You’ll gain essential insight from top games industry experts in our standalone workshops this March, the third in our MasterClass series. These paid half-day courses run March 9th to 11th and cover essential development and business topics in the company of industry veterans and successful CEOs.
We’ll help you master the tools needed to understand the games market, and how to collect and use data to grow. Perhaps you’re wondering how and when to save a failed game. Or you want to know how to design and optimise your game economy (one of our most popular topics, returning after a sell-out session in 2020). Maybe you’re interested in UX and how to make your games more fun and profitable. Whatever skills your business needs, we have you covered with the upcoming round of PocketGamer.Biz MasterClasses.
A deeper learning experience
The PocketGamer.biz MasterClass series are designed to enhance your skills and knowledge by providing a practical deep-dive into specific subjects. We’ve lined up the finest industry experts to create professional, half-day activities featuring tutorials, lectures and breakout groups all accessible from the comfort of your home office. These MasterClasses take place between March 9th to 11th, and you can book for individual sessions or the whole series.
The PocketGamer.biz MasterClasses are no ordinary “listen and learn” lectures; tickets are limited to keep groups smaller and focused, meaning each attendee has plenty of opportunities to interact with the presenter and fellow learners throughout the session. Workshops are designed to be collaborative, practical experiences so be ready to engage with the subject matter individually as well as through group activities, feedback and break-out discussion groups.
Course outlines and teacher details for March’s MasterClass are below. Be sure to book your places today! Discounts are available for pre-booking multiple sessions and for indies, students and group registrations.
UPCOMING MASTERCLASSES
Tuesday, March 9 (10am – 1pm BST)
PG.Biz MasterClass: Understanding The Market Through External Data & Tools
The modern mobile games development ecosystem is full of tools designed to help developers be more aware, prepared and efficient. In this MasterClass we’ll overview the whole development lifecycle, from refining the idea and monetisation mechanics, through to launching and scaling your hit, and discuss in each case what tools and methods of app market research are here to help you maximize your chances to succeed and how to get the best from them.
Formerly a programmer, Max Samorukov has been working in the games industry for 12 years. Currently he is a Chief Products Officer at Crazy Panda, and Founder/CEO at AppMagic. Max specializes in product strategies, analytics and marketing.
Tuesday, March 9 (3pm – 6pm BST)
PG.Biz MasterClass: Collecting and Using Data – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
When it comes to meeting new people, there’s an old saying that’s timeless – you’ll never get a second chance to make a first impression.
And, unless you have a plan for collecting data prior to the launch of your game, you’ll never be able to go back to get it, you’ll never understand your earliest users, and you’ll miss out on the nuggets of information that can be learned during this crucial period in your game.
This is where the opportunity for growth is greatest and the market for new users is fertile because few people have had the opportunity to experience your game. Data is an enabler. If managed correctly, it can provide the foundation for activities as simple as understanding basic user behaviors, analysing creative performance in UA campaigns and provide the foundation for full scale automation.
Brett Bauer, as co-founder and CEO of Shared2you, Inc., created internal data and analysis solutions to answer complex questions which led to a deeper understanding of the mobile app economy and the completion of a fully automated data management platform powered by first party data. This became the foundation of the Appfluencer® Platform and enabled “IDFA-less” targeting at scale in a fully automated campaign management platform.
Wednesday, March 10 (10am – 1pm BST)
PG.Biz MasterClass: How (& When) to Save a Failed Game
Oscar Clark
Consultant, Co-Founder
Fundamentally Games
Oscar Clark has been a pioneer in online, mobile, and console social games services since 1998. He is also author of the book, Games As A Service – How Free To Play Design Can Make Better Games.
What do you do when the masterpiece of game design you created simply does not work? You have not been getting the installs or the revenue you expected to reflect the value of the game. How can you know whether to cut your losses or to go back to the drawing board?
This Masterclass will look at how to Triage, Diagnose and Prescribe what needs to be done when assessing a game to decide whether to kill or save your game. The principles are the same whether you are looking at PC, Console or Mobile. You need to review, test, assess to find out if there is an opportunity first, and only then can you identify the changes to lift the performance of your game to make them successful commercially. The approach outlines in this course is based on over 10 years of consulting with game teams, helping them make the decision to kill or turn around the commercial potential of their games.
