We are launching our annual series of materials “Results of the Year“. In it, we interview top managers and experts of the gaming industry about how the year has passed for their company. The series opens with our interview with Vasily Sabirov, head of analytics at Easybrain.
Vasily Sabirov and his favorite game from Easybrain — Nonogram
How did 2020 go for the company?
Vasily: I joined Easybrain in 2020, so I’ll note the points that I found personally.
1. Pandemic
As you know, covid-19 (let me write it with a small letter already) has had a positive impact on the gaming market: more people began to play, and those who have already played began to do it more often and longer. This is also true for Easybrain games: our puzzles have become a great way of leisure during lockdowns.
However, there is a downside to this: firstly, eCPM sank at first, which, however, did not affect the stability of the company; and secondly, looking into the future, it is worth taking into account that the impact of the pandemic on the market is a very long live ops event. After the events, there is sometimes a so-called “hangover”. Therefore, I do not exclude that when everything gets better and returns to normal, the market will wait for a small drawdown.
2. Remote
We have previously worked for two offices (Minsk and Limassol), so for Easybrain, the transition to remote operation was quiet. Moreover, we have changed our attitude to remoting: it turned out that it is not so terrible if you make the right setup of both the workplace / working time and organizational processes. That is why now we can hire people not only in the Minsk and Limassol offices, but we also consider remote employees for a number of positions. By the way, this is the right place in my text to say: we are looking for game analysts to join the team!
3. Qualitative and quantitative growth of the team
We are growing. In 2020, we also grew extensively, strengthening important positions and laying new roads. So, two new heads appeared in the team (one of them is me), a new direction of AdTech was opened.
If we switch to quantitative metrics, the team has passed an important milestone of 200 employees (we are now 230 people).
At the end of the year, each of the company’s areas can boast of its successes. Monetization department, product team, user acquisition direction, marketing, production, AdTech, BI, analytics — all well done.
4. Live ops
This year we actively implemented live ops in portfolio projects. With advertising monetization, live ops “makes friends” no less effectively than with the IAP economy. With proper implementation, live operations give a very cool result.
5. Portfolio development
We have more and more projects in operation. In 2020, several very successful sequels appeared in the library of our projects, which includes such hits as Sudoku, Nonogram and BlockuDoku — Nonogram Color and Killer Sudoku. Also, a number of titles are currently being run-in in the form of technical launches or softlonches.
Nonogram Color
What new trends in your niche do you consider worthy of attention?
Vasiliy: The main trends that please me are the overall growth of both the mobile gaming market in general and advertising monetization in particular. Of course, the pandemic and lockdowns have had a beneficial effect on the market, but I am sure (it would be great to conduct an A/B test in a world without covid to verify this on the data, but there is no world without covid anymore) that growth would have continued without the virus.
There is a feeling that appeared a few years ago and only intensified in 2020, that games have become a more important component of a person’s life than it was before. Games are taking up more and more space in life, the average person spends more time and money on them, and now it is the same way of leisure as books or TV shows. So I see Netflix and Dream as the main competitors of the gaming market in future years.
If we talk about more local trends, then I find the trend of recent months set by the game Among Us funny and interesting. This elegantly beaten “Mafia“, which was released before 2020, suddenly found a new life. Games of the battle royale genre are still on trend, but Among Us has shown that a new trend is beginning — post-battle royale. It can bring a lot of new interesting games.
What new trends in the market as a whole would you note?
Vasiliy: From the point of view of games and mobile applications as a product, I can mention a few more trends.
1. Fitness games and Apps
Again, it’s all the fault of the quarantine, which drove us home. Sales of fitness equipment at home have increased, new interesting services have appeared, and Nintendo RingFit has gained a second wind.
2. Apps for meditation, sleep and Mindfulness
The events of the year forced people to look inside themselves as well. There are new services that digitize and put this part of life into the service, too. The trend did not start in 2020 (similar mechanics have been around for a long time in the same Apple Watch), but 2020 showed us that it is vital to work on reducing stress.
3. Education in the gaming market
There is less offline, and more online and free time. People began to pay more attention to self-education, and the market reacted quickly to this.
I will highlight several educational activities that have defined the year 2020 for me:
- The book “The Numbers Game“. I wrote it, it was published in 2020 in the publishing house “Bombora“. This is a very important achievement for me, to be honest. Now I have my own book written by these hands. In it, I tried to lay out the basics of game analytics in an accessible way and on my fingers. I did it. This is evidenced by sales statistics, reviews, and those few people who, after reading this book, decided to become game analysts.
- The book “Game as a business. From dreams to release” by Alexey Savchenko. Alexey has done a great job, his book gives a new look at the business part of creating a game. It can be an excellent instruction for anyone who already works in this business or dreams of getting there.
- Courses from devtodev. My former colleagues did their best, many excellent courses came out this year. My favorites are courses on A/B tests and advertising monetization. Plus — the most important step for the market — these courses have become free.
The volume “The Game of numbers”
What will be the stake in the development of the company in 2021?
Vasiliy: We will stay true to our course: we will continue to develop the team, make mobile casual puzzles that allow our users to reduce stress. We have a lot of new ideas and have a well-established mechanism for checking them, so wait for new releases and the development of existing hits.
We also keep in focus the expected restrictions on IDFA. In any case, this will affect both traffic attribution and advertising monetization. As for the issue of retargeting, it worries us less. We are preparing for this change, we have modeled several scenarios for further market development, and we have an action plan for each of them. It remains only to wait and figure out which button to press when.
Which third-party game releases are interested in this year? What kind of attention did you pay exactly as a gamer?
VASILY:
1. Hades
Rogue-like game about the son of Hades, who suddenly decides to get out of Tartarus. Without making new discoveries in terms of gameplay, the developers managed to make a very replayable project, stunning with its visual style, sound and attention to detail. And in this game you can pet Cerberus.
2. Miyamoto
I am sure that this game will not be included in any top, except mine, but I am thoroughly stuck in it. This is a mobile card butler in the setting of medieval Japan. There is nothing new in the game in terms of gameplay, however, as in the case of Hades, the setting + random factor significantly increase replayability.
3. Chess from Chess.com
In the fall, everyone watched the Queen’s Gambit series, fell in love with Beth Harmon performed by Anya Taylor-Joy and was fond of chess. I am no exception here. This app, as it turned out, combines everything I need from chess: lessons + social mechanics + game analysis.
4. Nonogram
I couldn’t help but name games from Easybrain. In this game you need to collect Japanese crosswords. It immerses me in a calm meditative and, importantly, a short process, during which I create a drawing on the mobile phone screen according to certain rules. The process of working on a drawing is, as it were, a graph of how you get a drawing. At first there is nothing, then the general outlines appear, then you see a completely assembled picture. The game gives me peace and somewhat earths me in anxious moments.
5. Hearthstone
Even during the particularly difficult days of the spring quarantine, one game literally saved me. A collectible card game in which there is plenty of ubiquitous replayability, and social mechanics, and session, and depth. I’m talking about Hearthstone (in particular, its Battlegrounds mode). I spent hundreds of spring hours playing the game, it made it easier and easier for me to survive quarantine, for which I am grateful to her.