Mobile game studio simulator
See what your mobile game would turn over, how many players you'd win and who you'd lose them to — quarter by quarter for four years — before you spend real money.
Installs, whales and the update that brings them back. This one opens as Tiny Kingdoms: A free-to-play mobile game earning from in-app purchases and a season pass. Rename it, reprice it, or describe your own mobile game and let Nova rewrite it to fit.
What a steady game ends up with
Played steadily for all four years — quality first, then growth, a fair share of the bank spent each year — a steady game here ends its last year on $256k of revenue and $104k of profit, with 9,790 players and 6.8% of the market (#5 of 6).
It starts from nothing: $15k in the bank and you, 50 hours a week, with no players yet.
People who play it well do better, and a bad plan runs out of money.
Revenue in the last year: $256k
Profit in the last year: $104k
Players at the end: 9,790
Share of the market: From nothing to 6.8%
Where it finishes: #5 of 6
Years and decisions: 4 years, quarterly
What you'll decide each quarter
Each quarter you price the purchase, split spend between winning players and keeping them, choose new features against reliability, and decide when to raise money.
Each decision shows on a forecast before you file it, and every period resolves against the rivals and the economy.
Who your players are
Downloads are cheap; the second week is the business. Most people who try it leave, so what matters is how many players stay and pay, and what it cost to find them.
500,000 players in all, across United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and Australia.
Casual players: Never spend, sometimes watch an ad, gone in a fortnight. About 250,000 of them, worth $15 a year each.
Engaged players: Play daily and buy the pass when it is worth it. About 150,000 of them, worth $39 a year each.
Big spenders: A few percent of players and most of the money. About 50,000 of them, worth $75 a year each.
Lapsed players: Back for an update if it is a good one. About 50,000 of them, worth $66 a year each.
Who you're up against
Three rivals are already in it, and they play to win: they cut prices, spend on marketing and answer what you do. Most of the market is theirs on day one.
The chart-topping franchise: The biggest, and slow to change — it has stopped listening to its smaller customers. Holds about 34% of the market.
The clone factory: Wins on price and little else; its customers leave the moment somebody is better. Holds about 20% of the market.
The indie hit everyone is talking about: Clever and quick, but stretched thin and hard to get hold of. Holds about 8% of the market.
How it works
Free until you start: building and previewing cost nothing, and starting is $10, once.
Build it — free: Press build and you get your own copy of this market: four kinds of player, three rivals and five markets.
Make it yours: Change any number, describe your mobile game in a sentence or two and let Nova fill it in, or upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history to fit it to your real figures.
Preview — free: See what a steady game ends up with, and every warning worth reading, before you pay anything.
Start — $10: Pay once to start, your seat included. Then run it quarter by quarter for four years.
Also for
indie game · gaming · studio · free to play
How much does the mobile game studio simulator cost?
Building and previewing are free: make your own copy of this mobile game market, change anything in it and see what a steady game ends up with without paying. Starting the simulation is $10, once, and your own seat is included.
Can I make it match my own mobile game?
Yes. Every number can be changed — the players and what they pay, the rivals, the markets, the costs and the starting cash. Or describe your mobile game in a sentence or two and Nova, SparkTower's AI, fills every section in for one Nova action. If you already trade, upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history and the simulation is fitted to your real numbers, starting from where your business stands today.
Are the numbers realistic for a mobile game?
The template is checked against what real ones do: played steadily, a believable one finishes year four turning over between $30k and $2m, with between 2,000 and 80,000 players. This one's preview comes to about $256k and 9,790. Your own prices, costs and figures change that, which is the point of trying it here first.
Can I use it to test a mobile game business plan?
That is what it is for. Put your plan's prices, costs and starting cash in, play it forward quarter by quarter, and see whether the money lasts, how many players you would need and what a rival's price cut does to you — before you put real money in.
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