The third issue of Games and Names, a podcast about the gaming industry from AppMagic and WN Media Group, has been released. This time his guest was Thibault de Vésinne-Larue, Voodoo‘s head of publishing. We share a brief squeeze of the release.
Just below are the main theses of the issue. You can listen to the full version on:
What are hybrids?
According to Vesinn-Larue, in Voodoo, hybrids are games that have:
- deep core gameplay (compared to hyper-casual titles);
- retention of the seventh day of core gameplay is at least 15%;
- several different monetization cycles.
Hybrid projects may contain elements from games of completely different genres and niches. They can include both merge-2 mechanics and modern service shooters. The main thing, according to Vesinn-Larue, is that the core gameplay chosen by the developer ensures high retention during hybrid monetization.
In hyper-casual games, monetization is usually based on video impressions and rewarding advertising. The difference between hybrids is that their developers, in addition to these monetization tools, resort to in-game payments (IAP) to maximize LTV. The task: not only to monetize each user from the moment the game is installed, but also to find ways that will help keep the core audience as long as possible.
As an example of a successful hybrid, Vesinn-Larue names two games:
- Mob Control, which has a hyper—casual core, but at the same time also has a complex meta (multiplayer, collections, pumping guns and units);
Mob Control
- Collect Em All!, whose core is a classic casual classic, but with a set of mini—games, the ability to decorate rooms and a tangible progression.
Collect Em All!
The growing popularity of the hybrid segment
Despite the fact that hybrids are becoming more popular in the media and among developers, it’s too early to talk about the dominance of the genre in the market,” Vesinn—Larue believes. In terms of revenue, the top positions are still held by casual companies.
Be that as it may, publishers of mobile games really broke into the niche of hybrids. And this trend has been going on for several years. It is primarily associated with the crisis in the field of hypercausal projects.
According to Vesinn-Larue, the reason for the crisis was Apple‘s policy changes regarding IDFA, which led to an increase in CPI while maintaining LTV at the same level.
Voodoo itself began the transition to hybrids back in 2020, when it drew attention to the CPI growth and realized that it would only get worse over time.
In general, Vesinn-Larue explains the growth in popularity of the hybrid segment as follows:
- firstly, for Voodoo and other hyper-casual teams at that time, hybrids became a working alternative to the niche in which they had previously specialized;
- secondly, the CPI growth was also felt by the developers of casual games, which led them to think about additional earning tools in addition to IAP;
- Thirdly, there are games like Project Makeover, which are promoted using clickbait videos with hyper-casual gameplay, which allows them to reduce CPI. At the same time, their meta and core allow you to keep players for a long time.
How does Voodoo make hybrids?
The process of developing hybrids in Voodoo, according to Vesinn-Larue, is divided into three stages:
- the publishing division, together with internal and external teams, is working on prototypes;
- as soon as a promising prototype of a hybrid game appears, it is brought to the sotflonch and begins to scale;
- if, according to the results of the softlonch, the game has good metrics, then it is connected to the operating team, which begins to engage in further development and scaling of the project.
“Our main strength is that we make a lot of prototypes,” says Vesinn-Larue.
According to him, as part of the company’s transition from the development of hyper-casual games to the development of hybrids, not much has changed.
“The type of projects has just changed, but the process has remained essentially the same. Unless we have become more directive. When working on games, we give teams more guidance on which direction to move in, we try to help them with strategy development. But they still have enough autonomy when it comes to finding ideas, preparing concepts, testing,” says Vesinn—Larue.
What metrics does Voodoo look at when launching hybrids?
The company has two approaches to creating hybrids:
- take the existing and already proven hyper-casual mechanics, and then make a hybrid out of it, adding new monetization tools and new gameplay (this was the case with Mob Control);
- create a completely new game, taking as a basis some casual or midcore title, whose gameplay can be simplified and accepted by the widest possible audience (Block Jam 3D was developed on this principle).
Block Jam 3D
As for metrics, every Voodoo game should, at a minimum, have:
- 45% deduction of the first day;
- 15% seventh day retention (20% for puzzle);
- 10% withholding for 30 days.
In addition, the company pays attention to:
- the amount of time that players spend in the game;
- the frequency of returns to the game;
- CPI.
As for monetization, when choosing it for the game, Voodoo relies on core gameplay. For example, if we are talking about a shooter, then she studies the highest-grossing games of a particular genre and takes any monetization tools from it, if we are talking about a puzzle, then she re-conducts research and integrates other solutions.