Festive events in games. The experience of the Plarium Krasnodar team

Holidays are fun, gifts and extra weekends. But preparing for such wonderful events sometimes causes excitement, especially for those who work in the gaming industry.

First, you need to prepare for the fact that the load on the game servers will increase, since players have a lot of free time during the holidays. Secondly, take into account that the main part of the development team will also want to rest … and here, unwittingly, the first point begins to pose an even greater threat. And thirdly, it’s time to introduce a special holiday event into the game.

Why do we need festive events

For the game development team, this is a proven way to attract players and test new mechanics.

For players, a festive event is an opportunity to have a good time and enjoy the atmosphere of the game. It’s hard not to succumb to the temptation to celebrate Halloween or New Year with fellow clansmen surrounded by attractive themed decorations and get a unique gaming experience.

Gamers of a certain type remember about some games from their extensive library and at all only during the festive events. There are many reasons for this: starting with a sense of nostalgia, ending with the expectation of profitable offers and bonuses.

So, according to the Sensor Tower report, in 2020, during the Christmas holidays, gamers around the world spent $407 million on mobile games.

Which holidays to choose

Choosing holidays that suit the entire audience is not an easy task for the game development team, especially if the project is international. We also faced this difficulty, since our users live in different parts of the world.

Authenticity was on one side of the scale, because the setting of Vikings: War of Clans and Throne: Kingdom at War is closely connected with medieval holidays. However, many of them have long been forgotten or are peculiar only to individual countries (for example, Sumarsdag — Odin’s holiday in Iceland).

On the second side of the scale were the interests of the players, their attachment to modern popular holidays.

Obviously, the authenticity and atmosphere of the game gave way to the interests of the players, so they came to the harsh lands of the North and medieval Amaria in the form of special in-game events:

• New Year and Christmas;
• March 8th;
• St. Patrick’s Day;
• Easter;
• birthday games;
• Halloween;
• Thanksgiving day.

Thus, festive events take place in our games approximately every 2-3 months. In addition, there are promotions dedicated to Black Friday, Valentine’s Day and other smaller-scale events, but they are not associated with any special mechanics.

Well, now let’s take a closer look at the structure of festive events in our games.

What does a festive event consist of?

When preparing festive in-game events on our projects, we started from the classical structure used in many other games. Naturally, there are no strict rules anywhere, but the “standard set” usually includes:

• time limit;
• access to special tasks and special rewards;
• changing the behavior of the player in the usual game cycle.

As a result, during the holidays, our users can:

• special bonuses — increases the speed of resource extraction, damage, and so on;
• special competitions;
• special promotions in the game;
• and, of course, unique opponents that periodically appear on the map, the battle with which makes it possible to get various game items.

What you should pay attention to when preparing a festive event

Based on our own experience in preparing festive events, we have compiled a list of things to pay attention to.

Relevance

Yes, sometimes you have to sacrifice the authenticity of the world, but, as experience has shown, even Thanksgiving or Halloween can be correctly entered into the ENT of the game.

Cultural characteristics of the games audience

This point is especially relevant for projects designed for a multinational audience. Not every holiday is so widespread that, for example, it is interesting to players from Europe and Asia at the same time.

The introduction of a too local holiday can cause rejection or the usual misunderstanding. Therefore, wide recognition and positive reasons for choosing are only welcome.

Balance in games

No matter how attractive the idea of introducing something original may seem, it is important to remember that the event will end, and the game should continue to work in the same rhythm.

Regularity

Of course, this is primarily a question of the scale of both the game update itself and the studio that is engaged in the project.

A more successful strategy would be to add several events similar in mechanics, repeated every 2-4 months, than painstaking work on one major event that may meet a wave of disapproval.

The same point gives free rein to experiment and find your own balance in games, taking into account the prioritization and feedback of players.

Work balance

In addition to the previous point, it is important to note that the idea of giving preference to a festive event instead of other game updates may not always have a positive impact on the project’s KPI.

If the addition of special events is only planned, it should not violate the plans for game updates.

Alerts

Not every player keeps track of all the news sources on your project. For many, the “News” section is just an excuse to click the “Mark as read” button. Therefore, it is better to use all available features here.

For example: in-game news + publications on social networks + notification on the player’s device + changing the design of the application icon.

Instead of conclusions

Spring in our projects is especially rich for holidays. St. Patrick’s Day was successfully held in March, and the Easter event was held in early April.

In May, already in honor of Orthodox Easter, the northern lands of Vikings: War of Clans will be invaded again by the Bully Byer, and the Lords of Amaria in Throne: Kingdom at War will face the invasion of the Mad Flanders.

Festive events are liked not only by the development team for the opportunity to introduce something new and original, but also by the players.

Do you consider holiday events an important addition to games?