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Paying To Win?

Ben Cousins, General Manager at Easy (EA), explores the concept of virtual goods and selling gameplay advantages in Battlefield Heroes. Learn more about the game's revenue model and the strategies implemented to maintain player engagement.

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Paying To Win?

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  1. Paying To Win? Battlefield Heroes, virtual goods and selling gameplay advantages Ben Cousins, General Manager, Easy (EA)

  2. Who am I?

  3. Facts about Easy • Battlefield heroes started in 2007 at DICE • 20 staff from Heroes team spun out into Easy in Nov 2008 ’act like a startup’ • Almost ten million registered users • Profitable after 16 months • FY12 revenue forecast at double FY11

  4. Hey Ben, … Do you feel like a big man now Ben? I bet you do. That's good. I hope you enjoy watching your playerbase crumble and all your customers turn against you. A lot of us really loved your game Ben, and the ideas that you started out with. When I saw the first Heroes trailer I was amazed. It sounded too good to be true. Then it turned out that it was… You went behind our backs and changed the basic things that made this game different and great. You ruined your game Ben. You and the higher-ups at EA ruined OUR game…I hope you're happy Ben, I hope you're really, really happy. Do you know how many children you ruined Christmas for Ben? Why don't you think about that too while you're at it.R.I.P Battlefield: Heroes. -A formerly loyal customer.“

  5. How did we get here?

  6. Learnings from Korea • Items that sell well • Customization items • Clothing, name colour • Convienience items • XP boost, currency boost, stats reset • Advantage-giving items • BE CAREFUL – the looser MUST NOT know they have lost because of the use of an item

  7. Heroes Launch Catalogue Head Face Neck Chest Jacket Hands Legs Feet Back Waist XP Boost VP Boost

  8. Total gross revenue ARPU = Total number of users $3 million in funding = $1.50 ARPU 2 million users

  9. Total gross revenue ARPU = Total number of users $3 million in funding = $1.50 ARPU 2 million users Our (conservative) target = $0.50 ARPU Our launch month ARPU = $0.25 

  10. Working out what was going wrong

  11. KPIs* • Monthly ARPU (av. revenue per user) • MAU (Monthly Active Users) • Monthly Conversion rate (% of Actives spending) • Monthly ARPPU (av. revenue per PAYING user) *Key Performance Indicators

  12. July KPIs* • ARPPU (av. revenue per PAYING user) • $20.25  *Key Performance Indicators

  13. July KPIs* • ARPPU (av. revenue per PAYING user) • $20.25  • Conversion rate (% of Actives spending) • 1.29%  *Key Performance Indicators

  14. Fix Conv. Rate • Good MAU and ARPPU • Bad ARPU caused by poor Conversion Rate • What were spenders buying?

  15. “I think their plan to get the low hanging fruit is right, but it is going too slow… • They need some heads and a little bit of $$$ to pick up speed and make some needed changes to the game. “ • Frank Gibeau

  16. ”This game is too free, we are giving away too much”

  17. ”This game is too free, we are giving away too much” ”Too much VP in the system”

  18. Action Points • Increase VP-per hour cost of hiring ’demo’ weapons • If you play a few hours a day, maintain a weapon for a single character • Drop cash-prices of permanent weapons • SMS payment methods for some EU countries • Release more powerful versions of normal weapons

  19. Sub Machine Gun • Rounds in magazine from 40 - 45 • Critical hit chance from 0.025 - 0.04 • Damage for a critical hit from 15 – 20 • Pistol • Rounds in magazine from 12-15 • Critical hit chance from 0.04 - 0.13 • Machine Gun • Critical hit chance from 0.03 -0.07 • Shotgun • Rounds in magazine from 12 – 15 • Critical hit chance from 0.05 – 0.07 • Sniper Rifle • Rounds in magazine from 5 – 7 • Better over short range • Recoil slightly reduced • Knife • Damage from 28-30 • Hit radius from 2-3 • RPGs • Critical hit chance from 0 to 0.3 • Critical hit damage set at 10 • 3 weapons slightly bigger magazines • 5 weapons slightly greater chance of critical hit • 2 weapons slightly more damage • One recoil reduction

  20. What happened next?

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