investing in mobile games: what investors are looking for | tom van dam
TRANSCRIPT
Investing in Mobile Games: What Investors Are Looking For
Tom van Dam
Head of Mobile Business Development
NetEase
Why investment in mobile game companies?
High Potential Return
Strategic Investment
Diversified Targeted
What are investors are looking for?
Good Team Good Game
Are investors looking for developers motivated by:
orMoney Passion
Game
Both are important.
Game should make financial sense
Opportunity for large
scale expansion Big
potential audience
Well-integrated
monetization
Not competing with
established market leaders
And contain innovative gameplay
• Market is saturated with copies
• Market trends move too rapidly
• Famous IP + AAA quality no longer enough to stand out
Team Experience
Games
• What games have core team members worked on in the past?
Companies
• What past developers have they worked for?
Roles
• What did they do in their past roles?
Team
• Does the team have experience working together?
Case Study #1
Team member Experience
CEO Director at major tech company
CTO Tech lead at AAA console company
Lead Developer Lead developer at casual mobile company
Client Developer Senior backend for premium mobile game title
Art Director UI lead at casual mobile company
Game: Free-to-play RPG for iOS & Android
Team member Experience
CEO Director at major tech company – No game experience
CTO Tech lead at AAA console company – No mobile experience
Lead Developer Lead developer at casual mobile company – Genre mismatch
Client Developer Senior backend for premium mobile game title – No F2P experience
Art Director UI lead at casual mobile company – Genre mismatch, lack experience
Game: Free-to-play RPG for iOS & Android
Monetization
modelGenre Platform
Case Study #1
Team member Experience
CEO Director at AAA PC game developer
CTO Senior Engineer at mid-core mobile developer
Senior Game Designer
Game Designer for small F2P RPG mobile title
Senior Engineer Programmer for small F2P RPG mobile title
Art Director Art Director at AAA PC game developer
Game: Free-to-play MOBA for iOS & Android
Case Study #2
Team member Experience
CEO Director at AAA PC game developer – game experience, platform mismatch
CTO Senior Engineer at mid-core mobile developer - relevant experience
Senior Game Designer Game Designer for small F2P RPG mobile title – relevant experience
Senior Engineer Programmer for small F2P RPG mobile title – relevant experience
Art Director Art Director at AAA PC game developer – game experience, platform mismatch
Game: Free-to-play MOBA for iOS & Android
Monetization
modelGenre Platform
Case Study #2
Team member Experience
CEO Product manager/Creative Producer at AAA PC developers
CTO Senior Software Engineer at AAA PC developers
CCO Game Director at AAA console developers
Game Tech Lead Senior Programmer at multi-platform developer
Studio Art Manager Producer at AAA PC developers
Creative Director Creative Director at AAA multi-platform developer
Senior Game Designer
Senior Game Designer at AAA mobile game developer
Senior Engineer Lead Programmer at AAA mobile game developer
Case Study #3
Game: F2P midcore mobile title
Team member Experience
CEO Product manager/Creative Producer at AAA PC developers
CTO Senior Software Engineer at AAA PC developers
CCO Game Director at AAA console developers
Game Tech Lead Senior Programmer at multi-platform developer
Studio Art Manager Producer at AAA PC developers
Creative Director Creative Director at AAA multi-platform developer
Senior Game Designer Senior Game Designer at AAA mobile game developer
Senior Engineer Lead Programmer at AAA mobile game developer
Case Study #3
Team has deep
experience at top
developers; has members
with experience in mobile games
Game: F2P midcore mobile title
Good platform relationships?
Consider Your Marketing Strategy
Heavy spending on UA?
E-sports and streamers?
And Business Strategy
Target audience
Social
Services & Operations
Conversion / Retention
Show Projections
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
2016 2017 2018 2019
Revenue Net Income
Year
1
Year
2
Year
3
Installs X Mn Y Mn Z Mn
DAU X Mn Y Mn Z Mn
ARP
DAU$X $Y $Z
LTV $X $Y $Z
Allocation of Cash
• Think carefully through your company’s needs, do the research
• Figures should be reasonable
• Don’t give yourself a huge salary!
Salaries $
Equipment $
Premises $
Services $
Operations $
Soft launch UA $
Overheads $
Total $X M
Milestones - Show You Can Complete
2016:Q1 2016:Q2 2016:Q3 2016:Q4 2017:Q1 2017:Q2
PrototypeVertical
SliceSoft Launch Hard Launch
Market analysisFocus group
testingUA
Seed roundFirst round
fundingGame Cashflow
How to Find Investors
• Industry connections
• Other developers
• Government/trade bodies
• Gameshows
• Email!
