Hi, Habr! It so happened that game processes play an important role in many life processes: both evolutionary and more mundane, everyday. Gaming conventions contribute to both learning different skills and relaxing the brain and changing the type of activity, which has a positive effect on the ability to work. But today we are not talking about all sorts of complicated things like gamification of the process of developing or developing educational gaming applications, but about a simpler and more understandable thing: earning money from game development.



Just playing is good. Good games are even better. Well, modern games that use the latest technology achievements are just wonderful: few people could have imagined 20 or 30 years ago how competitive processes would grow, how accurate the balance in AAA titles would be, how many scientific papers in various fields would be written for some kind of "toys".

With the advent of cheap broadband Internet access, “classic” computer games have changed: multiplayer content, whether you like it or not, is now put almost higher than the classic single-player products. With the ubiquitous distribution of smartphones, games have gained access to such things as augmented reality, in fact, live multiplayer and the constant involvement of thousands and millions of players around the world.
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Of course, we could not stand aside and created the Google Play Games - a vibrant and diverse community of gamers, uniting 190 countries of the world. And they play a lot like never before! In the last year alone, the number of games installed on mobile devices over a million times has increased by 50%.

At our annual Developer Day at the Game Developers Conference, we announced a new platform and advertising tools, with the help of which any developer will be able to attract an audience around the world and accelerate the growth of their business.

Google Play Games are becoming more convenient for gamers.

At one time, the digital game distribution service Steam turned the PC gaming market. Perhaps he was not perfect, and not perfect until now, but the brainchild of Gabe Newell showed that the players themselves follow those services that are simple, convenient and understandable. And the game makers came to this community later. The same rules work in the field of mobile games.

We are constantly improving Google Play Games, not only in terms of benefits for developers, but also necessarily in terms of convenience for users - that is, players. For example, in February we introduced the “Nickname” function , and now anyone can create their own game alter ego. We also simplified the process of logging in to the account so that gamers can be included in the game faster. In addition, we are trying to make the Google Play Games service even more interactive and interesting, as well as add social features. This will help increase the number of involved users who are using the application more and more. For example, the Gamer friends feature will soon be released - with its help, players will be able to add friends and chat with them directly in the Google Play Games application (no Google+ account is required).

In the near future, we will launch a collection of indie games on Google Play, which will collect the best games from independent developers. Do you want your product to fall into this collection? Leave a request on the page g.co/indiecornersubmission . When selecting, we pay attention to the quality of the interface and the ability of the developer to use the Google Play gaming services.

Enhance your product with new features in Google Play

Players are an important component of the gaming community, but we have not forgotten about the developers either. In the end, it is they who do the things that millions of people spend their valuable time on and honestly earned. : D

In January, we added new features to the Statistics: Players section , a free tool that allows you to better assess how users interact with the application and spend money in it. In addition, with it, you can track the outflow of users. Below we describe some of the tools that will become available in the coming months.

Manage game settings

With this tool you can update gameplay settings and economic parameters of the game. However, you do not need to make changes to the APK file or re-send the application for review. You can optimize virtual goods and currency directly from the Developer Console or using the Google Play Developer API.


^{Manage game settings in the Google Play Developer Console}

Video Recording API

Players love to compete. And cool players - show how cool they are. On the basis of this, albeit a slightly conceited approach, there is a huge community of streamers, portals such as Twitch are selling “compendiums” for Dota with multi-million copies. And if on a PC with streaming and recording games everything is more or less good, then on phones is the real trouble New API for recording video gameplay designed to correct this misunderstanding. You will be able to easily add video recording to your application, and your users, in turn, will be able to share their videos with friends or publish them on YouTube. Later we will add streaming functionality - with its help, players will be able to broadcast the game process on YouTube in real time.

Predictive analytics.

Forewarned is forearmed. Now in the Player Stats API there is a predictive analytics function, with its help you will find out which groups of players spend money more in the application, spend more time in it, or delete it. We will also add new variants of forecasts, for example, how much a player is supposed to spend in the next 30 days, and show how likely it is that the user is inclined to spend noticeable amounts. Thanks to this data, you can better understand how such users interact with the application in order to increase their involvement in the game and motivate them to make new purchases, as well as fine-tune the balance of prices and game benefits from virtual goods. Learn more about the Player Stats API here .

“We have stopped showing ads to users who, according to the forecast, are willing to spend more money. As a result, the number of IAP transactions increased by 15% , ”notes Avetis Zakharyan, General Director of Underwater Apps.

New ad formats and targeting: search, retention and monetization of promising players

Promoting the game and growing the audience is only part of the success. It is important to find such users who will play in your application again and again. Today we present to you a set of new features that will simplify and scale the search for the ideal audience.

Advertising trial game

Within a few weeks, users will be able to play the game they are interested in in test mode. While searching for games on Google Play, the user will see an advertisement for a trial game. After clicking the "Try" button, the game will start in test mode, and the user will be able to play for 10 minutes. If the player likes the application, he can then download its full version. Such ads will be shown to users on smartphones only when Wi-Fi is connected. Thanks to this advertising format, you can attract already interested users who are more likely to continue playing after installing the application.


^{Advertisement of the test game Panda Pop from SGN}

Video advertising in portrait orientation

Over 80% of video ad views in mobile applications on the Google Display Network are on gadgets that are usually held vertically. However, often these videos are designed for viewing in landscape mode. In the next few weeks, our team will launch the function of portrait orientation of video advertising: this way users will be able to watch videos shot vertically in good quality. The developers have already noted an increase in CPC and conversion. The result is a reduced cost per unit and an increased total number of units.

Active user targeting for Google Play Games

In the near future, we will present a new type of advertising targeting for Android applications. For example, you can use it to show ads to users who have spent more than 30 minutes in the game or have played an application integrated with Google Play Games over the past 30 days.

Use AdMob to increase revenue from the game.

AdMob service is a reliable assistant to game developers around the world. Thanks to him, you can increase profits through advertising inside the application. During the Game Developers Conference, our team also spoke about a new way to increase revenue through AdMob Mediation. Advertising reward is a popular way to monetize games: users are invited to interact with advertisements in exchange for awards in the application. Using AdMob Mediation will allow you to easily monetize your applications with rewards for video ads from several advertising providers. The feature will be supported across multiple networks and platforms, for example, AdColony, AppLovin, Chartboost, Fyber, Upsight and Vungle. This list will be gradually updated.

To learn more about these and other updates to the advertising industry, read the Inside AdWords blog.

Our plans for 2016 still have a lot of interesting updates. We hope that the new tools will be useful to you, and your games will become even better, the number of involved users will increase, and income will grow. Stay tuned, we still have a lot of interesting. ;)