Engaging Player is Key to Enabling Long-Term Retention: The LiveOps Imperative in Today's GaaS Landscape

Four strategies for keeping players hooked on games

In the booming live service gaming industry, consumers are increasingly drawn to Games-as-a-Service (GaaS) titles that offer continuous content updates, evolving narratives, and a strong sense of community. It’s an exciting world, but while there is a huge potential for generating revenue, keeping players engaged and fostering long-term retention in this competitive space is a major challenge. This is where LiveOps, the ongoing management and optimization of live games, takes center stage.

The Power of LiveOps: Insights from Industry Leaders

What is the potential of LiveOps to deliver a greater return for businesses in the industry? Blake Jorgensen, CFO of the gaming giant Electronic Arts explains why live services are able to make subscription services more valuable:

“If you have a live service component to [games on EA Access and Origins Access], you can have a subscription that's uncapped. Give people a way to spend money on things they want to do and that they enjoy doing vs simply capping them at $9 or $10 per month and that's all they can ever spend.”

Jorgensen told gamesindustry.biz that the difference between the “capped” subscription and “live service” option is night and day:

"We find people play twice as many games, they spend twice as long on them, and they spend twice as much money, because you've reduced the cost of trial to close to zero." He offered the example of a customer who wants to try Madden, but considers the standard $60 price tag too much of a risk to warrant investing in it.”

Jorgensen's statement highlights the core principle of LiveOps: fostering a dynamic relationship with your player base. Speaking to Pocket Gamer, Tung Nguyen-Khac, CEO at Spil Games goes further:

"Live ops gives us the ability to optimize a game in real time, and that’s about making it a great experience for the player. It can also be the difference between success and failure. We’re seeing people playing so-called 'casual' games [such as Candy Crush] for longer than triple-A productions.”

Understanding the Retention Challenge:

While GaaS offers immense potential, player retention remains a critical hurdle because once a player has given up on a game, it is extremely difficult to persuade them to give it a second try. Here's a graph that should prove sobering:

More than 80 percent of downloaded games are abandoned within five days of being installed; the good news is that those games which are kept remain engaging to players for a considerable length of time after this initial drop-off.

This underscores the urgency for effective LiveOps strategies to not only onboard players but keep them actively engaged.

LiveOps Strategies for Retention Success:

LiveOps encompasses a range of data-driven tactics that extend beyond bug fixes and basic maintenance. Here are some key strategies to consider:

• Data-Driven Decision Making:

LiveOps thrives on player data. Implement robust analytics tools to track player behavior, engagement metrics, and content preferences. iLogos Game Studios say:

“The ability to analyze and interpret player data is …essential for success. Data analytics in Game Live Ops is not just about collecting information; it's about extracting meaningful insights to make informed decisions. Whether it's enhancing player engagement, optimizing monetization, or improving retention, analytics is the key to unlocking a game's full potential.”

While data-driven decision making is crucial for game development, achieving optimal results requires a complementary understanding of player motivations. This can be fostered through various player research methods, including audience interaction, focus groups, and other qualitative research techniques.

By analyzing player data, you can identify trends, understand what motivates your audience, and tailor content accordingly.

• Quality Content Over Quantity:

Regular content updates are crucial for player retention. This includes new storylines, challenges, cosmetic items, and gameplay modes. There is a danger, however, of placing too much emphasis on one aspect of a game over other, important factors, or rushing out new features that add little value. Quality ultimately matters more than quantity.

Vikas Menon, producer at Zynga, has worked on titles like FarmVille 2, Mafia Wars, and CSR2. He explains:

“You won’t find success by having a one hit or one feature that does well — you need to have the thought process embedded in your team and therefore set up your team for success in a way that they can continuously learn. Every two to four weeks we just want to get back together and see what’s working and what’s not, and we would obviously get a lot of insights from every release and every event, as well as almost daily insights from players.“

Personalization is the New Frontier:

Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all experiences. Leverage player data to personalize the journey. Tailor in-game recommendations, difficulty levels, and rewards based on individual player preferences. This fosters a sense of connection and makes players feel valued, contributing to long-term engagement.

As Crystin Cox writes in Game Developer:

“The need to personalize game content based on player behavior … means that data must now be acted upon in real time. This necessitates a data pipeline that is more connected to the game itself… This phase is all about serving content and experiences to players based on who they are and how they behave. This is what most people are thinking of when they talk about gathering up tons of player behavior data, but that data is only valuable if you can do something with it.”

LiveOps teams must avoid the trap of becoming overwhelmed by the sheer volume of available data. This means that personalization is often only truly effective for those teams which have achieved a high level of proficiency at making iterative changes to their game.

• Community is Key:

Building a thriving community around your GaaS title fosters a sense of belonging and loyalty. Encourage player interaction through in-game events, social media engagement, and dedicated forums. Additionally, actively respond to player feedback and suggestions. This demonstrates that you care about their experience and encourages continued participation.

Brett Phipps, Senior Editor at Waste Creative suggests strategies in which GaaS titles can foster a sense of community, including creating FOMO (fear of missing out) through marketing, connecting games to a wider culture and, perhaps surprisingly, creating regular refreshes of content:

“If you maintain a strong, passionate community, while continuing to onboard new players throughout your title’s life cycle, there’s naturally going to be quite a disparity between your day one/hardcore players and your newcomers, not only in terms of in-game items, but also in-game knowledge. A way to level the playing field is by hitting that big red reset button.

There will come a time where minor tweaks and adjustments will no longer cut it, and players will want something more substantial.Being able to treat an update as a “2.0” release is a great way to both excite your fanbase and entice new players, who up to this point have been put off by the steep learning curve/high skill level of the player-base.

Making everyone welcome is what will grow your audience, and making your long-time players feel valued is what will keep them engaged.”

Investing in LiveOps: A Strategic Imperative

LiveOps is not an afterthought; it's a strategic investment for long-term success. Here are some additional reasons to embrace LiveOps:

• Increased Player Lifetime Value (LTV): Retained players become valuable assets. By keeping players engaged, LTV (the total revenue a player generates over their lifetime) increases significantly.

• Enhanced Brand Reputation: A positive player experience fosters positive word-of-mouth marketing, attracting new players and bolstering brand reputation.

• Competitive Advantage: In a crowded marketplace, LiveOps allows you to differentiate your GaaS title by offering a constantly evolving and engaging experience.

Conclusion

As Blake Jorgensen says, including LiveOps is a major win for gaming companies because it is something that keeps customers engaged - and spending:

"It's a great consumer offering, but it's also for us a much more stable business, an easier business for us to run long-term and doesn't have the same limited cap that most subscriptions would have."

LiveOps is the cornerstone of building a thriving GaaS title. By implementing data-driven strategies, prioritizing high-quality content, personalizing experiences, and fostering a strong community, leaders in the live service gaming industry can overcome retention challenges and ensure long-term player engagement

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