“The companion app for Apple Watch has quadrupled the number of sessions and ARPDAU of the mobile game “Mirrors of Albion” among owners of Apple watches,“ he said App2Top.ru Game Insight Innovation Director Andrey Ivashentsev at the White Nights Moscow 2016 conference.
Hi! In your report on Wite Nights, you talked about a serious increase in the metrics of Albion Mirrors, your Hidden Object about London and seals. Could you explain in more detail how the company managed to do this?
Andrey IvashentsevHi !
Let’s start with the fact that we at Game Insight are actively experimenting with new functionality from Apple, and recently released the first companion app for Apple Watch for our Alice in the Mirrors of Albion game, adding it to the fresh “Looking Glass” update.
After some time, we found that retention during the day for users with Apple Watch increased 4 times. That is, those who have an application from the game “on hand” (regularly reminding that the energy in the game has been replenished, and allowing them to collect additional chests with energy) are 4 times more likely to return to the project. Potentially, this is 4 times more revenue per user.
“Mirrors of Albion”
Plus, according to our statistics, 25% of people who have watches are paying.
The presence of a watch is not only an indicator of some solvency, but also a good indicator that people are not shy about spending money on entertainment.
If you target an audience with a watch, then you realize that a quarter of it is players who are already paying in your game. You can make exclusive offers for watch owners, additional motivation programs, interesting mini-games, and so on, with the expectation that there will be a large proportion of “whales” in the target audience.
The question is, how many of these users?
You understand that the answer directly depends on how many users you have in the game. If you have millions of players, then the number of people with Apple Watch will be higher, and if it is a small indie development, then it is more correct to make not a companion app, but a separate mini-game for the watch. The presence of an established audience is a key success factor in the case of developing a mobile companion application, since current loyal players immediately receive an additional incentive in the form of bonuses that facilitate the game.
Functionality of the companion appCan you share the number of downloads of the watch app?
I will not disclose quantitative data now. The update is still in the “rolling out” stage. To date, about 40% of players have updated to the latest version, among which approximately 40% have an iPhone 6 or newer.
How many Albion Mirrors players with an Apple Watch put a companion on the watch?
About 30%. The remaining 70% still do not install the application, despite the presence of a watch. The number of installations is influenced by many factors, including the main one — the disabled slider “Automatically install applications” in the Apple Watch companion. We are now planning to actively remind users of the watch about the existence of a companion and thereby increase the percentage of installations. So far, we are aiming for an increase in the share of installations up to 50% of Apple Watch users.
Thanks for the answers.
The impact of the appearance of a companion app on the metrics of the game (within a group of players who own an Apple Watch)