An introduction for game developers in traditional game companies to the product mindset I believe is needed to succeed more (or, at least, fail less) when making Games As A Service.

1. A torrid affair starts here.
Make live games
players love ❤🔥‍‍
Luis Cascante
Franchise Director
Star Stable Entertainment May 2022
Consulting Services

2. Falling in love with your player, not your ideas, can help succeed more
when creating live services.
My #1 point today.
Not just a few dates. A torrid affair.

3. Who Am I?
Luis Cascante 👋‍
Franchise Director at Star Stable Entertainment*
*on a sabbatical.
Live Games
Ubisoft / EA
Online AA / AAA
projects supported
with DLC
Live Services
King / Toca Boca / Star Stable
Boxed Games
(A lot of them)
Ubisoft
AA/AAA projects.
Franchise sequel
model.
NOT AAA
Games
Consulting Services

4. Delivering a high-quality game on time
and on budget doesn’t guarantee a
successful live service game.
We like to embrace a “fail fast” culture, when games take so much time and
effort, we owe to ourselves to find ways to fail less.

5. Most traditional games start with a great
idea that we hope players will embrace.
v We assume our experience and market knowledge will lead us to
success.
v We trust that our idea will find an audience.
But will the players love your game
for the long run?
It’s very hard to tell if an idea will
scale and survive just using our
gut and the data we may have
today.

6. The success of your service will be shaped
by users’ love.
We no longer talk about the lagging
indicators of success, right, which is
revenue, profit.
What are the leading indicators of
success? Customer love.
–Satya Nadella,
Microsoft CEO, in 2015
There is no one template that defines how a service needs to work.

7. Fall in love with your player, not your ideas.
Everyone that has ever taken a shower has had an idea.
v We will identify a clear
audience segment and
spend time getting to
know them.
v We will try to find a great
experience that is a match
for their needs.
v We will constantly involve
players validating and
shaping ideas to deliver
continuous value.

8. No service, no users
This is working!
Keep growing
The ceiling?
Fighting
Disruption
Build an
initial release
Launch
Years, decades…
It is a journey.
Development & Live Service ? No.
Search Grow
The life of a Service
Product.
Growth
Inspired
by
The
Cold
Start
Problem,
Andrew
Chen

9. Search
Grow
Expected
Returns
+
Product Innovation Risks
-
Actual
Returns
+
High
Uncertainty
Low
Uncertainty
Product Health Risks
-
We have something that
matters to players and that is
also a scalable, sustainable
and profitable business.
Same journey. Different Perspective.
Returns vs Risks.
The life of a Service
Product.
Inspired
by
The
Invincible
Company,
Strategyzer

10. Search
Grow
Expected
Returns
+
Product Innovation Risks
-
+
-
We have something that
matters to players and that is
also a scalable, sustainable
and profitable business.
High
Uncertainty
Low
Uncertainty
Actual
Returns
Product Health Risks
Same journey. Different Perspective.
Returns vs Risks.
The life of a Service
Product.
Inspired
by
The
Invincible
Company,
Strategyzer

11. Launch
Your game is out there
Retention
time
Players are gone
What No-Search may look like.
Early Grave
Retention
time
nb. players
Couldn’t sustain engagement
Development
An example of ‘Dead on Arrival’.
Live Service

12. Expected
Returns
+
Product Innovation Risks
-
Tipping Point
Your game can grow demand and
become a scalable service
An example of Audience-Driven Search.
Continuous Discovery & Validation
Limited launch + game releases every week.
Star Stable Online
Built in public since 2011…
Community developed as a product.
Launch
Optimization
Market Fit
Enough players don’t
leave
Finding the Value

13. Expected
Returns
+
Product Innovation Risks
-
Finding the Value
Collaboration with community ambassadors
Continuous playtesting (Playtestcloud, etc)
7 Launches in 14 months
Star Stable iOS, 2022
Widely available
US & EU launches
Building on Audience-Driven Search.

