“The project is in a very good plus”: HeroCraft about Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf

To the questions App2Top.ru answered Pavel Kostin, Head of Production at HeroCraft, and Dmitry Maksyura, head of the Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf project.

Alexander Semenov, Senior Editor App2Top.ru : The release of the Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf addon is a good reason to talk about how the game is doing in general. Two and a half years after the release of the project in zero or plus?

Pavel Kostin

Pavel Kostin, Head of Production at HeroCraft: The project is in a very good plus. Unfortunately, I cannot disclose the details, but the game is very successful by our standards. Judge for yourself: two and a half years after the release, the game is developing, we are releasing a big update for the mobile version, and this year we are planning to release a Steam version (the game is now in early access). We do not develop unprofitable projects.

Can you share how much such a hardcore and, let’s be honest, very niche game brings in a day?

Pavel: I will answer this way: a team of ten professionals is working on the project, we make significant contributions under the license of Games Workshop and recently fully paid off with an investor who helped us develop the game at an early stage. And, of course, some bread and butter remains. Count for yourself.

Screenshot of the Space Wolf mobile version add-on

You have 3.5 million installations. This is a good result for such a game. But which MAU?

Pavel: Approximately 100k on all platforms.

Are you buying traffic? It is clear that it is expensive, but how much does the relevant one cost? In other words, how much is a 35+ guy on mobile today who wants to play XCOM instead of Game of War?

Pavel: Almost five years ago, at a conference, I asked the same question to a speaker from Supercell. He looked at me, grinned and said, “How else can it be now?!”. Five years ago. Yes, but how else now?

“Man” in a vacuum costs from $ 1.5. “Man” in Russia – $ 0.80. If a new user advises your game to a friend, divide the cost in two. To be honest, I will also say that, of course, we were lucky with the brand in attracting the audience. Our organics are very good.

Imagine: four years ago, the team knows what the game has to go through. What things would you not do or would you do differently?

Dmitry Maksyura

Dmitry Maksyura, project manager of Warhammer 40,000: Space Vol f: The game is an experience. Not only for the players, but also for the team that develops it. The experience gained is very important, because it makes us who we are. Therefore, if I had the opportunity to go back four years ago, I would not change anything and did everything exactly the same. Of course, we will definitely take into account all the experience we have gained in the future. The only thing I wouldn’t do is hint at the release of the add-on immediately after the release of the game.

A less abstract case. Let’s say there is a team, there is an investor, they want to do tactics for mobile now. Is it worth it?

Pavel: It completely depends on the team, what kind of people are behind the project there. If there is no experience, then – no. The market is very tough right now. And you need such a level of experience that you don’t need to ask this question – you should know the answer yourself. If in doubt, it’s better not to.

If there is still no experience, but there is fire in the eyes, then there is no need to torment the investor – make a small niche project interesting to you in your favorite genre and look for a publisher. Read about our Tap Tap Builder or Tempest. These are projects made by singles who knew what they wanted.

Tempest: Pirate Action RPG and Tap Tap Builder

And for Steam?

Pavel: Steam is not as friendly to newcomers now as it used to be. A talented indic with an interesting idea, of course, will always be able to find his place and sell, well, 10 thousand copies.

But again – if the question is posed like this: “We are a young team, invest 150k in us! We will make the game in a year, because everything is almost ready, and the game will earn 500k!” – then no. No. Don’t do that. Your whole team may consist of the most talented enthusiasts, but in order to work according to this scheme, you, personally, must be an experienced wolf, a great cynic and understand exactly what you are going for.

In February, the game went into early access on Steam. It’s May now, the game doesn’t have even 10 thousand users. What’s wrong? Tempest started much better.

Dmitry: For a ported mobile game in our setting, Steam was initially a very hostile platform, so we consider the current result more than successful.

