In this episode, host Vader Research speaks with Paul West, Founder of Fumb Games, to talk about Bitcoin Miner, its gameplay, economy and more.
Read our notes below to learn more
Bitcoin Miner background
- In 2017, Paul delved into the crypto space in terms of $BTC and $ETH and loved the idea behind the blockchain.
- Developed the Bitcoin live alive game but didn’t get any traction because of having a hard time in marketing.
- April of this year, added a feature to earn $BTC and that’s what changed the game.
- First weekend, it had 60,000 in stores, all organically from the U.S.
Gameplay core loops
- It works like an idle game.
- Once a player gets to a certain point, they will hit a wall wherein the player can’t afford the next upgrade. At that point, the player will do an idle game's prestige which is a great mechanic because as a small studio, it enables them to make small amounts of content but for a long duration.
Growing Bitcoin Miner
- The players can earn satoshis in 3 or 4 different ways within the game.
- The initial results of a game on the store are very critical.
- If a game gets very healthy metrics upfront, it definitely helps long term.
Player behavior
- Currently preparing a benchmark for users in terms of withdrawing and not withdrawing earnings.
- There is a daily withdrawal limit of 500 satoshis.
- Working on tightening the gaps to spot exploits and remove them.
Economics & UA Strategy
- Players would come into the game knowing they could earn, then be slightly disappointed by the amount they earn and then leave a 1 star review.
- It is the highest retaining game they have built.
- The constant discussion in mobile apps is the customer acquisition cost is rising and has been the same for the past 6 years.
- Spent a lot of emphasis on capturing players at the studio level rather than at the game level.
- Only 30% of the players claim BTC rewards but even these players result in positive unit economics.
Apple’s stance
- It is a bit of a gray area.
- Apple is now stricter on new things that can be added.
Fumb games
- As a studio, it’s about to hit 10M downloads of the idle games.
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