobile – Soft Launch – Our Key Tips to Succeed in Launching a Mobile Game;
AppsFlyer – Why Your Game’s Soft Launch Isn’t Working;
PocketGamerBiz - 50 Top Games in Soft Launch;
Deconstructor of Fun - What the H _ _ _ Happened to Brawl Stars?;
PocketGamerBiz - Supercell’s Secret for Growing Brawl Stars to a $1 Billion success;
Medium – Brawl Stars – What Makes It Great;
Blog Brawl Stars – December Update.
Thank you!