14. Expected
Returns
+
Product Innovation Risks
-
Wider Launch
Market Fit
Enough players don’t leave
Tipping Point
Your game can grow demand and
become a scalable service
Audience-Driven Search.
A product team from the start.
Build a community. Develop with them.
A Service from day one.
Your game is out there
And it has a head start!
Launch
Launch Launch
Launch
Launch
Optimization
Retention
time
nb. players
Discovery
Key Question
Can we find a good service for our
players that also benefits the
business?
Key Question
What evidence we have that
players find value in our service?
Validation
Optimization
Key Question
Can we find evidence that the
service can grow demand and
meet our ambitions as a business?
Not a project.
Finding The Value
Continuous Discovery & Validation

15. Discovery

16. Discovery is not
exploration without
boundaries.

17. It’s about mitigating
product risk.

18. Product Innovation Risks:
desirable feasible
viable
Will our audience
want it?
Will our teams be able to deliver
on the ambition with the time,
skills and tech we have?
Will our product be good for the
various aspect of our business?
Is it going to be sustainable?
Scalable as a service?
Desirability Feasibility Viability
Successful
Service Product
Risk Risk Risk
Inspired
by
Marty
Cagan’s
Inspired

19. Value for the player first.
Who’s the player?
We’re going to make the best horse game.
An innovative experience in the MMO genre.
It will be like Minecraft meets Fortnite with
horses.
We’re going to deliver a social experience for
girls who dream about horses all day long.
We want to become a great alternative for
girls who can’t own a horse in real life.
And why are we doing this?
We are on a mission
To satisfy this player’s needs
How it sounds in practice.

20. Deconstruction of Love.
Player
Teenage girls obsessed
with horses
Play
=
Role Playing Online Social
Game
A Special
Something
Fantasy & Magic
soap opera
+
+
Kids who like to tell their
own stories
=
Digital Dollhouse Reality with a
fantasy twist
+
+
A Loved
Product

21. Don’t Spray and Pray.
Segment your players. Talk to them. Make decisions.
Teenage girls
obsessed
with horses
Learn about them.
+What are their needs?
+What would make it a delightful
experience for them?
+What would make it a bad
experience for them?
Serious about becoming
a pro.
Knows everything about
horse training.
Wants realism and
simulation
Not now
Wants to love and take
care of a horse.
Dreams of having her
own horse in real life.
Is happy nurturing a
lovable horse that
becomes a friend
prio 2
Wants to run a stable
with many horses.
Enjoys the admin work
but delegates chores.
Wants many different
breeds to choose
from
prio 1
Match your offering to
their needs.

22. Core Adjacent Adjacent …
Grow the product with adjacent players.
Watch out for
“Selection
Effect”

23. Will it scale?
The 7 Powers determine how
big you may become.
Scale Economies
The relative cost of your
service declines as your
audience grows.
Network Effects
Players joining increases
value for all players.
Counter
Positioning
What you are making
is hard to copy.
Cornered
Resource
You have something
(or someone)
nobody else has.
Process
Power
Your organization, ways
of working, practices
lead to a superior or
highly efficient product
Switching Costs
The cost of leaving the
service is high.
Branding
Attribution of higher
value from historic info
about the maker.
7 Powers
by Hamilton Helmer

24. Discovery is best together.
Bring a broad variety of perspectives to the table.
Co-create with your players / community.
desirable feasible
viable
Developing understanding together builds alignment.

25. Problem Solve
Together.
Discovery Sprint.
From implementing to engineering. A rhythm for new feature development. Solve team & stakeholder alignment.
Building on each other’s perspectives.
Discuss the
opportunity
Get
Inspiration
Generate
Ideas
Choose
what to
focus
on
Find a way
to validate it
Align
Solution
Direction
Validate
Opportunity Space Solution Space
Design Thinking.

26. Build your discovery toolbox.
talk to players
map player needs:
value proposition
assumptions mapping
identify your players
community input outcomes mapping
critical problem solving:
design sprint
market & audience insights
will it scale? 7 Powers
prototyping buy or build: wardley maps
dice & slice: story mapping

27. Continuous Validation.
Because evidence > fairy tales.
v Successful teams develop
the habit to test and learn
from users frequently.
v Flexibility and momentum
are more valuable than
perfection. Market-fit is
ephemeral.
v Releasing is a tool, not an
event. If something feels
hard, do it more often.