Oscar Clark is Chief Strategy Officer of Fundamentally Games LTD whose mission is to bring games to live. He has been a pioneer in games services since 1998 helping developers design, deliver, monetise, and operate games live. As a consultant he has provided advice on too many games to mention in order to attempt to bring failed games back to life. He literally wrote the book “Games As A Service” published by Routledge.
Wednesday, March 10 (2pm – 5pm BST)
PG.Biz MasterClass: Game Economy Design & Optimisation
Nick Murray
F2P Product, Live Ops, and Monetisation Consultant
GamesConsulting.net
Game economy is a crucial but often overlooked part of game design which has a far-reaching impact on retention and monetisation KPIs. By building a robust economy, games can engage users, giving them a more enjoyable experience. Economies define difficulty, player progress and enjoyment!
Nick Murray, an 11-year veteran of the F2P industry (former Rovio, Ubisoft, Aeria Games, GREE) will share methods and clear plans on how to think about economy creation, post-launch economy optimisation and overcoming the challenges in creating value for virtual items.
Thursday, March 11 (2pm – 5pm BST)
PG.Biz MasterClass: Game User Experience, Making Your Games More Fun & Profitable
Jason Schklar
Founder, Game & UX Consultant
UX is Fine!
Jason has led teams and provided product, design, and UX direction both as a sought after consultant and as a studio leader at Amazon, Big Huge Games, Disney, Microsoft, and Zynga.
With David Inscore and Neil Edwards he formed UX is Fine, a unique partnership that provides full service Game UX consulting, UI/UX design and direction, and Visual/Brand identity.
Since 2018 they’ve partnered with game developers and publishers like 2K, Epic, Jam City, Kabam, Kongregate, Scopely, and Wargaming.
Reach out for help with your prototype, alpha, soft launch, beta, or already live game. They can help you:
* Find the fun
* Solve UX problems
* Drive KPI (funnel, engagement, retention, monetization)
* Establish your brand identity and visual appeal
* Optimize your product strategy and roadmap
You understand by now that User Experience is much more than UI. It’s not something to be slapped on at the end of the product life cycle to make it look prettier and hopefully more appealing and user friendly.
The true power of User Experience is when it is seen as a process that helps you build more fun and profitable games with less risk.
This Masterclass will provide concrete and practical information that will help you understand UX from a holistic perspective, develop your UX strategy, and use UX as a powerful tool to make both business and creative decisions with confidence.
What is the best way to charge for your game? This can be a challenge on any developer on any platform (PC, Console or Mobile) and cannot just be bolted on. A game developer needs to understand what their players value; what motivates them to invest their precious time and money; and most importantly, why they would do it again.
This is not a simple choice between Pay-upfront or Pay-in-game. We need to consider how each element of product and price design affects anticipation, expectation, as well as communicating opportunity cost and anticipation.
This Masterclass will provide a framework to make practical decisions, which can improve the commercial potential in your game. It will explore how price means more than a number, different forms of exchange, and the role of Bundles and ‘Unboxing’.
Jason Schklar has led teams and provided product, design, and UX direction both as a sought after consultant and as a studio leader at Amazon, Big Huge Games, Disney, Microsoft, and Zynga.
With David Inscore and Neil Edwards we formed UX is Fine!, a unique partnership that provides full service Game UX consulting, UI/UX design and direction, and Visual/Brand identity.
Since 2018 we’ve partnered with game developers and publishers like 2K, Epic, Jam City, Kabam, Kongregate, Scopely, and Wargaming.
BOOK NOW: Multi-buy & group discounts
There are savings if you book for multiple MasterClasses at the same time. Reserve your place at three or four workshops and get an additional one FREE. That’s a saving of 20%-25% if you contact us to make multiple reservations.
Booking for multiple people? Take advantage of our 30% corporate discount for groups of six or more people from the same company.
For multi-buy or group discounts, please email sally.kevan@steelmedia.co.uk to discuss your bespoke package.
If you are an indie developer (small privately-owned studio with fewer than 10 members, engaged in game creation) or student you may be entitled to discounted tickets. Please contact us with proof of your status and we can discuss relevant offer codes: sally.kevan@steelmedia.co.uk
Tickets are strictly limited to ensure healthy class sizes, so be sure to get in touch today to secure your place.
