By George Lemnaru, CEO Green Horse Games
April and May were busy times for most game developers, and for us at Green Horse Games this period was especially exciting as we started scaling our new game Football Rivals. Monetizing solely through in-app-purchases, we are looking for a great Q2 in terms of results as April and May revenues grew 3x YoY.
During these months the mobile games industry saw revenue growth of up to 35% YoY as many other entertainment options were closed because of COVID-19. The need for available entertainment and socializing tools turned people to look into games. As a plus, March and April saw less competition for ads which brought lower cost for installs for the industry.
But it wasn’t all fun and games (pun intended) for game developers: new startups looking for investment met the same challenges in raising money as startups from other industries. It was mostly an opportunity for companies having a successful game already up and running. Having a strong social aspect was even better. Football Rivals (football as in soccer) is a game that has both. And probably that’s why it stands-out in terms of KPIs.
D1 Retention (percentage of people accessing the game next day after install) is 31%, just a little bit lower compared to the 33% average D1 retention of best performing quartile of mobile sports games. But what stands out is the staggering 13% D28 retention vs an average of 3% D28 of the best performing mobile games in the Sports category. This means that a good number of new players will be active daily for a very long time in Football Rivals. Which brings not only long-term retention but also virality and long-term monetization. Regarding monetization, AppAnnie ranks Football Rivals among top 5 sports games in 13 European countries based on Grossing sales on Google Play.
As you advance through the game you realize why it has these KPIs – right from the start you join a team with other real players like you. The first thing your teammates will require from you is to be active. Not being active will make you lose your place in the team. The good news is that “being active” means 2-3 short sessions per day in which you bring your contribution to the team while growing your player’s level. So no rocket science and not much football know-how requirement.
This strong social aspect of team collaboration, combined with team vs. team competition, brings a strong incentive to play the game for a longer period of time.
The game has good numbers around Europe as players from France, Poland, Greece, UK and other European countries have been adopting it. The next step for Green Horse Games is to scale the game for iOS players too.
You can access Football Rivals
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.greenhorsegames.footballrivals
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/football-rivals/id1451491030?ls=1
For more details about Green Horse Games access http://GreenHorse.Games