Industry Insider Roundtable: Viewable Gaming?Success Secret or Dev Distraction?

Welcome to Chartboost?s monthly Industry Insider Roundtable. Each month we invite some of the mobile gaming industry's best and brightest to weigh in on the latest trends and hottest topics?everything from the ins and outs of mobile game marketing to the dos and don'ts of user acquisition.As the likes of Twitch and YouTube continue to influence the games industry, one of the best ways to acquire new users, get discovered, and make money, is to have a game featured by a big video content creator. This month we asked our team to mull over the pros and cons of viewable gaming: Is creating a viewable game the ultimate path to success or just a development distraction?

Steve Stopps?Co-founder, Team LumoWord-of-mouth marketing (WoM) is one of the biggest drivers of content. Streamers are like WoM with a megaphone. However, getting a game covered by people with a meaningful following is very competitive, so it?s not an easy route to user acquisition. That said, one piece by a big name can make your game, so it would be naive for it not to at least be a development consideration.

Will Luton?Product Lead, A Thinking Ape[Creating a viewable game] can be a strong part of a strategy, however, it must be something you intentionally build from the start. For me, the key criteria for a streamable game involve strategy, spatial action and dramatic tension. That's to say, the viewer wants to learn from the stream. The game also needs to be visually interesting and there needs to be some swings, or risks, that keep viewers on the hook.

Dan Walters?Co-creator, Calvino NoirThe obvious answer is that this is very important. Let's Plays, streaming and videos can be a powerful growth mechanic and many games, including Minecraft, owe their success to their popularity in videos. But it is important to note that not all successful games are big on YouTube and Twitch. Each game needs a discoverability plan that suits the title. This needs to be carefully planned through with an eye on what has worked for other games in similar situations.

Each game needs a discoverability plan that suits the title.

Games that perform well on YouTube and Twitch typically have very long or entirely open play times, often with open-ended mechanics and unexpected outcomes. Publishers are increasingly aware and more attracted to low-cost growth strategies?games that they anticipate growing well on Twitch and YouTube are stronger propositions.

Tomas Rawlings?Design & Production Director, Auroch DigitalViewable is key. Games are culture now?not just hobby?so the performance of them has become all the more important. Viewable games are about giving your players a space to perform, whether that's by having fun, getting scared or being serious.As developers, we've been considering this for some time now. The rise of YouTube, live streaming technology, eSports and gaming culture has combined to create a perfect visual storm. We're all riding that wave now?or sinking if we don't.