How Azur Video games grew its hypercasual video games to 1.5B downloads

Azur Video games is a form of companies that has quietly change into with out a doubt one of many dwell ten game publishers within the arena with extra than 1.5 billion downloads. It did so by pivoting into the rising hypercasual video games on mobile devices.

Now the firm has extra than 300 workers in Cyprus and Japanese Europe, stated Dmitry Yaminsky, CEO of Azur Video games, in an interview with GamesBeat. And within the predominant quarter, Azur’s Stack Ball and Hit Grasp 3D video games had been amongst the dwell-20 most downloaded video games worldwide, based entirely on size agency Sensor Tower.

All over this winning urge, Yaminsky stumbled on that whereas many hypercasual video games remain mountainous hits for roughly a month, they lickety-split tumble off after that. Nevertheless the downloads don’t scramble to zero. Somewhat, they tumble to perchance 10% or 20% of the early numbers. After which they protect at that stage of most definitely 100,000 downloads a month for a extremely very long time, giving the video games an extended lifestyles and a extra predictable earnings scoot. And with so many video games within the library and upcoming pipeline, Azur Video games has a beautiful appropriate industry that can protect the employee unfriendly, Yaminsky stated. Stack Ball is the greatest hit, with extra than 300 million downloads, whereas WormsZome.io has extra than 200 million downloads.

Nevertheless the opponents isn’t easy. There are opponents savor Voodoo Video games, SayGames, Rollic, and others.

Origins

Yaminsky beforehand worked within the promoting exchange, however made up our minds to pass into video games after a downturn struck in 2014 and 2015.

Yaminsky formally began the game publisher in 2016 in Moscow to submit midcore video games, or those with hardcore subject matters however would possibly perchance perhaps be conducted briefly cycles on mobile devices. The firm stumbled on a studio that used to be engaged on a title known as As much as date Strike Online, a mobile have on Counter-Strike. And they helped them with the open with advertising first and important.

That game grew to change into a mammoth hit with extra than 70 million downloads, and Azur Video games obtained half of of the pattern studio.

“It used to be very winning. And with the open of the game, I determined to work on diversified video games. And so after the firm began as a mobile publisher, after which we began our have pattern,” he stated.

In 2017, hypercasual video games — which have most definitely a minute to play — began taking off, as a result of contemporary game companies savor Voodoo Video games. He moved the headquarters to Cyprus.

“We didn’t in actuality know uncover how to manner user acquisition for the contemporary market at the time, so we made up our minds to fund and habits an experiment — two folks from the team made a hypercasual game that grew to change into winning,” Yaminsky stated. “It grew to change into out that two or three folks can kind a challenge with better metrics than a team of 60 within the midcore segment. That used to be our pivot.”

In the predominant experiment, one person worked on programming and one other on art work. It took about a month to end the game. On its first day, the game generated $1,000 in promoting earnings. On the second day, it used to be $2,000.

“Then we began procuring customers,” he stated. “Support then it used to be correct so easy. There had been so few opponents. Plenty of folks stated it used to be very no longer likely. I stated it used to be my cash. Let me crash it. If truth be told, the predominant game I launched used to be an actual success.”

Rising the industry

Some companies began churning out video games savor factories. It used to be moderately easy to develop in hypercasual within the meanwhile since the market used to be minute and the developers had been very alive to on presenting their video games.

That’s after we knew we wanted to stand out from the diversified publishers and tried to inspect the groups for their skill, refine the prototypes, and gain ride within the firm,” Yaminsky stated. “This used to be a breath of contemporary air for the exchange, since most publishers within the meanwhile correct checked out the predominant metrics — if they had been appropriate, then they took the challenge, if no longer, they sent it assist to the developer.”

Azur Video games began to have an ecosystem that is at risk of be happy for the developers and develop projects within it. It shared its ride and actively helped budding studios and solo developers to enter the market. This capacity that, the advertising budgets grew, the studios learned to belief Azur Video games, and the firm began attracting a form of contemporary developers.

