So you want to increase sales? You can’t help but wonder if a standard 60-minute time-out on a demo is sufficient. As developers, we all struggle with how to best build our games so that we can maximize our conversion ratio (sales-to-download) and increase our sales. The casual games space registers an amazingly low 1% conversion rate for downloadable games—meaning that 99% of all players who download our games are not buying them. If we could just increase that conversion rate from 1% to 2%, we could double our sales and the entire industry would grow. It’s a simple ideal, but difficult to accomplish.
As developers, we have to find creative approaches to ask for the sale. May I suggest several ways to construct a game to increase conversion while providing a tailor-made demonstration experience, one which accommodates a wide variety of players with different skill levels.
Time Restrictions
A standard 60-minute timer is a great tool to limit game play. It is definitely the easiest tool to implement and can be universally applied across numerous game titles efficiently. However, a timer by itself may not be the best way to maximize your conversion ratio. Because some players may have enough skill to finish a game within the time-trial period, you may also need to introduce a restriction to prevent them from going beyond a certain level without buying the game.
Feature Limitations
Another possibility is to lock some useful features that players may consider a perk (such as Save Game, Insane Mode, or Bonus Levels/Worlds, for example). By making these features available only within purchased versions, you’re much more likely to turn fans into owners.
Advancement Interruptions
A more aggressive demo strategy is to stop the game just as the player is about to defeat the “Boss.” (Please purchase now to continue!) This method can be effective inasmuch as it creates a sense of urgency, especially when the player has invested a lot of time and effort into the game.
Extended Trials
Once a player installs a game on the desktop, you should try not to lose that real estate—or that potential customer. One strategy is to offer a perpetual, extended trial (of maybe two minutes or so) after the initial 60-minute trial has ended. In this scenario, a user could play the game for no more than a couple of minutes after each launch of the game. (It’s important to note that the extended time period should not be long enough to progress through the game.) The extended trial period keeps the game on the desktop and serves as an ongoing advertisement to buy the game.
Digital Rights Management: The Key to an Effective Demo Strategy
Usually the best way to implement a combination of these limiting elements is to have a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system, which allows you to check the “purchase status” of a game at any time. There are several DRM companies offering fully integrated Software Development Kits (SDKs) that allow in-game and on-the-fly checks. These SDKs allow developers to stop the game at any time and ask for the sale. Once the purchase occurs, players can then pick up right where they left off, which many describe as “bullet in mid-stream purchasing.” Of course, limiting a demo in such a way requires work—programming work. At the very least, the DRM needs to be queried at certain spots of the game to see if the game has been purchased to allow a feature to function.
Conclusion
The real point here is that developers no longer need to simply hope for a purchase when they have the ability to develop a well thought-out demo limitation strategy. With today’s DRM offerings, you can combine a variety of restricting elements to aggressively create a purchase without significantly compromising the user’s demo experience.
Michael Mei is in charge of Business Development for Reflexive Entertainment. Michael focuses on securing new business initiatives for Reflexive and also seeks to expand the Reflexive Arcade Affiliate Network. Although Michael has been actively involved in casual game publishing and distribution for many years, he worked in the consumer products and telecommunications industry prior to joining Reflexive.
