Post Mortem Imperia Online – Very Alive! Dobroslav Dimitrov, Imperia Online

31 Jan 2013

Dobroslav is a really interesting guy, maybe one of the few (or only?) game developers who is also a member of the parliament. Luckily, no election speeches this time :)

And now straight to the point.

The evolution of Imperia Online can be divided into several different eras. Lets take a look at the key decisions which lead to it becoming the game it is today.

Era 1 - the past

How to get your game career started? You have to attract the players with great game play, visuals and addictiveness. The gameplay needs to be meaningful and deep in order to get the players hooked on it make them want to play it for hours at a time.

From the start we learned that developers should always launch first and shouldn´t wait for the perfect moment as it may never come!

Stop players exhausting themselves from playing or killing each other

Let them quit when they want to. During the second era of Imperia Online, people were angry because the hook was so strong that they just couldn´t quit playing. This required us to step in and make a mandatory break of 6 hours when players had played for over 24 hours.

Of course this made our clients, our bread and butter, very angry, but this step was needed in order to give the hardcore players some sleeping time.

They are great cash cows, but they are no use to you in the long run when all of their energy and money is spent on the long game sessions.

Business lesson from the second era

Expand your team and build an infrastructure. Hire a manager, so you can concentrate on developing the product. In the last 6 years we changed offices multiple times and adapted to the changes. You should never miss the right moment for expansion.

Don´t punish your players with a blind eye

We ran some statistics and had 100 000 people who had done something illegal in the game. Before the routine action was just banning them from the game, but now we punish them according to the level of the crime they commit.

You need to be careful about blind justice. After all, these people have regular lives and they are still paying clients. Use tact and take away some features as punishment, but keep the game open for them.

Business lesson from the third era

Do not miss the hints of changing times. You have to continuously revise your business model. Either way, we were running out of time, so we went all in with the new version and luckily we can talk about an happy end to our story

Experiment with monetization

Never assume what people want or don`t want. Don`t go overboard with in-game purchases. Test your games. Test the usability and overall user experience!

So in 2011 we went to a game conference and everybody was talking about the need of monetization. We discussed it with one of our mentors and he asked us a very interesting question: do you think you need monetization or know it? This was an eye opener.

On the spot the decision was made. In 30 days were are going to double the revenue we make per user, because obviously we were lacking behind. Surprisingly, we tripled our income!

We allowed people who want to play the came casually to play normally and provided the option for buying better equipment and tools. People who don`t want pay, don`t need to worry about it.

The game needs to advance for the casual players as well

Give special packages and deals for players who want to spend their money. People are different and so are their needs. Some people are perfectly happy buying virtual goods for large sums of money - even 100$ can be seen as normal for some players, so design your game accordingly.

Business lesson from the current era

Put all assets to work for the title that makes you the most money. Stick to what you know and do best! Currently we have 100 people working on Imperia Online and we can`t afford to lose any of them - they are all the best at what they do. Focus on small details and what you do best.

Era 5 - the future

Our core belief is the relentless pursuit of perfection. Every single thing aspect of your game needs to be designed. There are services online where players can play your game and give feedback. Test all the time. Match the user experience with the experience that players themselves want. Never assume anything and focus on overall user experience.

Remember that if it is not on the news then it hasn`t really happened yet and if you get investment from VCs then please use it carefully.