Whereas the headquarters is in Cyprus, the team is spread out, with assist offices in Dubai and Moscow. Loads of the folks work remotely, which helps the firm develop lickety-split. About 50 folks work in advertising and analytics, whereas a team of 30 motion designers work on inventive advertisements that assist the video games spread. About 200 folks work on midcore projects, which is able to maintain greater margins.

“We’re looking out to pave our have plan,” Yaminsky stated. “Many companies on the market are calm expecting done projects with appropriate metrics. Nevertheless we at Azur Video games agree with in groups and offers a decide on to the projects ourselves.”

Whereas hypercasual video games calm offers most of the downloads, Azur Video games has diversified into the casual game and midcore game segments. These video games will open up coming out within the arrival months and years.

The hypercasual department includes loads of mini-groups, which embrace a producer, two or three product assistants, and two or three game designers. Every mini-team works with a dinky resolution of studios.

“We prototype about 200 video games a month, and after we take a look at them, we open about one or two video games monthly,” Yaminsky stated. “In diversified words, to procure a form of downloads, or no longer it can be necessary to realize a form of labor, which isn’t always seen from the out of doors.”

Staying sooner than opponents

Now that hypercasual is a mountainous market, companies savor Zynga maintain obtained hypercasual corporations savor Rollic, and the market is crowded.

“You would also accumulate as a firm easiest whereas you piece your ride with developers extra than the others, urge tests sooner, exhaust your have analytics, and invest your abilities and ride in pattern,” Yaminsky stated. “We set apart the emphasis on communication and offering the necessary sources: as an illustration, if the team doesn’t maintain motion designers, game designers or artists, we have them as wanted.”

In diversified words, the hot approach is to provide favorable conditions and pattern infrastructure within its ecosystem. This kind that the firm is intriguing to piece the leisure that would also assist the developers have the true resolution, pattern-monitoring files being one instance. At the same time, the firm by no plan reworks the video games for the studios and it easiest suggests the route.

Which plan the firm has to search out the true groups to have long-time interval, mutually precious relationships. It has invested extra than $10 million in developers as much as now. Loads of the developers are in Japanese Europe, the put companies maintain learned to pass lickety-split and efficiently without working up excessive prices, Yaminsky stated. There are moreover a form of educated programmers within the advise.

“First and important, we always assess the prospective. If it’s there, we’re ready to speculate our have efforts and colossal amounts of cash,” Yaminsky stated. “For instance, if there’s a studio with annual earnings of as much as $5 million, we’re ready to speculate as much as $10 million for a 20% to 30% stake, even extra in some circumstances. Meanwhile, the studio stays in assist watch over of the challenge, and we easiest assist to develop it in all directions, at the side of advertising.”

By 2019, the market got considerable extra competitive, and now it is even extra heated. In the month of Would perchance moreover, the firm spent extra than $15 million in advertising. The firm moreover tries to provide the developers extra favorable terms than others attain, savor paying neatly for each and every prototype. This allows them to quilt pattern prices, so that they’ll in actuality feel happy and strive extra things than they would possibly in a unique atmosphere, Yaminsky stated.

“Via the product approach, we draw at rising lifetime imprint of customers and paying extra consideration to in-app monetization,” he stated. “This kind we’re planning to realize deeper projects, however we always have the studio sources into yarn — if the developer doesn’t maintain a form of ride, they work on easy mechanics.”

A hit game can procure 300,000 to 500,000 downloads a day, however Yaminsky believes that the long-time interval matters loads. In the long tail for winning, a game can generate $100,000 to $400,000 a month. With 10 to 30 such hits, the long tail generates a consistent earnings that is within the millions of bucks a month.

Now the firm is buying for extra game studios to speculate in to assist producing extra hits.

“The resolution of opponents retains increasing, and now we opt to protect competitive,” Yaminsky stated.