28. How do we build the thing?
Adapt your approach to the situation in front of you.
v Obvious stuff you have
done before, low impact if
it goes wrong: linear
approach – design, build,
deliver.
v Something you have
experience with but not in
the current context: build,
measure, learn.
v New things, risky things:
exploratory approach –
short iteration loops with
the purpose to find
problem-solution fit.

29. Optimization.
Prove that your product can be sustainable, scalable.
Incremental delivery of updates to
enhance the experience.
Sustain Engagement
Mindset:
+ Understand user pains & gains
+ Good enough mindset
+ Ruthless scoping
+ Collect feedback widely
Driven by a Release Plan
Solutions connected to what the
business strategy demands.
New Development
Mindset:
+ Continuous Discovery
+ Maintain a learning process
+ Validate with community
+ Be ready to pivot
Driven by a Roadmap
Awareness Acquisition Retention
Revenue Referral
Tools and automations to make
operations more efficient.
New Capabilities
Mindset:
+ Reserve time for this or it may
not happen
+ Keep a systems thinking view
when deciding what to improve
+ Do less to deliver more
+ Connect to strategic intent
e.g., Toca Life
store CMS

30. A continuous practice.
dev cycle n
discovery
delivery
Discover to Deliver. Deliver to Discover.
cycle n+1
discovery
delivery
cycle n+2
discovery
delivery
cycle n+3
discovery
delivery

31. Launching.
Not an event, but a tool.
Star Stable
iOS
7 Launches
1. Australia: Invite Only
2. Australia: Tech Beta
3. Australia: Soft Launch
4. Rest of Oceania
5. Latin America
6. US
7. Rest of World
in 14 Months
Unlearn the perfection
mindset, but don’t send
broken stuff to players.
+Your colleagues are biased.
+Your friends are biased.
+Your fans are biased.
+Your game community is
crucial, but find out who else is
out there…
No Burnt Pizzas. Audience Matters.
If it’s hard, do it
more often.

32. Wrapping up
Don’t Dev & Live. Search & Grow.
Service mindset from day one.
No service, no users
This is working!
Keep growing
The ceiling?
Fighting
Disruption
Build an
initial release
Launch
Years, decades…
It is a journey.
Development & Live Service ! No.
Search Grow
The life of a Service
Product.
Growth
An audience-driven process can help
us fail less.
Expected
Returns
+
Product Innovation Risks
-
Wider Launch
Market Fit
Enough players don’t leave
Tipping Point
Your game can grow demand and
become a scalable service
Audience-Driven Search.
Continuous Discovery
& Validation
A service team from the start.
Build a community. Develop with them.
Service from day one. Fail less.
Your game is out there
And it has a head start!
Launch
Launch Launch
Launch
Launch
Optimization
Retention
time
nb. players
Discovery
Key Question
Can we find a good service for our
players that also benefits the
business!
Key Question
What evidence we have that
players find value in our service!
Validation
Optimization
Key Question
Can we find evidence that the
service can grow demand and
meet our ambitions as a business!
Knowing who you make a game
for is crucial
Value for the player first.
Who’s the player?
We’re going to make the best horse game.
An innovative experience in the MMO genre.
It will be like Minecraft meets Fortnite with
horses.
We’re going to deliver a social experience for
girls who dream about horses all day long.
We want to become a great alternative for
girls who can’t own a horse in real life.
And why are we doing this!
We are on a mission
To satisfy this player’s needs
How it sounds in practice.
Discovery is a risk mitigation
superpower worth investing on.
It’s about mitigating
product risk.
A few takeaways.
The most important thing.
Continuous validation. Because evidence > fairy tales.
v Successful teams develop
the habit to test and learn
from users frequently.
v Flexibility and momentum
are more valuable than
perfection. Market-fit is
ephemeral.
v Releasing is a tool, not an
event. If something feels
hard, do it more often.
Rapid discovery and validation is
key to shaping the service.
Discovery is best together.
Bring a broad variety of perspectives to the table.
Co-create with your players / community.
desirable feasible
viable
Developing understanding together builds alignment.
Discovering together is great to
drive inclusion and alignment.

33. Thanks!
Get in touch: luis@workwithluis.com