Pavel: Indeed, so far this is only early access. But there are certain statistics on the ratio of sales at early access and after release. Now these statistics speak in our favor. It’s not just 10 thousand users. This is 10 thousand users for $ 11.99. And the game hasn’t even come out yet.

On release, a good project in the first month will gain many times more than during the entire period in early access (as was already the case with Tempest). Well, after that, a long “tail” of sales, promotions, bundles and so on begins, which our marketers will work out.

So, to be honest, so far we like our Space Wolf Steam.

Screenshot from the PC version of Space Wolf

What are you doing as part of early access?

Pavel: The “right” early access is to work according to a pre–planned plan. We started this work even before early access and are conducting it throughout. Community support, communication with users, Valve and Games Workshop, regular updates on the roadmap, increasing the visibility of the project in search engines and on key sites – all this is done daily as planned, and as a result turns into tens of thousands of marks in users’ vishlists, good visibility of the game and decent sales on release.

You work closely with Games Workshop. I am sure there are those among the Russian teams who envy you. But how much of a headache is it when you need to coordinate every gear?

Dmitry: There are great people working at Games Workshop who have no goal to force you to repeatedly redo some things just like that. If they ask you to redo or change something, it only means that you yourself were not responsible and attentive enough. If you know, love and respect what they have created and continue to create, then interaction with them will be very easy and pleasant.

Screenshot of the Space Wolf mobile version add-on

Speaking objectively in terms of time: how much do approvals increase the duration of development?

Dmitry: In order to objectively assess the costs, you need to develop a completely similar project in parallel, but in a different setting. At the moment, I initially try to put time for approvals and improvements in the production time. But, as I have already said, improvements will not be needed if everything is initially done correctly.

Let’s talk about the update. 10 missions for 30 hours of passage, a new side of the conflict, and so on. Why is it so big? Wouldn’t it be better to cut into a dozen small ones?

Dmitry: From the very beginning, we planned to release a large plot addition that will bring the story of Valgard and his squad to its logical conclusion. That is why the new chapter contains so many missions. Transferring the game to an episodic format three years after its release would definitely not be the best solution, which we did not even consider.

Screenshot of the Space Wolf mobile version add-on

I still don’t understand this point here: when you give content in portions, you keep your finger on the pulse, you see that it’s not going right now and you can fix it in time. With such voluminous innovations, it will not be possible to do it quickly. So?

Dmitry: It all depends on the content. This statement is true for games that focus on content that can affect the balance and economy of the entire game, in our case, the emphasis is on content, which is the experience gained by each individual player. It was very important for us to release the whole chapter, and not divide it into parts/episodes. Well, as for corrections, we have the ability to quickly change the balance of the game by changing almost any numeric values. We have also made it a rule to show major updates to our very best players, which help us determine if we are moving in the right direction.

This is not your first update. What, on average, is the push for downloads given by regular updates, which are such voluminous?

Dmitry: But this is our largest addition, so it is not yet possible to objectively assess the potential volume of downloads. Simple updates give us from 50 to 100 thousand new installations.

By the way, when the game was just released, there were complaints about too long and slow levels and map management. How far have these problems been solved now?

Dmitry: Since then, we have updated the interface for interacting with the player’s decks. This made the process of interacting with maps more comfortable. Also in addition, it will be possible to activate the instant movement of opponents in PvE modes. This should significantly speed up the waiting for the player’s turn.

Screenshot of the Space Wolf mobile version add-on

Are there any specific expectations for the release?

Pavel: In principle, according to expectations, I answered the question about the success of early access.

Dmitry: On my own behalf, I would like to add that in addition to financial indicators, the reaction of players to the supplement is very important for the team. They have been waiting for him for a very long time, and we really want to meet their expectations.

How much do you estimate the project’s lifetime, when it’s time to cut a full-fledged continuation?

Pavel: Despite the past two and a half years, Space Wolf feels great. As for future plans, everything depends on the Games Workshop. The team already has its own ideas and considerations in this regard.