Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Gaining visibility is crucial to a mobile game’s success. The competitive forces in mobile games market are strong, which pose challenges for game discovery. Low barriers to entry, minimal capital requirements and equal access to distribution platforms are some of the reasons the market is now flooded with staggering amounts of invisible, undifferentiated mobile games desperate for downloads. \n \nThe thesis will give a holistic view of the current discovery landscape of free-to-play mobile games. The main purpose is to come up with possible solutions to the discoverability problem faced by free-to-play mobile game developers by identifying the most influential discovery channels used by the mobile gamers. Potential marketing methods are discussed not only in comparison to the literature but to findings emerging from the secondary data to determine the most viable use of marketing resources. \n \nThe research design implemented in this work is a multi-method approach using both exploratory and descriptive research. Extensive literature review discussing mobile games, free-to-play business model, competition, marketing and consumer behaviour is conducted. Reliable industry surveys on application and mobile game discovery from four consecutive years are used as sources of secondary data. \n \nIt became evident that app stores and word-of-mouth were the most influential sources for game discovery. Interestingly, the two most influential discovery sources remained virtually unchanged during the surveyed years. Advertising and promotions were not reported as highly influential discovery channels. A highly valuable segment of mobile gamers were identified as sharers and whales, which the developers should try to attract by building social features and virality mechanics inside their games. \n \nMarketing methods discussed include burst campaigns, featured position on app stores, app-store-optimisation, viral marketing, utilising video services, cross promotion and ad-networks. The mobile game developers should implement multi-channel marketing to optimise the chances of acquiring quality users.
Source: Theseus (Ammattikorkeakoulujen)
Author: Maija Koivisto
Language: English
Topic: Digital Games and Media
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W321187459