Presentation given at Casual Connect 2012 on how to build a great game company in the current environment. The good old days are over and building a great social game company is more difficult now than ever. Funding is not as easily available. Marketing is no longer just placing Facebook ads and counting the users. User acquisition overall is more costly. Game design is more complicated. Platform choice adds another risk factor. Exits are not easy to come by. In this presentation, I discuss how to navigate the social gaming terrain to create a successful company (and also help define success). I start by looking at what is attractive to investors and alternatives to traditional investment. I then analyze how to create an engaging and monetizing social game and how to choose a target platform(s). Then I review how you can get users for your games. Finally, I discuss the key issues in sustaining and growing your company so you reach your goals.

1. WINNING THE WAR:
HOW TO BUILD A GREAT
SOCIAL GAME
COMPANY
Lloyd Melnick

2. Agenda
Background
Success in social gaming
How to succeed
The Melnick Conundrum
Summary and QA

3. BACKGROUND

4. Lloyd Melnick

5. fiveonenine games

6. More stars than the Miami Heat
★ Ex-Studio Head of ★ Gardens of Time
EA’s North Carolina ★ Asheron’s Call 1 & 2
office
★ Member founding ★ Shutter Island
management team at ★ City of Wonder
Motricity and Appia ★ Dungeons & Dragons
★ Team lead at RIM’s NC Online
studio ★ Madden 3DS
★ 20 year veteran of ★ Nascar Kart Racing
IBM/Microsoft/Citrix Wii
★ GM Europe and ★ Woodland Heroes
LATAM at
Disney/Playdom ★ Lord of the Rings
Online

7. Publishing and Developing
Launching publishing
program this week
Campaign Story
launches next month

8. SUCCESS IN SOCIAL GAMES

9. The odds
25 % of games
succeed
9

10. Success is
Exit
Profitability
Survival
10

11. Investors see success as
Exit ROI
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12. Investors criteria
How
Scalable quickly you
can grow
What is
Unique Why you
different
Potential
Valuation return
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13. If institutional investors pass
Organic
Friends
IP holders
and family
Strategics
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14. HOW TO SUCCEED
14

15. LTV
Monetization
Retention
Engagement
Virality
15

16. Monetization
Free-to-
play
Support
Part of the
high-value
design
customers
16

17. Retention and engagement
17

18. Virality
Hooks Reasons
Collaborative
or PvP
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19. THE MELNICK CONUNDRUM
19

20. Diversification versus Focus
Focus Diversification
20

21. Portfolio theory
Asset Regular
Diversification Rebalancing
Allocation Investing
Multiple titles
Reducing beta
21

22. Platform diversification
Facebook
iOS
Android
Win 8
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23. Focus
Competitive
landscape
Free-to-play
23

24. Odds against you
Improve odds
Make great products
Focus and diversify
SUMMARY
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25. Feel free to contact anytime
Lloyd.melnick@fiveoneninegames.com
http://lloydmelnick.com/
@LloydMelnick
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